Mexico Tips Wanted!

Enterprise_1701C

All the advice on here is sound, but there is one piece of advice I have not seen. ALWAYS keep a bottle of water with you, even when just going shopping. The heat is VERY DRYING.

This is especially true at places like Tulum etc, the heat is reflected by the rocks, we saw several people pass out due to simple dehydration.

danielley

Thanks all very much for your replies, I am so excited, apart from the fact that colleagues keep winding me up that there will be loads of Tarantulas around!!!

lady1964

Jane_Blackford wrote: »

All the advice on here is sound, but there is one piece of advice I have not seen. ALWAYS keep a bottle of water with you, even when just going shopping. The heat is VERY DRYING.

This is especially true at places like Tulum etc, the heat is reflected by the rocks, we saw several people pass out due to simple dehydration.

I did put that in my post

millzy79

Just wanted to say first of all good luck for your big day.

My wife and I stayed in the Occidental Grand 3 years ago, it was where I actually proposed so still have good memories of it. The resort itself is excellent, about 90 minutes away from the airport.

The hotels private beach is only quite small, but it's also enclosed in it's own bay which makes snorkelling very easy and the fish are amazing.

Also, right next door to the hotel is the Xcaret wildlife park. It's about 5 minutes walk along an adjoining path from the hotel. It's an absolutely excellent day out with shows and wildlife, you can even pay to swim with the dolphins if you wish. Not sure how much the park tickets are, but a little trick is let the concierge for your apartment block know it's your honeymoon, they will sign you up to have someone show you around their club class rooms (timeshare!). Afterwards, just politely decline any offers they make (we said we were saving for own place and couldn't afford any holiday homes), and they give you two free tickets for the park.

So jealous of you right now as I am sure you'll have an excellent honeymoon in this brilliant resort.

vwelsh13

ooh you will love it, came back from gran bahia prinpice recently ooh heavenly

JUst watch out for mozzies..some local stuff called OFF is best, thje jungle formula didnt work

minimad1970

vwelsh13 wrote: »

JUst watch out for mozzies..some local stuff called OFF is best, thje jungle formula didnt work

I used Jungle formula and all it did was stick my sandal to my foot:eek:

danielley

It's getting nearer now, we go a week on Saturday, hope that all the hurricane weather is long gone.

A colleague has mentioned that the Mexican officials dont like you bring US Dollars into the country and may conviscate them from you at the airport...Does anyone know if this is true?

Thanks

danielley

Also, if you have been, where did you book your trips? Was it at the hotel or through your rep?

lady1964

Hi,
We were in Mexico in July/August and we had around US$100 with us when we arrived, they weren't taken off us, we just had them in a wallet.
As for trips, we checked prices direct on the internet before we went, asked the hotel tour desk for their price, realised it was lower on the net, so we used the computers in the exec lounge that we had free access to. We saved around £70 by doing it that way. We didn't book a coach transfer as we had a hire care included in our hotel deal, but petrol was dirt cheap - we filled the tank of a hyundai jazz size car for about US$18.....
Have a wonderful time x

Kathy535

Hi. We went to Mexico in May for our honeymoon and it was fab. We took a mixture of $ and Pesos and used pesos for the beach tips as the 20 peso notes are waterproof and used the $ for dinner, night drinks etc. I agonised about what to take but found that staff didn't show any preference at all.

We didn't take any excursions as I got food poisoning on the second day and that ate into our holiday quite a bit (but I did come back home weighing much less than when I went so there's always a silver lining!) but the 'Edventure tours' got really good reviews and seemed reasonable so we had been intending to book when we arrived.

Cancun airport was manic. As you leave the airport you are besieged with people calling to you and trying to take your cases. When some saw the transfer logo on my paperwork they professed to be the tour operator in question but the real operators were much further on. Check your paperwork, it may say what uniform the drivers will be wearing and what to look out for. Apparently, the fake operators drive you somewhere and then ask for more money to take you to your hotel.

Staff in our hotel were fantastic, it made me ashamed to think how the UK approaches the service industry, we have nowhere near as much enthusiasm and grace when dealing with customers.

We took plenty of sunscreen and mozzie repellant (deet based boots own) although DH didn't use it and didn't get bitten.

The exit tax varies depending on the exchange rate. When we left you could pay in £, $ or pesos. It was cheaper (slightly) to pay in pesos. I can't remember how much it was now but I think about about £60 - 70 each.

Have fun.