Female traveling from Atlanta, carry on luggage only

[Dan G]

There you go actually reading the post again Gordon.... If everyone were like you how would we end up with yet another thread about restaurants from a "What time does the first ferry leave in the morning?" post?!

Are we supposed to read the question before we answer?? Missed that email......so what restaurant do you recommend?

The only possible correct answers in the Cozumel Forum are

A) I always use pesos
B) Palancar Bricks
C) Taxi driver
D) Caletta

 

[Christi]

It's interesting that a few have commented on the expense of the sunscreen here - it's expensive in the states too $8-10 or more a bottle at even Walmart. The spray on sunscreens here run about $210 pesos ($11.66 usd today). A rub on lotion or oil is between $150 and $180 pesos ($8-$10usd today). So really only $1-$2 more here.

As far as shampoo and conditioner - also a very wide selection from cheap herbal essence stuff to tresemme and the Organics and John Frieda brands - including sulfate free shampoos and conditioners - also Dial body wash in several scents as well as a wide variety of plain old bar soap. If you wanted high end shampoo, there are a few places on the island for that - but in that case I would bring your own.

Exchange rate is very favorable, especially at the grocery store or if using a USD credit card - let them charge your card in pesos and you'll. Get an even better exchange rate than the store would give you.

 

[kixy1]

^^What Christi said^^ We always buy our sundries for the trip when we get there.
Shampoo/soap/sunscreen/conditioner...etc is HEAVY and takes up room. It's easy to find someone who might want any of it that's left over at the end.
As a whole, taking into account one less bag fee and any sales, it definitely costs less than to haul it down. I can get 2 weeks of clothes and necessities in a carry-on so between the 2 of us we only need 1 checked bag (for that pesky dive equipment)
Of course, now that I've upgraded my CC I get the bags free, but we just pick up a cheap piece of used luggage at Value Village and fill it with all the stuff we can mule down. Somehow hauling OTHER people's stuff through the airport seems less irritating? LOL

 

[MMM]

Think about it for a moment folks. There are THOUSANDS of people every day stopping in cruise ships. While there are probably toiletries supplied by the ship, I see boatloads of them cruising through the toiletries section of Mega picking up stuff they need. There is NOTHING you can't buy here in that regard if you aren't brand-fussy.

 

[Lorenzoid]

I would say that whether it is "easier to purchase sunscreen, bugspray, body lotion on island" rather than take it in carry-on-sized bottles depends on whether you were planning to go shopping for other things anyway. I would guess that most visitors make at least one trip to one of the big stores to stock up on miscellaneous provisions for the week--snacks, alcohol, etc. If you were NOT planning on doing that kind of shopping, then maybe taking time out for a separate trek just for sunscreen, bug spray, and body lotion is not easier. Then again, the fact that you're asking this question suggests that these items are pretty important to you. So it seems like you wouldn't be bothered by a trip to the store.

 

[jlw225]

Thanks so much for the information! You are so helpful, is it still the same to convert to pesos via ATM card at airport? Using capital one debit card?

 

[jlw225]

Oops...Same directions after customs as previous sticky?

 

[ggunn]

Thanks so much for the information! You are so helpful, is it still the same to convert to pesos via ATM card at airport? Using capital one debit card?

My advice is to pay with US$ at the ticket counter in the airport for the shuttle and worry about getting pesos after you get settled into your hotel. Pay the cab in US$ to get to the ATM from your hotel (I use the bank owned ones in the Palacio Municipale - I am sure I mangled that spelling) and get pesos. The scene in the airport is nuts enough without having to deal with it there, the shuttle tickets will be at or near the official exchange rate, and one cab ride paid in $US won't hurt that much.

Oh, and if you haven't seen this yet, do not get sidelined by people trying to "help" you as you come out of Customs; they are trying to steer you to their tables to snare you into timeshare presentations. Go straight to the ticket window, get your shuttle ticket, and go straight out to the loading area. They will start trying to talk to you about "free" rental vehicles, but nothing is free.

 

[gopbroek]

If you want to use an ATM machine at the airport to get Peso's the last time I checked there were four Bank ATM machines. As you exit customs go left passed the helpful timeshare guys towards the ticket counter. The cluster of machines is in the passageway just prior to ticketing. The exchange rate is set by your bank not the machine plus a service fee for the ATM. Service fee seems to run from $30 - 60 MXN with Banamex and Santander on the low end and Scotiabank on the high end.

 

[Dan G]

If you want to use an ATM machine at the airport to get Peso's the last time I checked there were four Bank ATM machines. As you exit customs go left passed the helpful timeshare guys towards the ticket counter. The cluster of machines is in the passageway just prior to ticketing. The exchange rate is set by your bank not the machine plus a service fee for the ATM. Service fee seems to run from $30 - 60 MXN with Banamex and Santander on the low end and Scotiabank on the high end.

Do you consider these safer than the freestanding ATMs found on the island and as safe as the ones found inside of banks?