Physical Security in Mexico - How Safe Is it ?

[zeehag]

The world is not cured of its ills with guns. Gun ownership CAUSES the world's ills, and can cause many for the individual carrying them while cruising.

Do NOT travel with em. Use a louisville slugger or camera or some loud voiced maniac-- works.

Turismo is highly valued in Mexico--is source of income for many places. Tthis yellow journalistic bs is causing that to diminish-- get over it and get on with life and enjoyment of that life.

What ye read in papers and such is not reality for an entire nation. is truth only in border towns.



btw--welcome , new guys!!!

[tankersteve]

Thanks to all who said hi.

I am normally a very pro-gun individual. Part of that is being in the Army and being very comfortable with them and part is always wanting to be self-sufficient, to include my and my family's safety.

However, in Mexico, petty crime and assault, the area where a gun may be actually useful, has a fairly low risk. If you really think you are going to defend yourself from drug runners, you better start packing like an infantry platoon, as the drug runners are similarly equipped.

In the US, guns are fine. Going elsewhere, they seem more headache than they are possibly worth.

Steve

[dc9loser]

Mexico can be dangerous. The US is much safer. That is a fact in spite of the many ignorant US-bashing claims on this thread.

If ya actually look at the stats instead of gushing about how nice people are you will quickly learn that definitively.

My daughter was in Mexico City at a wealthy social function and one of the body guards out front was robbed and beaten. Some parts of Mexico are a war zone.

Ya know, If you drove through Baghdad you'd probably not have a single problem the first hundred times... ?

If you travel around the US you will find out it is extremely safe and the people are very nice too.

Go to Mexico? Of course, just use judgement as you would in the US. Don't go anywhere without your spider sense "on".

[zeehag]

In Mexico not only can you lose your boat but you can easily lose your freedom if you carry firearms into the country. You never know when you will be boarded. Good luck!

Isn't bad here. Is not as bad as any of the news articles and isn't nearly as bad as living in Wichita, Kansas.

The only parts of Mexico that are war zones are where he Mexican mafia is up and running everything they can run--and the folks who manage to become employed by them and for them. You do not know the body guard shot wasn't a Mexican mafiosa dood-- with a side job.

Stay clean here and don't do business with cartels or Mexican mafia and you should be ok. Just like in Wichita Falls or Reno or Tahoe or Billings, Montana or anywhere else.

Just because one incident happened doesn't mean all are such.

[bytownboy]

I have visited Mexico at least 15 times since the mid seventies, including driving from British Columbia to the foot of the baja and taking the ferry to Mazatlan, driving to Puerto Vallarta and back to Canada. In fact, I married off my daughter a couple of years ago in Playa del Carmen. When in Mexico I stay in two star hotels and rent a scooter and explore. My only problem was once having my shorts stolen on the beach at Tulum as I dozed in the sun. But then I had two suitcases stolen from my vehicle in front of my sisters place in Ladysmith BC, about as crime free a town as you can find anywhere. I look forward to my next visit to Mexico.

[sck5]

making generalizations about ANY country as large as Mexico or the US is simply ridiculous. ANY large city has places you shouldnt go. Any country has places that might be a good idea to skip. Both the US and Mexico have places with lots of murders. In either place though, they arent aiming at YOU. There was a time in the 70's and 80's when Central Park in NYC was a no go zone after dark. Conditions change from time to time and place to place. By all means, if you think Mexico is so unsafe you shouldnt go to any part of it then stay home! It is getting a bit crowded in some anchorages anyway - The rest of us will be fine without you!!

I think most of the fear is due to lack of knowledge. The more you learn about a place the more comfortable you are in it. Try to relax and talk to people. I lived in Mexico for years and Mexicans are about the most friendly people you will find anywhere. Great food too!

[rgscpat]

Mexico is complicated, and travelers should get current local advice before exploring anyplace out of the way. Besides the border towns, I wouldn't want to go poking around drug-growing regions in the remote Sierra Madre. Nor would I be traveling anywhere at night or in the near-border areas where the authorities and cartels are battling for control. As they say, burros don't wear tail lights.

And maybe the cruise lines know their clientele and have a good idea of how lacking in street smarts some of their passengers are. That's a shame for the Mexicans who were depending on their business.

I suspect Mexico has always had its violent side -- but that side has been kept away from visitors and has always been overwhelmed by the warm, hospitable side of Mexico. It's not hard to imagine that even many of the drug lords want tourists to be safe and happy -- after all, even the cartel bosses have friends and relatives who depend upon the tourist trade and care about the reputation of their country, and want their own children to be safe.

