money in cancun

[krisandbon]

hi guys, going to cancun next week and not too sure to change my money to pesos or USD? i keep getting told difrent things, which is best to spend? anyone help me out? be changing my money from GBP . thanks

[jbrennan3]

take both both good for paying for different things

[Steve]

My recommendation would be Pesos. No reason to take Dollars if you are just as unfamiliar with those as you are Pesos. Using Dollars will rarely save you any money and often will cost you extra as the vendor uses the exchange rate to his benefit not yours.

Please also see my page at:

Dollars or Pesos in Cancun?

[XTomX]

Good info Steve, thanks.

Heading over to Cancun for the first time this year and was wondering this myself. That just made my mind up.

[krisandbon]

thanks for the info!!! pesos it is then cheers

[T.J.]

Steve is soooo right. No need in exchanging twice as it costs you about 3.5% in commissions. Not really a commission but it is built into the buy and sell rates of the currency exchange.

An example if you exchanged GBP for USD, you are buying USD. When you go to sell the USD to buy MXN, you will get less than the cost of the USD when you bought them. Today's closing Banamex buy and sell rates were $11.46 and $11.86. The $.40 difference / $11.46 = 3.5%, hence the "commission".

[benanderin]

Just got our tickets with this advisory, anyone heard about this?

NEW RULE FOR THE EXCHANGE OF U.S. CURRENCY IN MEXICO
.
PLEASE NOTE THAT THE MEXICAN GOVERNMENT HAS PUT IN PLACE A NEW RULE THAT
APPLIES TO THE EXCHANGE OF U.S. DOLLARS TO MEXICAN PESOS.
THIS NEW MEASURE APPLIES TO MONEY EXCHANGED IN BANKS AND IN CURRENCY EXCHANGE
OFFICES ONLY AND DOES NOT APPLY TO WITHDRAWALS MADE FROM AUTOMATED TELLERS
(ATMs), OR TO PURCHASES AND TRANSACTIONS MADE WITH CREDIT CARDS OR DEBIT CARDS.
.
IT IS POSSIBLE THAT CERTAIN HOTELS AND/OR BUSINESSES MAY REFUSE THE PAYMENTS
MADE WITH U.S. DOLLARS IN CASH. THEREFORE, WE RECOMMEND THAT CLIENTS CARRY A

CREDIT CARD, A DEBIT CARD, AND/OR MEXICAN PESOS AND/OR CANADIAN DOLLARS.

[ToriB]

The only place now a days that gives you a decent rate is Ultrafemme. Walmart has soooo many new rules, so it's worthelss. Money exchange places give you about a 10.09 to 11.30 pesos to the usd, (CRAP). Pay with your debit/credit card as much as possible. Unless your fees are high, that s where you get the best rate.

[T.J.]

THIS JUST HAPPENED TO ME MOMENTS AGO. I just got back from Walmart. I tried to pay for $228.16 Mxn with $50 US. Their stupid new rule, effective 21 (I think) June, is that if you pay in US Dollars, you must buy 90% of what you are paying with. More simply put, they can only give you change (in Pesos) less than or equal to 10% of the amount you paid. And the most you can spend is $250 US, if paying in dollars.

WELL, RULES ARE MADE TO BE BROKEN. First thing I did was tell the cashier I did not want anything in that case. Next, I went to the English speaking "greeter" and told him I have lived in Cancun for 7 years and have never heard of such a thing. He took me to a closed cash register and showed me the new policy, printed and posted on yellow paper. It also said that this was a federal banking requirement, which is ABSOLUTELY NOT THE CASE. He then pointed out a guy who he called "the big boss" and asked if I would like to speak to him. Hell yes I did. I told him what happened and he told the other guy to let me pay with my $50. We went back to the register, and this was at one of the 8 or 9 "20 items or less" lines and there was lots of rejected items, including mine, in a single cart. The cashier was instructed to ring me up and take my $50 and no over ride was needed. The exchange rate, which by the way is posted at Customer Service, is a very good $11.90.

This is going to be a huge customer relations nightmare for Walmart. No one really launders money at Walmart, $50 or $100 at a time. This is beyond stupid. One reason it is stupid is that the money ends up back in the US and to convert pesos to dollars costs Walmart more than what they can generously buy dollars for from people like you and me. The very helpful greeter guy told me the taxi drivers were furious as they actually come in with big bills and make small purchases, just to convert dollars to pesos.

