This page shows all the Before Leaving Home topics in a single page, scrollable format.
Entering Mexico via CUN
As of sometime in 2023, to enter Mexico via the Cancun airport (CUN), all you need is a valid passport. Check your passport expiration date! It technically can expire while you are there, but to use the automated immigration e-gates, it needs to be valid for 6 months beyond your date of entry (and be an e-passport; look for the camera icon on the cover).
No longer needed/used at CUN:
- The Forma Migratoria Múltiple (FMM) tourist entry immigration card that we used to complete on the plane (or online after Covid).
- The customs declaration form that we used to complete on the plane. All stowed luggage is now scanned by customs officers before it ever reaches baggage claim (explaining why it takes 45 minutes minimum to get your bags).
- There are no Covid restrictions or immunization requirements.
How your entry is recorded depends on how you enter:
- If you enter via the immigration/passport control desks, your passport gets stamped (showing how long you can stay).
- If you enter via the e-gates, you get a printed receipt (instead of the stamp). Keep this receipt with your passport at all times. It’s your proof that you are legally in the country.
Exiting Mexico via CUN
To leave Mexico via CUN, all you really need is your passport. If you entered through the e-gates, it’s good to have the printed receipt as well, but rarely does anyone ask to see it. If they do ask and you don’t have it, you’ll usually just receive a good scolding and then they’ll let you proceed.
Occasionally, someone might approach you in the main departures area asking if you paid the visiTAX. They say it’s mandatory, but collection is not enforced and paying can only be done online, so paying it is essentially voluntary.
With people and camp activities spread out, we need a way to communicate. We use a WhatsApp community with chat groups.
To join the community, follow the instructions on the registration form when you register. Once you’ve been added, please navigate to PM Dances Community to ensure that WhatsApp is correctly installed on your phone and that you were successfully approved as a member of the community during the registration process.
Chat groups
For 2025, we’ve created the PM Dances Community WhatsApp community with these initial chat groups:
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Announcements is for daily camp announcements by staff only (no participant posting). This group is the main way we disseminate information during camp. All registrants are added to this group as part of camp registration.
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Dancer Chat (messaging currently disabled - we’ll let you know when you can start posting) is an unmoderated group for conversations about and at camp. All camp registrants can join the group. All participants can post. Not everyone will want to be in this group if it gets too verbose, so please reply privately with thank you, I agree, etc messages and conversations that don’t involve the whole group.
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Admin Team Only, as the name indicates, is a group for the admin team to communicate about behind-the-scenes stuff. There’s no need for any camp registrants to join this group.
Other specialty groups might be added based on need. For example, Post Camp will be added at the end of camp for people staying in Puerto Morelos longer (to use for logistics like Who’s in for dinner tonight at El Pesquero’s?).
How to navigate WhatsApp for camp
All groups related to this year’s camp are part of the PM Dances Community WhatsApp community. To access or join any of the groups:
- Navigate to the PM Dances Community. To do so:
- From your phone, in your Chats list, locate and tap PM Dances Community.
- From your computer, click the Communities icon, then click PM Dances Community.
- A list appears showing the groups you’re in and the groups you can join.
- To access, tap or click any group you’re in.
- To join, tap or click any group you can join to request access.
How to exit a group
All groups related to this year’s camp are part of the PM Dances Community WhatsApp community. To exit any of the groups:
- Navigate to the PM Dances Community. To do so:
- From your phone, in your Chats list, locate and tap PM Dances Community.
- From your computer, click the Communities icon, then click PM Dances Community.
- A list appears showing the groups you’re in.
- Tap or click the group you want to exit.
- Exit the group.
- From your phone, tap the group title banner at the top of the screen, then scroll down and select Exit group.
- From your computer, click the three dots in the upper right corner of the screen, then select Exit group.
How to reply privately
In our WhatsApp groups, when what you have to say doesn’t pertain to the whole group, reply privately to keep spamming to a minimum. For example, asking a follow-up question or commenting in a way that’s personal to the two of you. This practice helps to keep the interest level up for everyone. Thanks!
To reply privately from an iPhone:
- Press and hold your finger on a message until the menu pops up.
- Tap More…
- Tap Reply Privately.
This video demonstrates the steps.
To reply privately from an Android phone:
- Press and hold your finger on a message until the message highlights.
- At the top right of the screen, tap the three dots (…),
- Tap Reply privately.
This video demonstrates the steps.
How to install WhatsApp
On your phone
Installing WhatsApp on your phone is just like installing any other app. Simply search for it in either the App Store app on your iPhone or the Google Play Store on your Android phone.
On your computer
You can simultaneously use WhatsApp on your computer and phone. We highly recommend against downloading the computer version of the app to your computer because it’s buggy. Instead, use WhatsApp Web.
The easiest way to get started is:
- Attempt to access our WhatsApp community for camp.
- Click Join Chat.
- You’ll be presented a page that says the app is not installed. Instead of clicking Download, click use WhatsApp Web farther down the page.
- Follow the prompts to complete setup and request access to the chat.
