After months of planning and saving I will be leaving next Wednesday to Cancun. I decided to stay at a Hostel (Ka'beh) for 2 weeks as I do my job/aparment hunt. I'm so excited and anxiously awaiting my departure but I still have a few bumps I could use help on. What do you guys recommend for cellphone plans/carriers? Could I just purchase a plan and sim card so I can keep my current phone? I've never learned to drive a car so I need to rely on public transportation for everything. Is there a way to get a monthly bus pass or something similar like that? Or is everything usually hiking distance? I will be on my own for a long while so any help/advice once I'm there next week will be greatly appreciated! Thanks guys looking forward to meeting new people! =] PS: Any recommendations for a dentist? (My wisdom tooth freaking hurts!)
Telcel is the mack daddy company here. You can pay as you go or have a plan. YOU NEED TO CONTACT YOUR US CARRIER AND ASK FOR A SIM UNLOCK CODE. Tell them you are going to be traveling in Mexico and using a local carrier. It takes about 48 hours and you receive it by email. Without unlocking the phone, you cannot use it here. It is possible to buy this service online but it does not always work, depending on your phone. I have never heard of a monthly bus pass but the buses go pretty much everywhere. Obviously you need to select your permanent residence to be easily accessible to the bus route. Local routes, as opposed to the hotel zone trips, cost only $6.5 pesos per person. Cabs start at $23 but figure $25 for an average trip around town. Current exchange rate is about $13 Mxn to $1 USD. I have a car but I can walk to Walmart, Costco, Paseo Cancun Mall and many other places in 15 or so minutes and often do. Gas is $9.25 per liter. Many people recommend American Smile Clinic which is block from Market 28. Safe travels.
Everything TJ said above is 100% correct. The only thing I'll add is that I wouldn't recommend getting a cell phone plan. Customer service with Mexican carriers (Telcel especially) is horrendously bad with way too many hidden charges. In other words, everyone ends up paying tons more than the plan actually costs. I don't know a single person with a plan who is actually happy with it. (Feel free to correct me if you're happy with it, but that seems to be the experience with my friends and family.) With pay-as-you-go, you won't even have to step into their offices. There's a particularly good new pay-as-you-go method with 3G internet. (Paying just $500 pesos a month at the local Oxxo store gets you 30 days of internet plus $400 pesos worth of credit to other Telcel members.) I use this method and I believe ToriB does as well. I get everything a plan does, without the hidden fees and enraging customer service normally tied into a Telcel plan.
Gas is $9.25/L? Wow! I just did the conversion for what I am paying for gas while doing work up in Ft. McMurray, Alberta. It comes to $16.12/L (on $1.22/L in Canadian dollars). Yup sure glad I am doing work in the world's largest deposit of oil! Maybe I need to look into moving there lol!
I have read here in the Forum and I have on my notes the Amigo Plan - rechargeable - as cell phones plans are concerned. Hope it helps.
Thanks for the awesome advice! Looks like I'm getting pay as you go then. Shame about the bus pass but I guess I'll learn to manage. As for the dentist, l trust you know the best so I'll make an appointment first thing on my arrival. Hopefully one day I'll get the courage to learn to drive. Afterall, I'm turning 24 and never learned how. Anyways what would you recommend as an absolute first visit to Cancun? Like where should I go to dive right into the culture? Any recommendations are appreciated. Thanks again for the help!
Can you tell me more about this internet plan. I'm in PDC and need internet when I'm there or when it's rented. How do I go about setting this up. It sounds like a better idea that trying to get Cablemas to connect the service. Thanks.
I am the Administrator of American Smile Clinic. Pm me when you arrive and I will personally make your appointment in case your Spanish is not yet up to snuff...my secretary speaks "mostly Spanish". And thanks TJ for the referral!
Everyone has been so friendly. Thank you CancunNurse, I will definitely need that appointment. Right now I've been taking antibiotics to help with this infection that swelled up my face and prescription pain killers. I hate that my tooth decides to act up the week before I leave. I should have had my wisdom teeth pulled out years ago!
Hey e.b. I was referring to phone Internet service, not computer Internet service. Is that what you're interested in?
