Who has flown into Mexico with their scuba equipment???

[H2OU]

Do you declare your scuba equipment on your customs forms, and if so are you subject to taxes on that equipment? The reason I ask is that it seems that Mexico allows you to bring in personal effects duty free, but not much else. Just wondering what your experiences have been. Thanks!

 

[AmyJ]

Never had any problems... Just got back two weeks ago....no, don't declare it..... it is your gear right? You are not planning on selling it?? it is your personal effects.. no problem.

To add to that... each time we go we take about 5 suitcases full of supplies for a mission down there... obviously stuff that is not "personal effects" (school supplies, over the counter meds, clothes etc. and lots of it.) Never even had someone question it.

 

[Ed Marshall]

I've done it several times into Cancun/Playa and have never declared a thing. I may be wrong, but I don't think customs cares unless you are in the business of importing scuba gear to sell in Mexico.

 

[Diver Dennis]

Never a problem. Don't declare anything.

 

[Rick Inman]

Yup. Just toss it in your suitcase. Except I carry on anything I really care about - regs, computer, hid light, camera, laptop.

 

[H2OU]

Thanks for the info! I am certainly not planning on selling my stuff down there!

 

[OceanSailor]

You don't hve to declare any personal effects such as clothing, dive gear, etc... unless you're planning to sell it or are bringing (importing) into the country for commercial purposes.

Cap'n Ed

 

[lamont]

just got back from mexico, my tips on packing:

- take two gear bags to check, split the gear up so that each bag is less than 50 lbs
- put as much heavy gear or books into your carryon as you can (clothes go into checked baggage)
- one of my masks completely shattered in the bag, so protect things like lights, masks, etc and/or take backups

- buy a t-shirt or something while you're there so you've got something to declare that they can ask you a question about when you're going through customs.

- you do not need to declare any scuba stuff and any stuff you didn't buy in mexico

- we had all our carryons searched on the way back from mexico and i had a pile of regs and backup lights and camera and stuff in there but they didn't bother digging too hard once they hit all the scuba junk and confirmed i didn't have a dreaded water bottle in my carryon.

continental refused to check any bag over 50 lbs (not just charging for excess baggage, but refusing to check). people with more than one carryon who already had two checked bags were also running into a lot of trouble at the gate.

 

[ch0ppersrule]

didn't declare it and didn't have any problems. didn't tell any of the airlines it was scuba gear because some do charge extra.

 

[boulderjohn]

Since everyone has already answered the question, I thought I'd tell a semi amusing story about this.

I was on the last plane of the day into Cozumel, and for some reason my dive bag took forever to come through the carousel. Everyone else had gone through by the time mine came through. My wife and I headed for customs, where the inspectors had been waiting for us for some time. They were clearly ready to go home for a cold one.

When you go through customs, you push a button, and you get a red light or a green light. Green light means you don't get searched; red light means you do. Until that day, I had never seen anyone get a red light. I wondered if it was all a bluff.

Of course, we got the red light.

I thought the customs inspectors were going to cry.

You had to be there, but it was pretty funny at the time.

Hey, have a great time!