Is Mexico too dangerous to get off the boat?

[swedish weave]

I so can not wait for this cruise

 

Take some fake magnetic bullet holes for the taxi and some halloween fake blood. Get pics and post them when you get back. PS Enjoy your trip !!!:p

[dforeigner]

Where can a person obtain accurate information on this type of activity ?

 

I have a similar problem in the Los Angeles area, because nearly all of those killed in gang violence are reported as "good family men" "innocent bystanders" and "not gang members". I would like to find a reliable accurate source of information for both Mexico and California.

 

Perhaps that would allow me to assure my safety in both places.

 

That information has been posted before but the moderator keep removing the links.

[philsfun]

We just return from the Mexican Riviera on Dec 4th. It was our first time. I felt completely safe and I can say there was ALOT of police and military presence in Cabo and Mazatlan. I would not hesitate to go back and feel completely safe. Enjoy...Diane:p

[quincytoo]

We just return from the Mexican Riviera on Dec 4th. It was our first time. I felt completely safe and I can say there was ALOT of police and military presence in Cabo and Mazatlan. I would not hesitate to go back and feel completely safe. Enjoy...Diane:p

 

Are you saying that no one shot at you, tried to mug you, you did not see dead bodies laying scattered in the streets??? Sigh....come on Diane, a few posters here are telling us how dangerous, horrible and war struck Mexico is all over the country.....what you are saying is contradicting them :D

 

Glad to hear you had a good trip :)

[philsfun]

Are you saying that no one shot at you, tried to mug you, you did not see dead bodies laying scattered in the streets??? Sigh....come on Diane, a few posters here are telling us how dangerous, horrible and war struck Mexico is all over the country.....what you are saying is contradicting them :D

 

Glad to hear you had a good trip :)

 

We had a blast. Took our 14 year old son...We would go back next week, if we hit the lottery :p

[CruisinChris412]

All of the above actually happened in touristy Mazatlan???? Please provide links.....

 

I think you do need to talk to the people that live there....but something tells me your mind is already set on painting all of Mexico with the same brush.

 

FYI Don't come to Vancouver BC anytime soon, a well established higher end neighbourhood just had a huge gang shoot out leaving 10 people badly hurt, Vancouver also has more yearly murders then Mazatlan, PV and Cabo combined. Something I am sure your area of the States has never seen :rolleyes:

 

Mazatlan is the biggest city of the Mexican Riviera cruise, some where around 500,000+, and it is in Sinaloa. I would naturally expect problems to surface there.

 

I've already explained my thoughts that Cabo is in a unique location in Mexico, and I'd be shocked to hear that Cabo experiences the problems as other destinations on the "mainland" Mexico (off the peninsula). Puerto Vallarta seems to be classier, but I recall incidents happening there.

 

When I visited Mazatlan, a retired American I met cautioned me of the dangers of Mazatlan since it was the battleground of the drug cartels fighting of Sinaloa, but he claimed he never had problems.

 

I've been entertaining the idea of visiting Mazatlan for 2 or 3 months. A co-worker from Mexico City told me it's one of the more dangerous cities and that I should consider several other cities. Another co-worker from Veracruz has a good friend that lives in Mazatlan, and he cautioned me against the idea of visiting Mazatlan.

[Ine]

For the 3rd time we are staying in Puerto Vallarta during the whole winter, 4-5 months. We are retirees, love Mexico, its people, its climate etc.

Before those winterstays we have had various shorter visits to this country.

I notice that those questions most of the time come from americans, hardly ever from canadians.

I have talked to many canadians coming here also for a winterstay by car or RV (!!!) all the way from Canada, travelling in about 7-10 days. None of them had any problems on their journey through Mexico. Not this year or any other year before.

Maybe the canadians are informed without overdoing the possible drugproblems?

If a shooting e.g. takes place in the USA it is briefly(or hardly) mentioned, if the same happens in Mexico it seems it is repeated on TV over and over....

In general those places along the Mexican Riviera are safe. Thousands and thousands of cruisepassengers are visiting, apart for the many "snowbirds"having a great time during winter.

[gomexico]

For CruisinChris412:

 

Most of what's happening in the war, and other terrorist activities, and most general crime ... doesn't get reported outside of the local areas where these things are taking place. If anything the media - nationally in Mexico - and internationally outside of Mexico - under-reports the events.

