From $475 per vehicle: a private, one-way ride from Port of Miami to Driftwood Inn in a chauffeured SUV or van.
These are fixed one-way fares for the whole car or van, tolls and fuel included, so the total is known before anyone gets in.
Tell us the ship and the driver times the pickup to its arrival, then waits at your terminal’s curb at PortMiami. The meet-and-greet there is included in the fare; a name-sign welcome is a $20 add-on. From the port the ride is direct, with no other passengers.
Driftwood Inn sits on Sanibel Island, out along Florida’s Gulf shore, about 162.5 miles by road from Port of Miami. This is a barrier island with a different rhythm than the city you just left behind: there are no high-rises here, only a low horizon of sand, water, and green. The pace eases the moment you reach the island, and the inn puts you within reach of the quiet things Sanibel is known for.
What Sanibel offers is unhurried and close to the water. The island’s lighthouse anchors one end, and the wildlife refuge spreads its mangroves across a good share of the land, laced with channels and shaded paths where the birds tend to outnumber the people. Then there is the shelling — Sanibel gives up more shells than anywhere else in Florida, and the beaches fill with travelers walking slowly, heads down, reading the tideline. It is the kind of place where the day is set by the light and the tides rather than a clock.
For a group coming straight off a cruise, Driftwood Inn makes a natural landing point on the island — a base near the sand, the refuge, and the lighthouse, with the bags already carried in and the long drive behind you. You step out of the vehicle into the slower island air, and the rest of Sanibel opens from there: the mangroves in the morning, the beach in the afternoon, and shells for the pockets on the way back.
The ride runs door to door as a single leg. Your chauffeur meets the group at the terminal on Dodge Island once you clear the exit, loads the bags at the curb, and the vehicle is yours alone from the port straight to Driftwood Inn. Plan on roughly 162.5 miles and 171 to 179 minutes on the road via I-595, depending on the hour — quiet stretches move fast, and disembarkation mornings can run toward the longer end.
Disembarkation mornings stack up at the terminal exits, so the driver is staged before your group walks out, and the wait is theirs rather than yours. With the luggage stowed and the route set, the drive west is one direct run: no changing vehicles, no added stops, no strangers along for the ride. You settle in, and Sanibel comes to you as the island road takes over near the end.
Booking the ride in advance locks the price and the vehicle size, puts a driver on your arrival time, and turns the first leg of the trip into the easiest one. The group stays together and the luggage rides with you.
No. A 50% deposit secures the booking and the remaining half is paid to the driver on the day, cash or card. Nothing else is charged unless you add an extra service.
Late is fine: the SUV night fee is $20 in Miami-Dade and Broward and $50 outside them for pickups between 9 PM and 7 AM. A stop on the route runs $45 per 30 minutes, and a child seat is $15.
The SUV seats up to 5 with their luggage; the 6-9 and 10-14 passenger vans keep bigger groups together. Send the head count and bag count and the vehicle is matched to them.
Yes for the details: add a passenger, a child seat or a note up to 12 hours before the pickup time. No for the date, which stays as booked.
Reach us on WhatsApp at wa.me/17866828748 or by phone at 786-682-8748; send the date, passengers and luggage and the reservation is confirmed the same day.
Reserving a few days ahead is ideal, and in peak season (holidays, spring break, big cruise weekends) a week or more keeps your first-choice vehicle available. Requests inside 24 hours are welcome but depend on availability, and those bookings are non-refundable once confirmed.
We run on reservations rather than on-demand pickups. A same-day request may still work if a driver is free: message us on WhatsApp with the pickup time and we will confirm quickly. Keep in mind that a ride booked within 24 hours of pickup cannot be refunded.
No. A 50% deposit holds the vehicle when you book online, and the other half goes to your driver on the day of the ride, in cash or by card. If you prefer to settle everything at once, choose Pay in full at checkout.
Yes. After the deposit, the remaining half is paid directly to your driver when the ride is done, cash or card, whichever you prefer. There is nothing else to pay unless you added an extra service.
Cancellations are free up to 24 hours before the pickup. Inside that 24-hour window the ride is non-refundable, and no-shows are treated the same way. Booking details such as an extra passenger or a child seat can still be updated until 12 hours before pickup.
The pickup time and other details can be adjusted until 12 hours before the ride, subject to driver availability; write to us as soon as your plans change. The travel date itself is fixed once booked, so double-check it before you confirm.
Payments run through Stripe over an encrypted checkout; we never see your card number. Card payments carry a 3% processing fee that is shown before you pay. Zelle is also accepted for the deposit with no fee: ask us on WhatsApp.
