bay islands and cash

[Robertcrockett]

Just wanted to remind anyone headed to Utila and bringing cash that shop owners are incredibly suspicious of worn bills and won't take them so make sure you bring new ones. I've had several refused...especially 10s or 20s.....or like me...if you have access to an iron you can wet a bill...iron it and it will usually pass muster. Bars on the other hand aren't near as picky over what they will take.

 

[calicant]

I save the most worn and ancient dollars for paying the airport exit tax and over enthusiastic street vendors.

 

[Doc]

Also avoid the "old" versions of our US money. Nothing taped together, either.

This isn't just Utila, it is worldwide. It all relates to the intaglio presses that we gave a Shah back when. Superdollar - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[laurenceh]

i once made the mistake of taking nothing but hundred dollar bills to utila. four of them developed tiny tears where they had been folded and no one, including the bank, would cash them. i had a pretty lean week with half my spending money useless.

 

[Stout]

I prefer taking hundreds, way less bulk, especially if you're travelling papillion style as it can be a challenge to get a few grand worth on tens and twenties "comfortably nestled".

It's easy to buy lemps a Archie's. No passport required, no maximum amount, no lineups and no aircon. The only difficult part is catching him when he's open. Excess lemps can be sold at the airport, at the same time you're paying the departure tax.

 

[Carl_F]

Or use the lemps to pay the exit tax.

Another currency that Bay Islanders are leary of is the dollar coin. I had several street vendors almost not accept my business when I was going to pay with some dollar coins.

 

[rob@diveinutila.com]

The bank is suspicious of dollars in general. There are many forged 20's in CA, it seems that is the most forged note. We had the bank refuse a few 20's and 50's that we had accepted because the borders looked odd. They passed every test we had but still one border was thicker than the other. Maybe forged maybe or maybe actually worth more than $20 to a collector!

Anyways, we are suspicious of anything that is not (almost) perfect because the bank is likely to give us a problem when we try & deposit them.

 

[RichKirby]

I'm glad I won't need much cash while I'm there.