Tips? The most worry free thing to do is leave the detector at home.
Reports on detecting in Mexico generally run the gamut from no problems... to confiscated detectors and run-ins with the 'Federales'. I used to vacation there over several years and I found it to be spotty. Sometimes, they didn't care and other times they cared very much. The problem is, "policy" is too often dependent on the individual customs people you come face to face with when you arrive or depart.
Of course I'm expecting to find buckets of gold Doubloons and silver reales!
Then there is the sticky little business about removing 'antiquities' from Mexican soil as a non-citizen. The line defining just
what is an antiquity gets kinda fuzzy below the border - and YOU do not determine where that line is drawn. I've heard of everything from wedding bands to Colonial coins being called antiquities. Those whacky Mexicans are funny about that stuff, for some reason.
Mexican authorities, taken as a whole, are also not nearly as lenient as their American counterparts. This must be stressed.
They often demand an explanation as to WHY you are in their country with a detector and just WHAT you expect to find (or have already found).
They usually expect to be SHOWN, too, and will avail themselves to look. Your permission is tacitly granted, of course, by stepping upon their soil. The fact that they had an odd fascination with 9mm sub-machine guns factored in, too... everyone in uniform seemed to have one. I dunno - go figgure.
Thumbs up from your resort should also not to be taken as a blanket "OKAY," either. They are interested in your money, after all. But, they do not control your entrance and exit from Mexican territory; points of entry and egress is where you will encounter most problems.
I cannot recall ever being searched when arriving in country, so that is good. In general, keeping your detector on the down-low and saying nothing about it gets you in.
It's mostly when you exit that you will encounter problems. I had my effects searched at three different points in the same terminal, once, when going home.
It was random, too. You didn't know if you'd be searched or not, with some people being given hardly a second glance.
They were looking for smugglers, of course, and nowadays terrorists... but they are just as happy to find a gringo with a detector, sheepish look plastered on his face.
So what to do?
- Contact your resort and get their take on this.
You probably are not the first person to ask, so they may have the answers. Expect a long response time from them, however, and maybe several rounds to explain what you want. I recall one resort I contacted never responded to me, after repeated inquiries.
- Contact the Mexican Embassy and Board of Tourism.
Ask them what the regulations are. Email AND call them. Get names and be respectful - they like that.
Ask that they forward any documents necessary to make the passage a smooth one, signed by them personally if at all possible.
- Buy a used 'throw away' detector.
This should be one that works, but which you wont feel bad about if it must be surrendered.
- Be prepared to ship your detector to and from Mexico.
Odds are nothing will happen. You'll go to Mexico. You'll bask in the sun, drink little umbrella drinks and make love to your wife - often. Detecting will be icing on that cake and you'll come home with stories to tell. But Luck favors the Prepared Man.
WARNING - Someone is going to respond to this thread that they had NO problems in Mexico, that they detected as care free as they pleased. Someone always does.
Do not take their experience as 'carte blanche', a pass to head south lugging your detector.
Instead, find out from the RIGHT Mexicans and get it in writing whenever possible.
It will also be my first time detecting a saltwater beach...
). Anyway, I will just enjoy the holiday, and maybe inquire about renting a detector. Damn it, I want to use my Pro:veryangry:. Anyway, thanks for the responses, I will have to do some more research on the area I'm going to before I make a decision.