Safe Tours Cozumel began as a dream for change: a man’s wish to live a life that made him proud to wake up every day and go to work, and the desire to become someone his daughter could be proud of.
José Arturo Díaz Pardo left his home in Mexico City at just 17 years old in 1985, finding a new beginning in the growing city —or rather, small town— of Cancún, in southern Mexico. Life there was far from easy. He struggled, living on the streets, sleeping under friends’ roofs when he could, and often surviving on just one meal a day: a Coke and a piece of bread.
For years, life was complicated and unforgiving. He worked in a variety of fields until he eventually found himself in tourism, specifically selling timeshares. He would clock in at Cancún’s airport and persuade travelers to attend hotel presentations, where they would later be encouraged to invest in timeshares. He did this for years, earning enough money to travel frequently between Mexico and Cuba, spending his earnings in casinos and clubs. Much of his twenties and early thirties were spent in this cycle —making money and spending it just as quickly, starting businesses, and selling fractions of hotel ownership at high rates to people who often couldn’t truly afford them.
On one of those trips to Cuba, Arturo met the mother of his child and later got married. At 35 years old, on January 17th, 2003, he became a father. By then, tourism had become a more uncertain industry due to global events in the years prior. He moved his family back to Mexico and continued working as a salesman, though he had begun to feel a growing dissatisfaction with a job he had once mastered.
Life unfolded the way it always does, and eventually, Arturo found himself a single father, raising a young daughter in Cozumel. He worked at the airport, earning barely enough to get by, while also carrying a deep frustration with the choices he had made. That frustration —and his desire to live a life centered on bringing genuine happiness to others— pushed him to become a foot salesman. Every morning he would board that ferry, and spend his day trying to sell tours to visitors; and every evening, he returned home defeated, often having been ignored or mistreated by those that could only see a nuisance in the daringness of a man who’d request a couple seconds of their time in a desperate attempt to feed a child, and find contentment with himself.
The daily effort, combined with the indifference—and sometimes disdain—of tourists, slowly wore him down. Being overlooked, dismissed, and treated as invisible, only to have those same people turn around and gawk at his daughter, was a painful contradiction. This subtle form of exotification sometimes even determined whether he would make a sale or not. It was in these moments that something in him shifted. He knew he needed a path rooted in dignity, one where his daughter would never have to witness that kind of treatment toward her father.
In 2011, with the support of his parents and brother, he founded Safe Tours Cozumel. He believed there had to be a better way to sell —one that reached people who genuinely wanted to plan their vacations in advance, without pressure, without manipulation, and without compromising his values. The company began simply, with a website and word of mouth.
One of Arturo’s most impactful ideas was incorporating YouTube testimonials from visitors. These videos allowed potential customers to discover the agency through the experiences of others, building trust organically. While this approach continues today, it has become less frequent with the rise of social media and an increasing respect for people’s desire for privacy.
In 2018, one of Arturo’s biggest dreams became reality when the glass-bottom boat Cubana began operations. This marked a new chapter —transforming the business from a tour agency into a tour operator. With this growth came new opportunities, but also significant challenges. Managing a larger team and navigating the operational demands proved difficult. At the same time, missteps in marketing led to an increase in boat visitors but a decline in website bookings. Due to this drop in online traffic, 2020 marked the beginning of a major reimagining of the website, aiming to make it more engaging, user-friendly, and easier for customers to book their experiences.
To this day, Safe Tours Cozumel has not fully returned to its peak prior to 2018. However, Arturo’s determination and commitment to his vision remain unwavering. This is not the story of a tour company, but the story of a man who chose to hold onto his values and rebuild his life; a man who dedicated himself to turning other people’s good days into unforgettable ones, all while recognizing —and challenging— the often-overlooked struggles faced by service workers in today’s world.
By Bee Díaz
