AmbergrisCaye.com Home Forums The Cayes Ambergris Caye What is your planned daily budget?

Hi! I'm a little on the high maintenance side but I will tell you how I figured how much $ to take. I determined how much I would need for cabs and porters, Groome Transportation, Tropic Air, 2 snorkel trips, 2 day trips, Bowen order, water taxis, catamaran rental, parasailing, golf carts, and don't forget tipping...and then I added $100 a day. Also I shopped to my heart's content. The good news is that I only spent half of what I took. I took WAY too many clothes. You will see when you get there that comfort and coolness is far more important than style.

Hi,

How come people are talking about "taking" a daily budget amount of $$$ with them there ?

Don't they have ATM machines in San Pedro ?

cheers -- bintipa

I'm trying to get a baseline for budgeting our trip; maybe even give our banker a heads up before we ask for the "Had a great time" loan.

Having never been there, I rely on the board for the ATM answer. The "First Time to AC--Some questions" thread on 1/8 indicated there are ATM machines, but they don't take US cards. Maybe your Canadian card will work.

Your US ATM won't do any good on AC. Visa/ MC works well though. I usually use them for Airfare and Lodging as well as most of the shops and restaurants. The $100us a day is a good rule of thumb number. :p

100usd per day(per person) and then add drinking money.

I second that. mobunny

"100usd per day(per person) and then add drinking money."

That's another $100 usd per day.

4 cases of Belikin a day? That's alot even with 10 oz bottles!

NO it is not - a belikin costs in a bar around 2usd -unless you are going to drink in your hotel room which sounds pretty dull to me.

Hello fellow Mid Westerner. It is possible to do it for a lot less than $100 per person. I just came back from there with a third person (8yr old) and we spent $100 per day for all three and didn't feel deprived. Pretend like you're in college again. There's nothing wrong with having drinks in your room, especially when you're looking out at the beautiful sea and it's 80 degrees. I brought down some wine, fearing I wouldn't find good ones in my price range, but I later learned it's possible. Also, take some days to do nothing except lay on a hammock and read to make up for the $200 excursion days. Afterall, it's the weather - the sun - the sand and snorkeling plus some scenic adventure you're after. (You can drink lots of beer in Nebraska, but you can't get a tan). On AC, for a mid-priced but VERY good dinnner, (our fanciest, besides new year's at Taste of Thailand) we went to El Patio. Sometimes we had appetisers as our entrees. You'll figure out how to do it. Also there's no reason you can't walk nearly every where. Even my whiny 8 year old could manage a walk from putt putt to the end of town. We only took a taxi once while there.
I echo the don't worry about the clothes business. Long sleeve coverups are good ideas as are multiple hats and bathing suits. We managed to get home with very little burned skin. (Don't scrimp on the tips though, it doesn't take much to make a big difference in someone's whose Weekly pay is $US150.) In general, it's cheaper on CC, snorkeling is $25 per person, and I bet you can bargain for the longer trips.