Securely Travel Travel Securely
Are you thinking about a Mexico vacation? Is it safe to vacation in Mexico? Perhaps you have a business conference or client in Mexico, do you travel to see them or make them travel to see you? What impact do the many travel advisory, travel alerts, safety alerts or travel warnings for Mexico or locations within Mexico by various governments have on your travel plans? These and other questions are no doubt front of mind to all considering a Mexico vacation or business trip.
Before we get started, full disclosure. I have lived in Mexico and continue to vacation and travel to Mexico since the late 1980s. I also speak passable Spanish, with an accent from the DF (Mexico City), because that is where I learned my Spanish. For me, Mexico is a wonderful country, with genuine people, a truly interesting history. Every time I visit Mexico, I feel immersed in a welcoming sea of the many Mexican cultures. Not to mention the cuisine, which will satisfy any gourmands tastes.
When you ask a Mexican what are the country’s two major problems, you will hear crime and corruption (you may be nodding your head, as it isn’t unique to Mexico). I have been watching the politics in Mexico, there has always been undertones of corruption, and those who are corrupt are suborned or manipulated by those intent on criminal enterprises. The two go hand in hand. The visibility of the corruption began to percolated upward to where we are today with more than a few former governors of various Mexican states who are currently in prison, or under investigation or indictment for crimes committed while in office. In addition, there is no denying that violent crime is present in many cities, including some of the cities which are synonymous with the Mexican tourist industry. For example, one can see that the violence we are witnessing in Quintana Roo (home to Cancun, Playa Carmen, Isla Mujeres and Cozumel) followed closely behind an event, Mexico had extradited from Panama a former Governor with deep connections in the state, to face corruption charges in early 2018.
Let’s separate the FUD (Fear-Unknown-Doubt) which many are sharing from the reality, of how to stay safe in Mexico while on vacation. To accomplish this, I reached out to a number of individuals resident in Mexico, both expats and Mexican citizens for their optic on their local situations in locales including the states of Quintana Roo, DF, Jalisco, Baja California Sur and Guerrero. My intent is, to reduce the odds that during your vacation or business trip you inadvertently place yourself in danger. While no one can reduce the odds to zero, to accomplish that, stay home. A few common sense tips and research, and you can bring the odds of something bad happening to a good person down considerably.
I reached out to noted international journalist, Verónica Calderón, who is from Michoacan and lives in Mexico City, to get her advice. I asked her to help me provide info for the visitor to Mexico who had no area knowledge nor any knowledge of the Spanish language. She jumped right in. “Like any country, there are areas where individuals may place them self at greater risk than others.” That said, she encouraged visitors to Mexico, noting the hospitable nature of the country as a whole. She commended to my attention the recent series of short videos on Mexico which the comedian Conan O’Brien had made which were largely well received (see Conan’s video at the end of this piece).
Calderón’s specific pieces of advice for a traveler to Mexico includes:
- If you don’t speak the language — rely on your hotel concierge or hosts for directions and reservations.
- Do not be afraid to ask the question: “Where should I not go!”
- Don’t do drugs — Those who use and purchase drugs are putting themselves in danger. You are coming in direct contact with the most violent of side of the Mexico criminal world and as a foreigner you are making yourself a target.
- The next couple of months in the run up to the national election may be more tense than other times, pay attention.
- Keep your mind open, learn from your hosts and above all, enjoy all that Mexico has to offer.
Is it safe to travel to Cancun or Playa del Carmen area for my Mexico vacation or business trip?
Yes, it is still safe to travel to Cancun or Playa del Carmen area? Let’s look at the facts, and then you decide if you are comfortable traveling and how it measures up to US destinations, Miami, Chicago, etc. It is, after all, your vacation.
Political and Criminal Landscape reality: The administration of Roberto Borge (Governor 2010-16) is accused of being extraordinarily corrupt, fleecing significant funds from entrpereneurs as the tourist industry buildout throughout the state continued. The former mayor of Playa del Carmen, Mauricio Góngora, has also been arrested, on similar corruption charges. Add to this the influx of the drug cartel, Jalisco New Generation Cartel, and their initiation of a turf war with gulf cartels already in place, and things get dicey. To be clear, we see the political status quo having been upset, and the “way business is done being adjusted” and with the cleaning the political house leads to the perceived vulnerability of the resident crime organizations.
The risk that localized vendettas, such as the early-April incidence of 14 killings in 36 hours in Cancun, or the explosion on the Playa del Carmen - Cozumel ferry are two examples of the type of violence which may appear at any moment. The United States Department of State’s travel advice to citizens and US government employees:
Tourist or Business travel: None of the above is focused on, or should affect an individual visiting Mexico, Quintana Roo State specifically. Tourists were not being targeted, but tourists could be in the wrong spot at the wrong time. as detailed in the US government warning.
We conducted an exchange with blogger, “Soy Mamá Blog” who is resident in Cancun, and had previously worked as a concierge at one of the tourist hotels. She strongly urged that tourists confine themselves to the “normal” tourist areas, such as the Cancun Hotel Zone. For those who are a bit more adventurous, she shared, “Arrive in Cancun with a plan. Use the services of the hotel, do not take tours from which ever vendor shows up in front of you to sell you the tour because it is more economical.”
Lleguen a Cancún con un plan, asesórense DENTRO de sus hoteles y no compren tours en cualquier lado sólo “porque se ve más económico”.
— Soy Mamá Blog (@soy_mama) April 26, 2018
Good advice for any traveler, to any location.
Is it safe to travel to Puerto Vallarta and Mazatlan areas for my Mexico vacation or business trip?