[zeehag]

usa was founded on violence. does that make usa a violent nation?? aside from the fact it is..LOL


seems to me that those listening to the bs need to stay behind their desks in abject safety-- safety from seas, from winds, from mexicans, from bandidos, from everyone. seems agorophobia is contagious. keep em home. keep our anchorages empty so we can have fun.

[rgscpat]

Intelligent risk management is the key to having fun while minimizing the pitfalls. We need to be responsible for our choices, to realize that they all have their costs and risks, and that doing nothing also has its costs and risks. Finally, we need to get good at digging down to the real risks, and neither be Pollyannas who ignore risks, nor Chicken Littles who see nothing but falling skies -- or media hype.

And, we need to realize that our behavior affects how other people treat us. If we go out into the world as arrogant, clueless jerks, then, surprise, surprise, the world may not seem like such a nice place.

Pay your money, take your chances -- with your eyes wide open.

PS I've had recent conversations with a cousin who lives in Mexico near the central Pacific coast, and a couple we met recently who live in Monterrey. Their impressions are quite divergent, with the Pacific Coast coming off much better than Monterrey. Fortunately, few cruisers have any need to be in Monterrey!

[Capt Phil]

A little known fact is that many of the larger hotel/ golf complexes were financed by cartel money under previous Mexican Federal administrations. The cartels had, and perhaps still have a vested interested in keeping Mexican resorts safe and appealing to Americans. The fall off in cruise ship visits is indeed sad and those least able to find other employment in Mexico feel the affects the most. Like anywhere else in the world, keeping a low profile and being aware of your surroundings is the recipe for a safe and enjoyable stay in Mexico. Making friends with the locals is a wonderful opportunity and should not be missed. Remember, it is a foreign country with different laws, culture and business practices... enjoy! Capt Phil

[zeehag]

ok if usa was not founded on violence, what do ye call fighting with injuns, revolutionary war, "taming the west" and alladat???????? THAT was violence. our forefathers were war leaders. farmers first but violence did create this country. oh yes and mexican american war and alamo??? rofl. what they teaching in schools these days??

friends of mine choose to have a charter schooner out here in mazatlan. they are gone for htis summer fora bit but they will return after hurrycame season to continue their business.

i am having a great time here-- folks are very sweet and considerate and friendly.help-full also.

[tropicalescape]

I like the Mexican people,their work ethic,their loyalty and family values the only problem I see is that they carry those loyaltys over in to illicet activitys because of the poverty and corruption that is prevalent in the culture and that can produce one hell of a enemy..but you are not looking for oaths and loyaltys ,you seem to be looking for a place to chill and from my experiance any place 30 miles south of the border is cool if you are not looking for crime and all the fun that that intails..at least try to speak spanish, that goes a long way... be safe..DVC

[sww914]

I say we should follow the local news reports for South Central LA or East LA or Dayton, Ohio or Detroit or Miami or Muscoy in San Bernardino, Ca or Moreno Valley in Riverside, Ca, or Phoenix or Oakland, Ca or Vegas or St Louis or Camden, Nj or on and on down the list. Add those up and study them with equal fervor and see whatcha get. I don't have time, I'm tring to finish my boat so I can get the hell out of Oakland (Alameda) and down to scary old Mexico where the water's warm and the food is cheap.

[zeehag]

i will save ye a bottle of rum... but ye best hurry before the gringos buy it allll up and run away....might save ye room in the anchorage iffn ye promise not to slug me with yer rocna and drag down on me from using yer cqr and no chain.

[rognvald]

After reading the numerous responses to safety in Mexico, I couldn't help but think that if there were anywhere in the world that is beautiful and safe it certainly would be Mexico. All those lying, malevolent reporters and government statistitians who exaggerate the crime--the murders, kidnappings, beheadings and robberies are surely a figment of of a warped sense of fairness and a prejudice towards Mexico. Cheap food, cheap booze, sun and sea, what else could one ask for? And all the cruisers who have testified to their safe journeys south of the border can certainly attest that what once was in the past is truly what it is in the present. It's not everywhere in Mexico, just in the border towns. Everywhere else is Love and Peace. We cruisers are a hardy sort . . .pull the anchor, set the sails and the world is our acorn. I do, however, want to say I lived in Mexico for a year and traveled extensively. And I still have close contact with several dear friends who unabashedly report the violence is everywhere and the conditions are rapidly detereorating. But, we cruisers are a hardy sort and surely all this talk is purely propaganda by those afraid of new experiences and living life to the fullest. Tell that to my friend in Chilpancingo whose cousin was found hanging upside down from the bridge into the city with his head neatly detached and displayed on the ledge above his feet. He was not a drug dealer, a mafioso, a criminal . . .he was at the wrong place at the wrong time. Maybe his death was just a myth, like the chupacabra. It's your call. Good luck and good sailing, Ron