just wondering if most places have items priced in u.s.and their money nafls? what about like grocery stores? how to you convert the prices? do the grocery stores take credit if so is it then converted? mexico was easy when we went 10 pesos to the dollar. very very easy. i always hated math in school.lol (:

In some places prices are listed in American dollars and in NAFL. To convert from NAFL to $$ divide the amount by 1.75

As for credit cards, I don't know. I always take enough cash to Bonaire to pay for everything I need to buy while on island.

(Message edited by imdiverdan on May 16, 2008)

Daniel's formula works well.

I recall most of the groceries being priced in Guilders (Cultimara, Warehouse, etc.) but a few were in USD (Sand $, I think). That said, you can always ask after they ring them up and they will give you the price in USD or nafl.

One easy way to think of it is that a $20 bill equals about 35 guilders. Or that something that is about 8,50 guilders is about $5 US.

Ah, the whole credit card and grocery thing.
a) Last I knew most (all?) of the major grocers took credit cards. Some had a minimum charge (although that may have gone away) while others did not.
b) If I recall, some places did the charge in guilders and then the CC companies will do the currency conversion. Other did the conversion and then ran the charge in USD.
c) There are now fees that your CC issuer may impose for transactions involving foreign currency and/or goods purchased abroad. Check your agreement.
d) Sometimes the machines don't work (just like the USA) and some mecrhants don't take CCs so I would always have an alternative.
e) The exchange rate does not float much so that is not an issue either way.

What do I do? I tend to use my ATM and withdraw guilders. A few things there: some places do not like the larger bills (I think it was the 100 guilder) and remember some of the change has real value -- especially the 5 nafl coins.

Theresa, as others have said, prices in the grocery stores and most shops will be posted in guilders. Some shops, most notably Chat and Browse, will have items priced in both guilders and dollars. Some restaurants list prices in both dollars and guilders and most will convert your final bill for you. One thing not mentioned yet is that if you pay in dollars you will receive your change in guilders.

From the subject line, I thought the OP was asking how to spell NAF. Boy, was I excited! I finally get to trot out my pet scheme...

What is our currency called? Florin? Guilder? Heard them both...

I propose that we combine the two names and call it the...

   Flounder

Imagine how cool it'll be to spend Flounders at the Flamingo airport!

Now, if we can just figure out how to tie its value to the health of the reef...

The Flounder...cute..I imagine the $ and the fl. signs could be artistically rendered..though it sounds bit fishy to me. As for all our banks that issue merchant credit card accounts, they are in US dollars... Rule of thumb...take the guilder price, divide by 2 and add 10% for instance, it it is fl. 10 divided by two is 5 plus 10% equals $5.50 give or take a few cents.

Actually it has three names: gulden in Dutch, guilder in English, and florin in Spanish and Papiamento.

As for conversion, divide by 1.75 works, but is tough to do in your head. Divide by 7, multiply by 4 is two steps, but easier.

People get sticker shock from our grocery prices, but that is usually because they aren't comfortable with two different conversions going on at once. Easy rule: if something costs one guilder per kilo, that's 25 cents a pound in US. Dividing by 4 works to do that. If you see something that costs, say, 8 guilders/kilo, that's 2 bucks a pound.

Hopefully it will become a moot point if we convert to the $...looks like the changes will be a few years off however...thankfully.

thanks all of you for all the info. i love this message board. roger, flounder is very clever. i like that.(: i can't wait to go grocery shopping.to me it will be a fun learning experience. 5 more weeks and i will be blowing bubbles!!!

To about 10%: kilometers are to miles as flounders are to dollars ...just my rule of fin...

I dunno
Unless your buying a house or a car multiplying by 6 works fine. A fl.100 dinner check would come out $60 instead of $56 the exact amount . Close enough I would say. I nearly always pay in Florins myself.
Mick