Peso or Dollars

[DandyDon]

This is the best advice if you want to save money.
For example: a cab from Fiesta Americana to the Plaza is $10 US. It is alternatively 100 Pesos. 100 Pesos = $7.35 US
Taxi from the airport to FA cost me $114 Pesos. My Friends paid $11.50 US. 114 Pesos = $8.40 US
Restaurant bill for four $85 US. or 960 Pesos. 960 Pesos = $70 US

The difference in price on the restaurant tab paid for the cab ride there and back.

We're talking real money here.

Yes, it can certainly add up - and if it is convenient to exchange for pesos, for a low fee, and not carry too many back home at the end of the trip, great. More so if you pay a large part of your trip expenses in cash.

If you have to pay significant fees to change, or booked hotel & diving in dollars - not so great. Even worse if you stay at an AI with food & drink paid.

I went home with $200 USD worth of pesos once, saved them 'til the next year as my back had a heft conversion fee, and they devalued 20%.

Still, it's fortunate we can go either way, and the total difference in trip cost is really not so great.

 

[ggunn]

FWIW, I convert my thinking to pesos as soon as I can when I get to Cozumel. I don't worry about exchange rates or whether I'm losing 30 cents on a cab ride. I go to an ATM in a bank and draw out pesos whenever I need cash (I don't charge anything), and when I get near the end of my trip I make an estimate of how much I'll need to break even. If I end up taking home 20 bucks in pesos it's not a big deal.

 

[DandyDon]

FWIW, I convert my thinking to pesos as soon as I can when I get to Cozumel. I don't worry about exchange rates or whether I'm losing 30 cents on a cab ride. I go to an ATM in a bank and draw out pesos whenever I need cash (I don't charge anything), and when I get near the end of my trip I make an estimate of how much I'll need to break even. If I end up taking home 20 bucks in pesos it's not a big deal.

Gordy, do you book & pay your hotel & diving in dollars or pesos? I've only seen Blue Angel rates for both in dollars, but if in pesos - that could be significant.

I'm sure you spend a lot more that hotel & diving of course, and on the other expenses - pesos will work better. 30c/cab is no big deal but $3 for every cab can be; going home with $20 in pesos no biggie vs $200 worth.