Financial stuff to think about for first time travelers to Cancun - stuff I would have liked to have known before-hand! Bring the cash you need with you, don’t count on having access to ATMs or US banks. If you are used to being able to use a debit card like cash in the US, you will need to change your perspective back to the olden days before ATMs, debit cards, and 24 hour banking. It is kind of a scary thought to bring hundreds of dollars in cash with you to a foreign country, but you will need lots of single bills for tips, and if you want to do anything extra you will need to pay for 90% of it in cash only. We brought $400 cash and had to get $200 more, and went through $200 in ones just in tips, all in 6 days/5 nights. I don’t know if travelers checks work, but I doubt it because I didn’t see any signs that said they were accepted. I couldn’t see the small merchants or random people on the beach selling stuff accepting them - they all want cash. You can use a credit card to pay for some tours through TTR, and for Coco Bongo, but your credit card company may charge you a foreign transaction fee, which is a percent of the charge. We just added up our transaction charges and conversion charges and it was just shy of $100 – that is just ripped up $$, sadly! The ATM conversion charge was the worst. It cost $42 in fees to withdraw $200 in the hotel gift shop ATM. The ATM had a fee of about $6, but it was charges from Chase Bank that were the silent killer! Ask your bank about this stuff before you go!! I used a credit card to purchase items at Bubba Gump, Senor Frogs, and at Plaza la Isla and each time was whacked with a foreign transaction charge. I also got boned from the exchange rate from these places, getting only 10 or 11 pesos for a dollar, instead of the 12-14 real exchange rate during that time. In retrospect, I would have used the money exchange service across the street from TTR to get pesos, and then just pay the sticker price in pesos at gift shops etc. That exchange place was offering $12.60 pesos per dollar. TTR will give you 11 per dollar at the front desk. Do the math, it does add up. And if doing the math with conversion makes your eyes bleed like mine, it is just easier to deal with pesos rather than continually bringing out the calculator to see if the merchant is giving you the right change. There are several little fun things that will cost cash, and be disappointing to miss if you start to run low on cash. One thing in particular was the pictures we got with this adorable little monkey. A guy on the beach walks around with the little monkey and lets you hold him and a woman takes professional pictures. You can buy one for $12 and there are other packages to buy, or you can buy all the pictures on a CD for $48. Seems like a lot, but the pictures were so cute and not something we could get done at home. We bought the CD right before we left for the airport, but needed to get cash from the ATM – do you see where I’m going with this ?? We had no trouble with the safe in our room and nothing was stolen, but I have read on other reviews of TTR where safes were compromised. I would suggest bringing something innocuous with you that locks, that no one would think had money in it, and keep that in your suitcase. Along the lines of money issues, I lost a nice pair of sunglasses because I was an idiot on the wave runner and lost them in a wipeout. Invest a few dollars in those straps that hold your glasses to your head if you are on a boat or in the water – especially one that floats – you’re welcome! Don’t pay the first price offered at a flea market store. Also, the large Mexican store in Plaza la Isla had most items in the flea markets for FAR less than anywhere else. For instance, there were these Mayan astrology necklaces at one store I wanted to get for my kids, and the lady told me first they were $10 each. I said no way, then she told me $8, then $6 – I kept saying no thank you, too much. When I got to the store in the mall, they were $2.95 each – for the same exact thing! The other great thing about the Mexican market in La Isla was there were NO sales people pestering you while window shopping, all the other stores have oppressive, pushy, and obnoxious employees hovering everywhere. Don’t buy any of that stuff at the airport either, it will cost substantially more (e.g. I bought a Mayan calendar little statue for my daughter at the store in La Isla for $4.95, the same one at the airport was $25). The prices for souvenirs in the TTR gift shop are not bad, especially the shot glasses. But I do recommend paying in pesos for those things. The guy selling jewelry on the beach is the best price you will get for trinket gifts for kids. He wanted only $1 for silver necklaces (and even if not real silver, $1 isn’t bad for a kid gift), those same items at the stores are much more than $1 and probably of the same quality. There are sales people walking up and down the beach all day, selling hats, cigars, dresses, sarongs, jewelry, bags/purses, and other stuff. They will make deals if you haggle. Oh, and on the way home if you buy anything liquid in the duty free shop and you have a connecting flight somewhere in the US before your final destination, you will have to add your purchases to your checked bags after customs and before security to catch your connecting flight. We saw people struggling to fit perfume boxes and large liquor bottles into already filled up luggage because they thought they could just walk on their connecting flight without going through security again. Don't buy the stuff if you can't fit it in your checked bag!!! Sucks to have to throw it away to get through security - and also it sucks to not plan ahead and have it break in your luggage because some ass hat baggage handler threw your bag on the ground!!
Very good advice, anyone who has never been to Cancun before, definitely needs to read what you wrote. I cannot emphasize enough to NOT use plastic of any kind while in Cancun, leave your plastic at home except for one emergency credit card, and leave that card with your passport and your customs slip in the hotel room safe (don't throw away that little piece of paper they give you at Mexican customs, you will need it to leave the country).
we always take $200 per day that we are there....have never come close to running out of money and have never had to say "wish we could do that but we are running low on cash"
The ATM in the hotel and the one outside gives an excellent rate for UK cards. We only ever take about $300 in cash and take the rest out when we are there, works out much better for us. Lynfa x
Chase charged us $42 in fees to use the ATM in the hotel to withdraw $200 - everyone should check with their bank to find out how to avoid this ridiculously high service charge!
Hi Sultryfox! Your info is gonna be so helpful and thank you! I was wondering where this large Mexican store in Plaza la Isla is exactly? I was told of a flea market in "town" somewhere but having never been to Cancun not sure where it might be in relation to the resort and how to get there. Honestly Im just looking for cheap kid gifts and knock off handbags..............did you see any on your shopping experience? Thanks again for all your input! ~Rhonda
I'm in finance and the charge is called a foreign fee. All banks and credit cards charge a 3% charge on all withdrawl and charges. It's a fee that all banks have to pay that's passed on to the consumer. The only exceptions are usually for high affluent clients in specialty packages with their banks or usually premium credit cards that will waive the foreign fee but usually have a high annual fee. My best bit of advice is just overplan for your cash when you go. Worse comes to worse you have cash when your coming home.
You can't miss it in Plaza la Isla, there is a big yellow sign that says Mexican Outlet and it is a huge store with a very large sign. All the trinket stuff, sauces, clothes, chocolate, ceramics, etc. you find anywhere else are in there and the prices are the best I saw anywhere. If you go to the flea market by Coco Bongo, the sales people will make you crazy!! There is a guy on the beach who sells silver jewelry for $1 and those are great gifts as well. You can take the bus all the way to La Isla and it is only about 15 minutes from the hotel at the most. I didn't see any knockoff handbags, but that doesn't mean they are not there, I just wasn't looking for them. I'm sure they have all that stuff in the outlet, and if you don't find something you want there, you can try the flea market place on the way back, it is a large market across the street from Coco Bongo (but just beware of the obnoxious and desperate sales people who won't leave you alone). Oh, and there was a guy selling purses and bags on the beach as well, I don't know how much they are, though. Have fun!!
That is absolutely what I would do in retrospect, better to have too much cash than not enough!! Just figure out a way to store it that makes you comfortable. I read some posts online that said they had stuff stolen from the safe in the room, but we didn't have any problem with it.
