I have never used an ATM but wondering if I should get a card from my bank as they do not charge foreign ATM fees. However, do the ATM's in St. Maarten charge fees? I have a credit union account, not a major bank, and it is on the "Allpoint" network, which does not show up as being in St. Maarten.

We are taking $50/person/day in cash and do plan on using a credit card at the Grocery but I always live in fear of being short while on vacation. Is the cash we are allocating reasonable?

Definite newbie here on travelling out of the USA...

Any help/advice appreciated!

Credit Mutual has an ATM in Hope Estates that does not charge ATM Fees. You can get either USD or Euros.

Thanks!

If your credit card is one that does NOT charge conversion or transaction fees (one is Capital One) use that. Some restaurants give dollar equals euro if you pay cash.

We usually allow $800 cash per week for 2 people. Great dinners run around $100 for 2. Some evenings we spend less and some evenings spend more. We drink only wine with meals but buy a bottle of hard liquor for the room. So for us dinners average about the $100.

Toward the end of the week we depend on the credit card if we're running short. But we always seem to bring cash home.

If you plan on gift shopping that's a whole other story.

I agree with RonDon's suggestion about using a credit card. We use ours for most purchases, including restaurants and bars. We do always have enough cash with us to cover that day's expenses, just in case the credit card systems go down, which does happen. $50 per person per day would not be enough for us if we didn't use credit cards for most expenses. Credit cards are safer than cash or debit cards, and all those reward miles help pay for the next trip!

I use a travel Debit/ATM account with Bank of America. They have an association with ScotiaBank (their ATM's are present on the Dutch side) with no ATM fee. You can use dollars everywhere so no need to worry about currency exchange fees. I keep a nominal amount in the travel account in case my debit card gets compromised, then add funds via online transactions as I withdraw. Avoids packing down so much cash or having a lot on me or in the safe. I was a bit surprised after our fall 2013 visit as I found that my credit card when used at Dutch side grocers did charge a currency exchange fee, dollars to guilders. I now have one that does not. Also keep in mind that you probably will have to pay in cash for gas fill-ups if you have a rental car.
Have a great trip, you will love the island, diversity, and all the great beaches and great food.

GaKaye thanks for remembering to say the credit card machines do go down so must have cash. That happened to us at the little restaurant in Marigot---can't remember the name. It's down an alley across from the athletic field somewhere near Marakesh.

Well, we didn't have enough cash on us at that time so the kindly owner took our name, hotel and said we could just come back to pay. Of course we rushed back to the safe got the money and rushed back to pay. I thought that was a great risk for him. The coq au vin there was just too good to not return.

Rest of the day was spent arguing: "thought YOU took money ---no I thought YOU did. " Now we make sure to check before leaving our condo.

So, daily we should carry and use one credit card and enough cash to cover what we think we may be spending in case the system goes down or it is advantageous to use cash. My card charges 1% and I didn't think about it in time to get a Capital One card but in the grand scheme of the expense of this trip 1% will be negligible.

Meanwhile, gas stations only take cash? Not a credit card?

We use the Cadisco (sp)station near Orient Beach, they take cash only, as we found them to be the cheapest. I don't think any gas stations that we have used accepted credit cards.

It's sometimes advantageous to use cash on the French side, as some establishments offer 1:1 Euro:Dollar for payment in cash. Now that the Euro has fallen, that's no longer a huge advantage.

Check the terms on all of your credit cards, as more are jumping on the no fee bandwagon; you may have one and not realize it. Discover Card, while not as widely accepted on the island as Master Card and Visa, is one that also charges no fee.

A while ago someone mentioned a gas station that takes credit cards, but I'm afraid I don't remember which one that was. Our experience has always been cash only at gas stations.

There is a Cadisco station in Marigot. Going into Marigot, from the Dutch side, it is on the right side, after the drawbridge and Simply market. They do 1-1, and prices are usually less than the Dutch side.