BRING CASH TO MALAPASCUA!! Public service announcement

[eagerbeaver]

Hi all,

I just thought it might be worth a thread about paying your bills.

If you are coming to Malapascua you are in for a great time. The diving is awesome, the beaches are beautiful and it's entirely worth the ride here.

However THERE ARE NO ATMs on the island, and the nearest one means a boat ride, and a bus ride, and even then it only dispenses limited amounts of cash.

Let me repeat that -
THERE ARE NO ATMS ON MALAPASCUA ISLAND

Most Malapascua operators on the island will happily accept payments to their bank accounts - check BEFORE you come and deposit cash BEFORE you arrive.

Many Malapascua operators will accept PayPal. BUT if you have not used PayPal successfully in the past then try it out before you arrive; and even if you have used it successfully before be prepared to get reviewed when in the Philippines. The Philippines is a bad area for fraud so your bank and PP will try and protect you and the vendor by reviewing payments. This can take anywhere from 24hrs to 7 working days. So my advice is plan ahead and try and make your payments ahead of time in case there's a review.

A number of Malapascua operators will accept credit cards, but the fees in the Philippines are high, so expect additional fees, or a sour look from the proprietor who offered you a discount, only to now throw away the rest of their profit by letting you pay using credit card.

So in summary
BRING CASH to save yourself and everyone else a pain in the arse. Everyone accepts cash!


Mods, maybe we can start a sticky thread with info on available ATMs, and payment methods in different dive locations as I know Malapascua is not the only place in the country without an ATM!

 

[limbo]

Good advice Matt, however, another sticky, this must be the forum with the most amount of stickies on the whole board. I would rather see some of those stickies go away or merge possibly, not create more.

Maybe some can be merged in a "what to do/not to do and what to bring" thread.

 

[eagerbeaver]

Maybe some can be merged in a "what to do/not to do and what to bring" thread.

Genius!

 

[Mike Veitch]

mmm.... CASH! brilliant idea. Also, travelers cheques don't work either... old school technology..

Cash is certainly the best, any major currency such as $US, Euro, or Pounds works wonders in resorts in any country. However, don't expect to be able to pay excess luggage payments in the middle of nowhere with Euros.. Please exchange a few hundred dollars/euros into local currency at the major airport you arrive into the country..

This will make your life much easier when traveling in out of the way areas in smaller countries. A lot of people don't like having a thousand dolllars on them and that is understandable, but a few hundred dollars in local currency for tips and excess baggage etc goes a long way. For the resorts and such, paying ahead of time works best

 

[guamrider]

Please exchange a few hundred dollars/euros into local currency at the major airport you arrive into the country

Mike...Extremely good recommendation for everyone. They can change their left over Peso's back to their currency at any intl airport.

 

[jbb]

mmm.... CASH! brilliant idea. Also, travelers cheques don't work either... old school technology..

Cash is certainly the best, any major currency such as $US, Euro, or Pounds works wonders in resorts in any country. However, don't expect to be able to pay excess luggage payments in the middle of nowhere with Euros.. Please exchange a few hundred dollars/euros into local currency at the major airport you arrive into the country..

This will make your life much easier when traveling in out of the way areas in smaller countries. A lot of people don't like having a thousand dolllars on them and that is understandable, but a few hundred dollars in local currency for tips and excess baggage etc goes a long way. For the resorts and such, paying ahead of time works best

The dive shop I frequent prices everything in Philippine Pesos. If you pay in foreign currency don't don't expect a great exchange rate for you cash on Malapascua either. The businesses don't exactly get it to the bank right away so they hedge the exchange rate.

---------- Post Merged at 12:14 AM ---------- Previous Post was at 12:10 AM ----------

Mike...Extremely good recommendation for everyone. They can change their left over Peso's back to their currency at any intl airport.

What? Don't tell me you won't be going back. Save it for then. I always bring some $1, 5 and 10 U.S. to get me out of exchanging big bills at the end of a trip. I don't think a taxi would refuse US $, course in that case I always over pay to compensate for the hassle of them getting it exchanged (not much).

 

[Makhno]

It's worth noting that the ATMs at the Manila and Cebu airports don't dispense more than a few hundred pesos per day, so the best thing to do may be to bring a bunch of US dollars in cash and then exchange them. Other currencies don't always get their proper exchange value in the Philippines, or may not be usable at all, so US dollars are probably best.

Matt, I was very interested to read about your team's discovery of a new wreck, presumably the Pioneer ferry, at >100msw. That's great news for wreck divers!

 

[kwhkg]

local atm's have limit on per day withdrawls of 20,000.00 p (about $475). another option would be cash advnace from your credit card

 

[StirlingDiver]

local atm's have limit on per day withdrawls of 20,000.00 p (about $475). another option would be cash advnace from your credit card

The problem is you never really know for sure how much any particular ATM is going to give you. Many of the local ATMs will only give you 4000 pesos. I specifically opened an account with a UK bank that has branches in the Philippiness, so that I could use their ATM. Also, don't forget to tell your bank that you will be using your card overseas or it might not work more than once.

I wouldn't change a lot of money at the airport. I've never been to a country anywhere where you get a decent rate at the airport, so, assuming, I'm arriving late, I would only change enough to get me through the first night. I'd only do it if I was heading immediately out into the province. The best solution, as someone has already pointed out, is to keep your money left over from the last trip - including the small change, which is really useful for taxis and tips. If fact, if you're near the end of a trip and you don't have much left, buy some more, so you don't have to worry the next time you arrive.

Re getting a bad rate on your own exotic currency that nobody wants to change, you better watch out if you have UK pounds. If you're coming from one of the home nations like Scotland and Northern Ireland that have their own versions of Sterling pounds, make sure to get English money. For some reason, people can't understand how one country can have different kinds of money and they are looked on with great suspicion. In Cebu, the money changers refuse to change it outright and in Manila, they will give you 30%.

Have a good time spending those pesos .

 

[kwhkg]

the limit ,as far as I am aware is 20,000p per day, all ATMs have any option screen to choose the amount ranging from 500-4000p OR "other amount" wherein you will enter your amount (up to 20,000) , in increments of 100p