 

"Local advice" is an important component in learning what's happening. But the best of that information comes from Mexicans and not foreigners vacationing in the country. The challenge for local residents, though, is gaining access to information from parts of their community away from the street they live or work on. That's where the reliance on the local media comes into play. Rumors and gossip abound.

 

The areas of the country engaged in the war others seeing terrorist activities are those which are still "in play" when it comes to drug cartels controlling the drug trade and mafia-like endeavors generally. An area, such as the state of Sinaloa - in which Mazatlan is situated - is dominated by a certain, strong cartel and, therefore, the warfare we see along the USA/Mexico border, in other states and scattered terrorist activities don't seem to occur often in Mazatlan.

 

While the general crime situation in Mazatlan might have increased the bigger, more dangerous ones don't seem to have. It might be about the general crime situation the person you mention was referring to, and not the acts of terrorism. The quietness as far as major events doesn't mean there's not risk in the area, only that the criminal activities are controlled by a certain, specific organization.

 

Corruption by police and local government officials is what I most often see referred to by expats living in and visiting Mazatlan. Particularly so police corruption - where tourists have been singled-out for extortion, bribes, other shakedowns. I don't think I've ever seen reference here, on this forum, to a cruise passenger being victimized in this way though. And, although relatively few cruise passengers know of or post to this forum - I suspect the number victimized in any way during visits is probably very small.

 

The situation in Mexico has deteriorated badly and isn't something you'll see in your home country - be that Canada or the USA - so comparisons are meaningless - other than to point-out how very bad it is in parts of Mexico. Of all the ports-of-call along the Pacific Coast of Mexico, I think the only one where visitors of all types should pay particular attention to safety risks is Acapulco. At least one cruise line has dropped Acapulco from some of its stops so fewer passengers will be visiting there. The challenge in assessing risks is, though, that many of the incidents taking place away from the principal war zone are spontaneous, occurring without warning. The unexpected isn't something we can prepare for, not very well.

 

But, back to Mazatlan: For me, personally ... I would not hesitate to visit. It's not my trip, though - and what I might feel comfortable doing others might not. The advice/commentary any one of us here gives is given at no risk to our own safety.

 

Best wishes for a joyous holiday!

[sailandcruise]

posted today, available here: http://travel.nytimes.com/2010/12/26/travel/26prac-Mexico.html?hpw

 

Key sentence: Popular resort areas, including Mazatlán, Puerto Vallarta, Ixtapa and Cancún’s resort strip are generally safe for travelers.

 

I'm looking forward to my visits to Mazatlan and Puerto Vallarta early next year.

 

Happy holidays and enjoyable cruising to all.

[gomexico]

Key sentence: Popular resort areas, including Mazatlán, Puerto Vallarta, Ixtapa and Cancún’s resort strip are generally safe for travelers.

 

As travel promotion articles go - and they are usually articles suggested by national tourism boards or big-spender advertisers - the NY Times piece gives a reasonably good overview of the situation - the questions raised by people unfamiliar with Mexico. A good article for a newspaper such as the NY Times.

 

The quote, above, though, is incomplete - here it is in its entirety:

 

"Popular resort areas, including Mazatlán, Puerto Vallarta, Ixtapa and Cancún’s resort strip are generally safe for travelers, Mr. Miller said, particularly if visitors stay within the resort’s boundaries. “Mexico is a volatile place,” he said. “You have to have your itinerary planned out quite well, consider transportation and stay abreast of latest developments.”

 

The paragraph reinforces what I've said in my own comments, and draws the distinction that safety comes from confining yourself to secured resort properties and pre-planning your activities (as contrasted to just wandering off exploring spur of the moment). Other comments of the personal security consultant about travel to Acapulco (in the same linked story) mirror those which I have posted before.

 

Have a great holiday, everyone.

[JRinPV]

I can only reply about PV, but that statement "particularly if visitors stay within the resort’s boundaries." is complete rubbish.

[star gazer]

Sapphire visited PV, Mazatlan and Cabo last week; to me, I felt just as safe as my first visit in early 2000.

Stone Island is a fun place to tour and had lunch at Lety's. http://www.letysrestaurant.tk

 

The biggest problem I had was finding stamps in Mazatlan and Cabo to mail postcards. Now, I finally understand the definition of a Mexican mile.