Not at all. Travelers reserve from all over the world, international cards are accepted at checkout, and we answer on WhatsApp and email in English, Spanish and Portuguese.
Yes. Give us the flight number when you book and your driver tracks it in real time, so the pickup follows the actual landing rather than the scheduled one, at no extra cost.
Message us the moment you know. We reschedule around the new arrival whenever a driver is available; because that counts as a change to the booking, the cancellation terms above still apply if the ride cannot be rebooked.
Your driver meets you at the MIA arrivals level at the curb, and that meet-and-greet is included in the fare. If you would rather be greeted inside the terminal with a name sign, add the name-sign welcome for $20 when you book.
You receive the meeting instructions in advance, and the driver contacts you the day before the ride to confirm every detail. On landing, head to the agreed curb; connect to the airport Wi-Fi and message us on WhatsApp if anything is unclear.
The day before the ride we send the driver’s name and phone number, and the vehicle details you need to spot the car. Vehicle photos on the site show the category booked; the exact model can vary.
Call or WhatsApp us at +1 (786) 682-8748 and we connect you right away. The pickup is always coordinated at the confirmed spot, and the courtesy waiting time keeps running from your landing or your scheduled pickup.
At the airport we wait up to 60 minutes after landing on domestic flights and up to 2 hours on international arrivals; at hotels, homes and the cruise port the courtesy wait is 15 minutes. Beyond that, waiting is billed like an extra stop, $45 per 30 minutes.
The distance and the usual driving time for this exact route are listed on this page. Real timing depends on traffic and the hour, which is why the driver plans the pickup around your actual landing or ship arrival rather than a fixed clock time.
Yes. Your driver loads and unloads every bag at the curb. Drivers do not go inside the hotel or terminal to collect luggage, so have it with you at the meeting point.
Each passenger can bring one large suitcase plus one carry-on. The black SUV carries up to 5 passengers as long as passengers plus large suitcases total 10 or fewer; larger groups or extra bags move to a van. Surfboards, bikes or many extra cases need a custom setup, so tell us before booking.
Yes. Add them when you book: a child seat for babies and toddlers up to about 3 years, or a booster for ages 3 to 5. Each seat is $20 and is fitted before the driver leaves for the pickup.
Planned stops are fine when you add them at booking, priced at $45 per 30 minutes with a 30-minute minimum, then $1.50 per extra minute. Unplanned detours on the day are not part of the fare.
Never. Every transfer is private: the vehicle carries only your group, door to door, with no other pickups and no waiting for strangers.
A black SUV for up to 5 passengers, a van for 6 to 9 and a larger van for 10 to 14. The fare table on this page shows the price for each. For groups above 14 we arrange several vehicles or a minibus on a custom quote.
No. We pick up and drop off at Miami International Airport, PortMiami and the other cruise terminals, hotels, private homes, offices and event venues across South Florida and beyond.
Yes. Wedding parties, corporate groups and private events get a tailored quote with the right mix of vehicles; message us with the date, head count and schedule.
Between 9 PM and 7 AM the black SUV adds a night fee of $20 inside Miami-Dade and Broward and $50 farther out. The fee is shown in the quote before you book, and daytime rides carry no surcharge.
The fare shown is for the exact route named on this page. For a different pickup or drop-off address, use the ride search on this site: it prices the real road distance instantly and lets you book on the spot.
The fare includes the driver, fuel and tolls, with no hidden fees. Only optional items add to it: the 3% card fee, a name-sign welcome, child seats, extra stops or the night fee, each shown in the quote before you pay. Tipping is at your discretion.
My husband and I finished a wonderful cruise and followed it with a private car ready at the curb to take us to Driftwood Inn — no fuss at the port. The last thing you want after a week at sea is a ride that falls through, and this was there exactly when we needed it. We’ve already saved them for our next cruise out of PortMiami.
Getting a big group off the ship and over to Driftwood Inn is usually a headache, but one pre-booked private van made it effortless. We’ve already saved them for our next cruise out of PortMiami.
For a stress-free morning off the ship, my partner and I had a private driver meet us at the cruise terminal to run us over to Driftwood Inn.
With the whole crew, pre-booking a private car from the port to Driftwood Inn meant no scramble on disembarkation morning. For a no-hassle way to get from the ship to Driftwood Inn, it was money well spent.
With kids in tow, pre-booking a private car from the port to Driftwood Inn meant nothing to sort out on disembarkation morning. There was a sign with our name at the curb, so we knew right where to go. We knew the plan before the ship even docked, so there was no guessing at the port.