Over the course of 6 months, from November 19 to May 9 our cost to cruise was $11,974.30. How much anyone else wants to spend is up to their tastes. We spent most of our time anchored out except when we had visitors Aboard Astraea. When that happened we pulled into a marina to make it easier for them. If you’re interested in more information about the cost to cruise Mexico, our friends on Terrapin post their cost to cruise each month.
Our bank has great online graphs that I used to visually show how much we spent on various categories.
Overall finances for 6 months cruising in Mexico.
The above graph shows “Others” from the first graph.
This is the “Entertainment” breakdown from the first graph. Anything boat related went here along with our kindle purchases.
ATM/Cash Withdrawals
Most of our expenses were covered under $4,244.46 in ATM withdrawals. We paid for all the boat parts in Mexico with cash except new batteries that cost about $550.00. We did most of our provisioning and paid cash at local grocery stores and neighborhood markets.
Other things we spent money on but weren’t really cruising related are listed under Travel. That’s our Tufesa bus tickets and American Airlines tickets. Before we got off the boat we ordered a new solar panel kit from Defender Marine (about $900.00).
It all the major towns and cities ATMs were easy to find . The exchange rate when we were in Mexico was around 15 Pesos to the US Dollar.
Credit Cards
Most of the info on the graphs came from the merchant’s category and was automatically sorted by our bank. We used our credit card in Mexico at reputable stores like Wal-Mart, the grocery store Chedraui, and the marinas without any trouble. By using our credit card at those stores it kept us from walking around with lots of cash.
Our tips for provisioning while cruising Mexico are to buy things at the local stores little by little instead of making big runs to the grocery store. It’s harder to transport and store all that food when it arrives at the boat. It’s also more stressful to take a big trip, arrange transportation and stow everything. We’re cruising, so we take it easy!
Insurance
We carry Mexican liability insurance on our boat through Rowcliffe’s Insurance. Our liability policy cost $286.90 and was good through all of Mexico. Most US based policies are only valid through Ensenada. Mexican liability insurance is required through a Mexican company with the policy in English and Spanish. When we were stopped by the Mexican Navy they wanted to see our liability insurance and each marina we visited also needed a copy for us to stay.
Heathcare
Healthcare in Mexico is professional and surprisingly affordable. We did pay a 500 peso gringo tax (cash only) on top of our 150 peso bill in Ensenada when we got Sully’s head wound checked out before our passage to Turtle Bay. We paid about $45 for peace of mind knowing Sully was seen by a pro.
Eating out
We ate out many nights in La Cruz with friends. It was easy to get off the boat at about 6pm and make our way into town, meet up with friends, grab a few beers from a neighborhood store and then eat street tacos. All the street taco shops we ate at didn’t serve alcohol but allow you to BYOB.
Telecommunications
We got a Mexican sim card for our phone in Cabo San Lucas so we could call home using Skype. A 4 GB data package cost about $30 a month. We used it mainly for updating the blog, emailing, Facebook and calling home. With the Skype app on our phone we could use all our American cellphone contacts and call easily. If we really wanted, we could have gotten a Skype US phone number so friends and family could still call us.
We also use a Delorme InReach for text messaging and the Where is Astraea portion of our blog. It’s a great investment so we can communicate with friends and family from anywhere in the world. The service costs us $50.00 a month.