Do I need pesos?

[yle]

Will be staying at SCC with an all inclusive package. Knowing the group I’ll be with, we probably won’t go do too many things out and about. I would like to go get some chicken at some point, and maybe go the the Observatory, thanks @slippy_lolo. Maybe even get across the street for some Salsa and Salsa. So, do I need to hit an ATM, or should I just carry small denomination green backs?

Thanks for any advise offered,

Erik

Get a couple hundred bucks worth of pesos before you go, so you have cash on hand. I usually do this through my local bank, and their exchange rate is very reasonable, typically wholesale plus a few percent.

As has been suggested here, spend pesos wherever prices are in pesos. It's easier for the local economy and it's a better deal for you.

You should have leftover pesos at the end of the trip, for which there are three options:

OPTION 1: tip generously, leaving all your leftover cash

OPTION 2: take the leftover cash home with you and keep it in a safe place as a reminder that you need to go back to Cozumel as soon as possible to spend that leftover cash

OPTION 3: a combination of OPT 1 and OPT 2 above.

This is what I've been doing for years... I currently have about $80 worth of pesos (from our trip a few months ago) in my desk drawer, with my passport, and I'll be heading back later this year.

 

[Christi]

Even $6 is too generous... at wholesale rates, 100 pesos is closer to $5.

Which means a $10 to $20 tip on a two-tank dive trip should be 200 to 400 pesos.

The exchange rate has not been 20:1 in awhile - it's been hovering between 19.0 and 19.4 for awhile

 

[BoundForElsewhere]

If you have leftover pesos at the end of your trip..... Plan another trip. Easy peasy. Problem solved.

 

[Lorenzoid]

I would find it annoying to attempt to juggle dollars and pesos in my spending. So I just get a few thousand pesos at the airport ATM and use that for everything except the dive op and lodging, which I pay by credit card. If you calculate your needs reasonably closely, you shouldn’t end up with a huge amount of unused pesos at the end of the trip. I keep them for the next trip. I have ziploc baggies with various foreign currencies, all awaiting another trip, none probably amounting to more than 50 USD. Mexican pesos should be relatively easy to get rid of or use again. Options include giving them to a friend who is heading down there in exchange for dollars, or even—heavens!—changing them back to dollars at the airport currency exchange. I have never understood the fear expressed in these threads of not getting the best exchange rate. It’s not a lot of money. I waste or lose more than that difference every week at home through one misfortune or poor decision or another. As I see it, getting less than a good deal is part of the cost of vacationing in a foreign country—just one more bit of inefficiency. Now, if I spent a lot of time in Mexico I would be more concerned. I should be so lucky to face that problem someday.

 

[DandyDon]

The exchange rate has not been 20:1 in awhile - it's been hovering between 19.0 and 19.4 for awhile

Today's quote on google is 18.8; WSJ is a little more precise at 18.7934

Even $6 is too generous... at wholesale rates, 100 pesos is closer to $5.

$5.32 USD

 

[ggunn]

Today's quote on google is 18.8; WSJ is a little more precise at 18.7934


$5.32 USD

Did you use 18.8 or 18.7934?

 

[SandyRobinson]

... Knowing the group I’ll be with, we probably won’t go do too many things out and about... So, do I need to hit an ATM, or should I just carry small denomination green backs?

You will enjoy SCC but if you are there a week, I would find some dinner in town on at least two nights. Cozumel has some great restaurants and in the long run, it is not going to be that expensive. Plus, it will give you a chance to get away for the confinement of SCC and experience local life. If possible, check here and on TA for local restaurants especially the ones not on the main drag.

Get some pesos at the ATM. Someone else can comment but I think you want to stay away from the standalone ATMs - use the ones at a bank or in the two grocery stores, Mega and Chedraui. It will be cheaper than using dollars and if you have some left over, that is a great reason to return! Enjoy your trip.

 

[yle]

The exchange rate has not been 20:1 in awhile - it's been hovering between 19.0 and 19.4 for awhile

But 20:1 is easy (just like 10:1 is easy... but, as you wrote, wrong!) and it gives a bit of a boost to someone (like a dive guide) receiving tips in pesos.

For example, if I want to tip my dive guide $15, I could...

Use the wrong rate of 10:1 and only give them 150 pesos

Use the rate of 16:1 (which is close to your $6 for 100 pesos) and give them 240 pesos

Or use 20:1 and give them 300 pesos (which is what I've been doing the past few years, even though the "official" exchange rate is around 19:1)

So thinking of tips in dollars, but then giving the tips in pesos means the person on the receiving end gets just a little more using 20:1. Which is fine with me.

 

[yle]

I would find it annoying to attempt to juggle dollars and pesos in my spending. So I just get a few thousand pesos at the airport ATM and use that for everything except the dive op and lodging, which I pay by credit card. If you calculate your needs reasonably closely, you shouldn’t end up with a huge amount of unused pesos at the end of the trip. I keep them for the next trip. I have ziploc baggies with various foreign currencies, all awaiting another trip, none probably amounting to more than 50 USD. Mexican pesos should be relatively easy to get rid of or use again. Options include giving them to a friend who is heading down there in exchange for dollars, or even—heavens!—changing them back to dollars at the airport currency exchange. I have never understood the fear expressed in these threads of not getting the best exchange rate. It’s not a lot of money. I waste or lose more than that difference every week at home through one misfortune or poor decision or another. As I see it, getting less than a good deal is part of the cost of vacationing in a foreign country—just one more bit of inefficiency. Now, if I spent a lot of time in Mexico I would be more concerned. I should be so lucky to face that problem someday.

I was going to just "like" your post, but it deserves more recognition that that.

 

[BoundForElsewhere]

Something I've found over multiple trips to Mexico is that I don't spend my coins. They are effusive. I have no idea which is which and I usually just leave them unspent on my dresser. I have, in the past, ended up with at least 10 to 20 $ by the time I leave.

I find this is a good opportunity for a little charity so I leave it in the church's donation box.

They'd probably take dollars, too.