Only dancers registered for camp can be approved.
To help keep everyone well, please:
- Be cautious in your interactions in crowded and indoor spaces for at least a week before traveling,
- Consider increasing your supplement intake for that week (especially Vitamins C and D, and zinc) and gargling with Listerine after social engagements to help keep you healthy.
- Consider wearing a mask while traveling to camp and anytime you ride a collectivo before or during camp,
- Don’t come to sessions if you are feeling ill or have symptoms.
Thank you for caring for all of us!
We are a fragrance-free camp! Please purchase fragrance-free shampoos and other toiletry items prior to your arrival.
- Some of our dancers are sensitive to fragrances and/or have chemical sensitivities. This means perfume, scented essential oils, cologne, any strong smelling body lotions, suntan lotions, and shampoos, even washing your clothes in strong scented detergent.
- Fragrance-free bug repellent:
- DEET-free: Sawyer’s Picaridin, Coleman Skin Smart
- With DEET: Sawyer Ultra 30, Sawyer Premium Controlled Release, Sawyer Family
Mexico plans
Refer to your mobile phone’s plan details to see if using your phone in Mexico is included in your plan to avoid surprises! For example, Verizon plans that don’t include Mexico charge $10/day or $100/month to use your phone outside of the US.
Some options for people without Mexico plans:
- Pick up a physical Telcel SIM card from Oxxo and choose a prepay plan at the checkout. You’ll get a Mexico telephone number with voice, text, and data.
- Other dancers report these companies offer good phone plan and/or SIM/eSIM card options:
- Simple Mobil
- Airolo - Get an eSIM through their app. This option is for data only, but it’s convenient, inexpensive, and it uses AT&T, Telcel, and Movistar, so you are almost assured good reception.
Wifi calling
Wifi is prevalent now in all PM hotels & most restaurants. If your phone plan doesn’t include Mexico and you don’t have a Mexico SIM card, you likely can get by with keeping your phone in airplane mode and using Wifi calling while in Puerto Morelos.
- To do so (at least for US iPhones) you have to go into your settings and enable a special Wifi Calling setting while in the US.
Wifi in the Cancun airport is a slightly different story. It’s prevalent, but requires logging in through a web browser and is typically only free for 30 minutes. If you are relying on Wifi calling to arrange your ride, be conscious of when you activate your free 30 minutes to ensure being able to connect with your ride.
When traveling internationally, it’s a good idea to have some local currency in your pocket when you arrive.
If you are getting a ride through us, you don’t have to pay in pesos. You can pay our drivers in US dollars and the pre-determined price we set is at the current exchange rate.
Puerto Morelos is a tourist town, so most places accept US dollars, but at a horrible exchange rate! Watch closely! We recommend paying in USD only as a last resort. Instead, this page describes better ways to acquire pesos.
The exchange rate lately (July/August) is highly in our favor. Now seems like a great time to convert some dollars.
Through your bank
Consider acquiring pesos from your bank at home before traveling.
- Most people opt to get at least some pesos ahead of traveling. Most banks require that you have an account with them and it takes a couple of days to “order” them. Check the exchange rates and admin fees for the best rates. They can vary widely. Google USD to pesos to see the current US Forbes rate. You’ll never quite get this rate, but more and more these days you can get within a few cents.
Pro tip: Remember to tell your bank(s) the dates you will be traveling in Mexico using your credit card and/or debit card to lower the chances of a fraud alert while you’re in PM.
At Mexican ATMs
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Exchange booths and ATMs at airports typically have bad rates, and Mexico is no exception.
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The exchange booths in PM give fairly decent rates. They are on the town square next to La Sirena and just past Chedraui on the ocean side.
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The ATMs in Mexico can be quirky and/or they regularly run out of pesos.
We strongly recommend using only ATMs that are physically connected to a bank and only when the bank is open. Much less scamming happens there and if the machine eats your card, the bank is there to help you recover it. The closest one to camp is at the entrance to the Chedraui in La Colonia just across the highway.
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Jan and Kevin created this video explaining the importance of declining the ATM exchange rate at Mexican ATMs. It saved them about 7%!
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Be sure you are using a debit card in ATMs. Most banks treat ATM withdrawal using a credit card as a cash advance, which immediately starts accruing interest charges on your entire outstanding balance.
Using credit cards
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Most places beachside take credit cards. Most places in La Colonia do not.
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Most basic credit cards charge a 3% foreign transaction fee. Check your cards and, if you don’t have one that waives the 3% fee, consider applying a credit card that does.
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For trust and transparency on their end, most places use a handheld credit card machine right in front of you. For your security and peace of mind, don’t let anyone take your credit card out of your sight.
Don’t use a credit card to withdrawal money from an ATM! The withdrawal is treated as a cash advance, which immediately starts accruing interest charges on your entire outstanding balance.
Using Wise
Wise is similar to PayPal and Venmo, but with a focus on international money transfers (to yourself as well as to others). More of us are using a Wise account these days because you can convert dollars to pesos whenever you feel the exchange rate is best. Their fees are very reasonable.