I am going to put a similar post on the Living in Cancun and Riviera Maya forum and see what shakes. I was advised by the greeter guy to email Walmart corporate in Bentonville, AR, which I may very well do.

Good luck everyone. If there are any pot stirrers out there, come up with an email plan and I will for sure be on that bandwagon.

Cheers,

[SaltyB]

we got back and its pesos in all places and usd$ for trips and tours..

usd is 12 pesos and GP£ 15 ish..we got that at hotel..

one tip..because u will get large denomination 20 pesos notes..I manage to change for smaller ones in coins of 10, 5, 2, and 1 s with the guys say at toilets etc who have many changes...

cheeers

[c-mtb]

Originally Posted by SaltyB

we got back and its pesos in all places and usd$ for trips and tours..

usd is 12 pesos and GP£ 15 ish..we got that at hotel..

one tip..because u will get large denomination 20 pesos notes..I manage to change for smaller ones in coins of 10, 5, 2, and 1 s with the guys say at toilets etc who have many changes...

cheeers

Hey me at a friend are heading over in October would you say to take dollars for tipping? also how much spending money would you say to take we were planning on £700 each but im now thinking more like £1000

Cheers

C

[T.J.]

The peso is very weak right now, meaning that you can buy more pesos per USD, GBP, etc. Suggest you DO NOT exchange GBP for USD and then USD for MXN. An extra "commission" that you don't need to do. I also recommend that you exchange at a bank, rather than at your hotel or a casa de cambio.

Not sure why you would want to tip in USD as opposed to Pesos but hey, it's your money.

You know what you are wanting to do on your trip over and above your hotel and other prepaid items so I cannot recommend how much $$ to bring. You can always hit the ATM if you run short.

Buen Viaje.

[c-mtb]

Originally Posted by T.J.

The peso is very weak right now, meaning that you can buy more pesos per USD, GBP, etc. Suggest you DO NOT exchange GBP for USD and then USD for MXN. An extra "commission" that you don't need to do. I also recommend that you exchange at a bank, rather than at your hotel or a casa de cambio.

Not sure why you would want to tip in USD as opposed to Pesos but hey, it's your money.

You know what you are wanting to do on your trip over and above your hotel and other prepaid items so I cannot recommend how much $$ to bring. You can always hit the ATM if you run short.

Buen Viaje.

Hey thanks for that,ok what should I tip then in pesos? Should I tip 1 large sum at the start or small amounts every time?

[T.J.]

You might get a better answer on that question (tipping in advance, as you go or at the end) from a tourist than from me, a local. For me, the jury is still out on that question. But money is money as far as how much you tip. 15%-20% is the average range but you imply you are all inclusive. I would think a tip of $10-$15 pesos per person per drink would be about right, depending on the service. That would equate from a little below to a little above $1. I got pesos yesterday from the ATM (no fees with the banks I use here and in the states) and I got $13.86 MXN per $1 USD.

[c-mtb]

we are getting 20.11 peso to the £ right now, we wat to go out and party every 2nd night and chill out with a few drinks the other nights we were budgeting for around £700 or 14000 peso for 2 weeks but i am hearing that it is quite expensive for food outside the resort and drinking is expensive, is it safe to have a night out in down town? as we would like to mix with locals and experience the local nightlife. thanks for you help we are just reading so many mixed reviews and dont want to get caught short over there.

[T.J.]

In my opinion, all inclusive is a high cost option, UNLESS you hang out at your hotel for every meal, eat like pigs and drink more than you should every single day.

Cancun is no more expensive for tourists than any other tourist area in the Caribbean and is certainly cheaper than London. If you don't look for trouble, it won't find you. Cancun is as safe a place as you can go for the most part. Going away from your hotel to eat or drink is safe and reasonable, although you can go to high end places if you choose.

I always suggest a night downtown to see where the locals go. The safest street, in my opinion, where locals and tourists mix, is Yaxchilan. Take any bus downtown and get off at the 2nd stop after you get to km 0. Grab a taxi for $25 pesos (it should be $23 actually) and go to Los Arcos. You can wander up and down the street, in and out of places and have a good time. You can take a taxi back to your hotel for a negotiated price but don't pay more than $100 pesos. You will be here in the slow or low season.

On any Friday night you can find Americans, Brits & Canadians in La Taberna, a sports bar across from Los Arcos.

Enjoy