Back in the 1970’s, Hughes Air West (which is now defunct) had a special promotion to Mexico called Paradise for Pesos. Mexico was a very inexpensive destination in those days. Many Gringos from the USA and Canada flocked to Mexico as the dollar had a lot of buying power – hence the phrase Paradise for Pesos.

Flash forward to 2008, the cost of paradise has gone up. Although Mexico is no longer cheap and the dollar is no longer king, a holiday in Mexico is still relatively affordable compared to one of USA’s vacation playgrounds – especially when considering one of Mexico’s many all-inclusive resorts.

To give you an idea of the cost of a holiday in one of Mexico’s small beach towns, I have been keeping a log of my daily expenses in La Manzanilla aka My Secret Paradise.

• Hotel expense, Single occupancy at Posada Tonala (2 star hotel)…… $29
• Eating expenses (Breakfast, snacks and dinner)… $20
• Cerveza, drinks and snacks…. $6

Total daily expense…. $55USD

FYI, a Taxi from Manzanillo Airport to town (about a 45 minute ride) is $59 or $118 R/T

So, my daily expense is roughly $55USD day (give or take a peso). Now if you’re a heavy drinker (my average is about less than one alcoholic beverage per day), you will be spending more money of course. My hotel by the way - Posada Tonala - is the best hotel in town and an excellent value- clean, friendly, secure and comfortable. Highly recommended.

Bottom Line -while Mexico may no longer be Paradise for Pesos, it is still an affordable destination.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 1st, 2008 at 9:49 am and is filed under Mexico, travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.