Question from a newbie

Welcome!

I break my detector down to fit in my carry on luggage, but remove the batteries and store them in the checked luggage. We have a few forum guys that moved to Cancun and surrounding areas....I'm sure they'll chime in with more details.

-David

I've been to Cancun a bunch of times - but never to metal detect. Generally, nobody cares what you do as long as you tip. Not many rules in Cancun, but if you do break the "law" you'll need to bribe the "police" and they will let you go. Honestly, I would be careful out there. The beaches can be sketchy. I doubt you'll find any legitimate restrictions though.

I've heard others mention Cancun and other Mexican resort areas. Maybe the will post before you go.

Might want to repost with Cancun in the title.

You'll be fine (safe) to detect the beach at your hotel/resort.

Cancun is fine, you will see where the resorts put the beach chairs out during the day and then drag them back in at night, those can be good spots to hit early in the morning before the chairs get put back out. ALL beach is public in mexico, it is known as the federal zone, and because of this even if you are not staying at the ritz carlton you can still detect in front of it...Sometimes if you get too close to the hotel walls they will just ask you to move ten feet further out, but that's it...

I've detected there before and you'll be fine! I also detected at Xcaret.

Metal Detecting in Cancun

Thank you to everyone that responded. Big help to a newbie.

Bob, seems you've gotten mostly "no problems" and "Help yourself" type answers. But here's how you can change that: Contact a government archaeologist in the government there. Talk about historic "artifacts" and "take" and "remove" and "relic" (afterall, it's *entirelly* possible you *might* find an old coin). Or if you intended to spirit the finds out of the country , then you might run afoul of export laws, etc... So talk to enough suit & tie lawyers there, and ....... like the archie, .... sure, you'd eventually find someone to say "no".

Ok, now hurry, go do the right thing and ask, couched in the proper terminology

Seriously now, we all go by the "does anyone really care" test of things.

Bob Kay.

You will be detecting the beach along the resorts, right? If you find the hidden Mayan, Incan, or whatever treasure, turn it over to the proper authority and don't try to smuggle it in the 50 new suitcases you just bought to bring it back. That way Tom can't say I Told You So.

Grumpysrb said:

.... That way Tom can't say I Told You So.

Click to expand...

haha. My jestful answer is with a certain past event in mind:

In the early 1980s, Fisher Co. used to have a monthly (or quarterly?) periodical that went out to all their customers. And in each newsletter, they had this Q&A column where folks could write in their questions to the editor, about md'ing related topics.

In one of those editions, a reader had written in that they were about to vacation at one of the Mexican beach resorts (I forget exactly which one), so they wanted to know what the laws of Mexico were, regarding the use of detectors.

Fisher's answer was to "leave the detectors at home" and that it was not allowed or illegal or whatever. In the very next edition, several other readers had written in to take exception to Fisher's answer. Saying things like "since when?" and "where did you get that info?" and "we go there all the time with no problem", etc...

So Fisher, in defense of their earlier answer, explained that when they'd gotten the first question, they merely passed it on to a border consulate type lawyer person . I mean, hey, who better to ask, THAN MEXICO THEMSELVES, eh ? And they were merely passing on the answer they got back.

See how silly and arbitrary that is ? No doubt some pencil pusher couched the answer in terms of raiding the pyramids, or exporting gold bars back over the border, or cultural heritage things, blah blah blah. But the *reality* is, that detectors are a common site on the tourist beaches. And that there's dealers down there in the bigger cities (even fisher dealers! doh!).

Hence proving the old addage: "Sometimes no one cares .... UNTIL you ask"