Banking in Baja

[ari51]

Aloha! We are starting Sea of Cortez cruising in one month. Anyone have tips for getting cash? Discover has great fees, and mastercard also, but are they in La Paz or Loreto? any advice welcome.

[DotDun]

Originally Posted by ari51

Aloha! We are starting Sea of Cortez cruising in one month. Anyone have tips for getting cash? Discover has great fees, and mastercard also, but are they in La Paz or Loreto? any advice welcome.

Internationally, I've never found rates that are cheaper than my ATM card...

[svseawitch]

We've been to Mexico a number of times. We usually take a lot of cash. We exchange some for Pesos when the rates are good. We have a Chase southwest card. It was accepted in lots of places and there was no exchange rate costs. Ensenada and San Jose Del Cabo (the new marina) had places to exchange US for Peso.


Note: You do have to be careful about walking around with a lot of cash. Much of Mexico is perfectly safe. And, the locals are great people.

[autumnbreeze27]

Schwab and Capital One have ATM cards that don't charge international fees.

ATMs give the best rate, don't bring USD cash to exchange, it's a pain.

[Sea Dreaming]

CIBanco is everywhere and usually have a guard posted at the ATM too. If you need pesos stick to exchanging at the banks. While we have not exchanged everywhere, the hotel's and money exchangers don't always give the correct exchange rate and often charge a fee that is higher than your ATM. The banks will post the exchange rate so you can check it out before you take out cash. Also businesses, even the mom and pop shops, will often accept US dollars and occasionally give a better rate than the bank. They will tell you the exchange rate before you buy.

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, Ari.

[dwedeking2]

Originally Posted by autumnbreeze27

Schwab and Capital One have ATM cards that don't charge international fees.

ATMs give the best rate, don't bring USD cash to exchange, it's a pain.

This. Plus Capital One has an online process for reporting that you're "traveling". The 2 years I lived down there I would just jump online every 3 months and reset the date on the travel alert. Never had a problem getting cash from an ATM (USD or Pesos, used to pay my landlord in USD).