I will be staying near Playa Del Carmen for a week over Christmas at a resort.
I have never been to Mexico, and as a Canadian, there are a few questions I am wondering.
1) Can I safely drink the tap water? Here in Canada, I never give it a second thought.
Where else outside of Canada have you traveled? Could you drink the tapwater there? There's almost nowhere in the world outside of the US, Canada, Australia/NZ, and western Europe where I would drink the tapwater, except perhaps in a resort or fancy hotel where they assured guests the tap was filtered. Bottled water is the norm in most of the world. It's sold in every corner store. A decent resort or hotel will put daily complimentary bottles in your room.
2) How safe are the rooms? I will be bringing an inexpensive laptop, is it safe to just leave it out on the desk, or should I hide it?
Again, I don't think the Riviera Maya is any more or less full of thieves than anywhere else in the world. How safe is safe enough for one's valuables is always a tough call. These days, almost everyone has a latop, and I can't imagine everyone goes to great lengths to secure it. So there surely must be a lot of laptops sitting in hotel rooms while guests are out and about. I would put it out of sight and not leave it on the desk, but I'm not sure there's much more one can do. What to do with valuables (if too big to fit in the room safe, or if there is no room safe) is a traveler's condundrum everywhere in the world. To some extent, you can rely on the reputation for security of your lodging. I mean, I have to believe that, on average, fewer things are pilfered from Ritz Carlton rooms than fleabag hostel rooms. Nevertheless, I'm also sure that some people at high-end hotels have had things stolen from rooms, and some people at fleabag guesthouses have had nothing touched. It's always a roll of the dice. Which is why checking your insurance provisions before you leave for the trip is a good idea.
3) American dollars or pesos? which do the local and resort staff prefer?
Dollars work fine at hotels, resorts and most dive shops. Take a few hundred pesos out of the ATM for miscellaneous small expenses, such as taxis, lunches, etc. As mentioned in many previous threads, to minimize the likelihood of your card being skimmed, stick with an ATM affiliated with a bank, and avoid the off-brand "convenience" ATMs.
4) Tipping? Who do you tip, who do you not, and how much is reasonable?
Divemasters typically get about 10% or about US$10 per person for a 2-dive trip. I would tip 10% at restaurants, though some add a service charge automatically instead of leaving the tip up to you. Make sure you look at the bill to see if a service charge was added before you tip on top of that. Taxi drivers are generally not tipped, but a private driver might be. That's about all, as far as who I would tip on a dive trip. I do not generally stay at fancy resorts, though. Expectations are different at such places, where you might, for example, have someone take your bags to your room. If someone were to handle my dive bags, I'd give him a couple of dollars.