I will admit my personal bias, I love both of these cities, and have spent Christmas or New Year’s in both over the years. That said, one must utilize caution and common sense when moving about either of these cities or their nearby neighbors. With respect to Puerto Vallarta, the US Government warns of the presence of crime in both Jalisco and Nayarit states. While Mazatlan, located within Sinaloa state carries a much higher level of precaution and warning. The advice for travelers - stay within the tourist zones.
I reached out to a long time friend, an expat who lives along the coast in the state of Nayarit and asked him what he was observing, and if over time he has had to adjust his lifestyle do to the influx of crime or other concerns. He noted that he had not seen any changes in the security protocols, in the past year, and it was very much business as usual. Both expats and visitors feel very safe here and travel from San Pancho / Sayulita to Puerto Vallarta with regularity. Driving to market is as normal as driving about the Seattle suburbs. Whether or not the Naval Base in Puerto Vallarta may have an effect on the security is unknown, but perhaps. He noted that there had been talk of building a Marine base in the Punta Mita area. A significant measure of stability, the real estate prices continue to move up precipitously in the Punta Mita, Rivieria Nayarit, and Puerto Vallarta areas, no one seems overly concerned.
I have had a personal experience where I and my spouse were in a taxi going from the Embarcadero area of Puerto Vallarta to the Marina District, a very straightforward route and ran into a personal safety issue. The taxi driver called someone on his cell phone and began discussing his two passengers, his description, “an old one with a beard and his wife.” My Spanish language skills were sufficient to understand from the tone of the conversation that we were the topic of the conversation. Not having revealed that I understood Spanish, at the next stop light, I tapped my wife and we exited the taxi. From outside, I explained, in English, we had changed our mind, handed him the fare and walked away. Were we being targeted for a timeshare sales pitch upon arrival at the Marina or something more nefarious, I’ll never know, nor did I need to know, I sensed danger.
With respect to Mazatlan, if one stays in the historical center and Zona Dorado, the consensus is the odds of encountering unexpected trouble is greatly reduced. Similarly, the nearby towns of Los Mochis and Port Topolobampo. Travelers without language or local area knowledge should confine themselves to the services offered by established tour organizers, available through the concierge of their hotel or via established tour operators.
Guadalajara, with its very large expat community, is considered a safe area for travel. That said, there are rumored to be over 21 gangs which call Guadalajara and environs home. Earlier in April 2018, three students went missing and were later found to have been murdered. Arrested was Christian Omar Palma Gutierrez, the rapper known as Qba, who often rapped about the grittiness of his life. Investigators said that he confessed to dissolving their bodies in acid as part of his work with a notorious drug cartel.
Three Mexican film students who went missing in March in Guadalajara, in the state of Jalisco, were kidnapped, tortured and killed, and their bodies were dissolved in acid, authorities said. via @NBCLatino https://t.co/iZXhg08XMc
— NBC News (@NBCNews) April 25, 2018
I hear that Acapulco is unsafe and I should not consider going their for a vacation in Mexico.
The state of Guerrero is rife with criminal activity, especially inter-cartel violence which carries over to the streets of many towns and cities, to include Acapulco. That said, the same rules for visitors applies to Acapulco and neighboring Ixtapa / Zihuatanejo. Use established tour guides and confine your activities within the zones identified as tourist zones. The US Government has warned against any travel to or within the state of Guerrero. Their advice is plain:
That said, singer Luis Miguel gave a concert in Acapulco, his town, in late-March and early April of 2018. Noted Mexican journalist, Jose Cardenas, tells us how the hotel occupancy of Acapulco is exceeding 90 percent, indicative of an upturn in the number of tourists, both domestic and foreign visiting the city.
Is Mexico City safe to include in my Mexico vacation?
Having lived in Mexico City for a number of years, I can personally attest to the hospitality of the residents. And one must keep in mind that the metro area has 21.2 million people, congestion and traffic area a way of life. We asked some long time residents of the Districto Federal (DF) as Mexico City is known, what would their advice be to a visitor to Mexico City who had no linguistic skills, nor area knowledge? Marina Ortega, tells us, that this type of tourist is best served by using a professional guide to show them the sites. The individual should also avoid bad areas of town. Recognizing that a visitor may not know where the boundaries from one colonia (neighborhood) to the next are located, and thus a robust area full of tourists lays next to a colonia rife with crime, make sure the visitor knows, before leaving how and where they are going.
Another Mexico City resident, on Twitter with the name CrieandoCreando offers up this advice: “Hello. I live in Mexico City, where you will find museums and many places to visit. Some common sense advice [for the tourist] use taxis from the hotel, don’t go out into the city on an adventure and visit places which you are not familiar. The city has a variety of ample locations to visit, which are both interesting and safe. She continued, utilize the hotel tours which are offered at a good rate and don’t take taxis from the street, especially those without plates. Maintain yourself in the tourist zones.”
Hola, vivo en CDMX , donde hay museos y muchos lugares dignos de visitar.
Solo cosas de sentido común, toma taxis del hotel, no juegues al aventurero y no te metas a Tepito o lugares que desconoces, la ciudad ya tiene una amplia variedad de lugares interesantes y seguros— CriandoCreando® (@CriandoCreando) April 26, 2018
We’ll close with this piece of endorsement for travel to Mexico from the New York Times on 27 April 2018.
Mexico is still a destination of choice …
Travel operators bill Cancún and the adjoining Riviera Maya on Mexico’s Caribbean coast as carefree beach escapes with something for everyone from spring break partyers to families. But a wave of violence, linked to rival drug gangs, threatens travel in the region like a storm hovering on the horizon.
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