Safety and Piracy In Mexican Waters

[Diesel Bill]

The only piracy I'm aware of in Baja is fuel price gouging in Turtle Bay. I been traveling Baja since 1975, and never once felt threatened. Most people go out of their way to help if asked politely. Sure there are one off incidents but these things happen every where in the world. I can't wait to get back to La Paz.

[zeehag]

the occurrence of any negative issues between san diego and mazatlan are rarer than hens teeth.
one incident every 5 or more years. what i said is what i meant.
i realize most of your acquaintances speak with added innuendo.
i donot do that nor do i play games. i am also not one of your acquaintances.

hate comes from trying to read into someones words that which is not there.

please re read my words to see i did not say anything about you.

no wonder the world is in such a stew.
folks cannot read without INTERPRETING and twisting stuff around.
sorry wrong answer
BUZZZ
reread then accuse.

[Flyingriki]

Slightly off topic, but many knowledgeable here, what all is required to sail south to Ensenada and planning on continuing to sail in Mexico for a year?
Liability insurance from a Mexican company? Where to shop?
A new TIP, where do you get one?
Anything else?
Advice on Ensenada? A slip for a few weeks?
Thank you!

[zeehag]

novamar or ace company insurance or other company with feet in mexico.. can be bought online or by fone.
t i p canbe started i understand in usa online.. but you can also get it in ensenada.
visa. you want 6 month, park boat, migrate to border for another...start this in mexican consulate in san diego.
ownership papers of boat dink et cetera.
passport
many copies of passport, owner papers, and prolly drivers license and other papers. they love copies

[JPA Cate]

It has been many years, now, since I was in Mexico, but I wanted to try and add historical perspective to the situation.

At the time we first went there, in 1986 and part of '87, many people in the US professed fear of bandidos, and we heard stories of stolen outboards, too. After spending the season there (we left in April for the Marquesas), we had only positive experiences with the Mexican people whom we met; local fishermen returned dinghies to yachties boats; and one outstanding man hunted down our friend, the owner of a wallet with aseason's worth of cash US dollars in it, fallen when he got out of his car. Not at all the picture of the fear mongers.

We went back in late '89 through '90, and it was the same, without the wallet incident.

However, since then the cartel wars have got worse, and if you're where they are fighting at the moment, it is not unreasonable that you might catch a spare bullet. However, the word will be out in force in the cruising community, if somewhere has shown itself to be dangerous, that's how this community works.

What sells news is extraordinary events, so when you read "news", remember that whoever's putting it out wants your dollars, or clicks or taps. Journalism has sunk to a new low, I'm afraid, and I see a lot biased reporting and more of non-news, as well. So, i exhort you all to be sceptical readers/ consumers of media.

Ann

[Saleen411]

Just pulled this off the web...

The U.S. State Department has expanded its travel advisories, warning of dangers in parts of Mexico that hadn’t previously been addressed, including the Caribbean coast.

It’s due to increased violence in the area. The advisory stated that turf battles between criminal groups had resulted in crimes and killings in areas frequented by U.S. citizens.

Chiapas was one of the states newly included in this advisory, with the U.S. State Department in the area saying, “U.S. government personnel must remain in tourist areas and are not allowed to use public transportation.”

The warning also included states covering popular tourist destinations such as Cancun, Playa del Carmen, and Cozumel.

[model 10]

Of course cities like Cancun have areas you don't go. Most cities do. But no public transportation? This smells like trump.

[zeehag]

not pinnable on any usa president. this is cartel territorial wars which have been ongoing since chapo was imprisoned and extradited. seems the regions have changed for each group as they work their way into new territory. there have been 2 major changes here in mazatlan that i have heard about, yet no one in tourist areas has been affected nor has the sound of gunfire been heard. this is an ongoing undercurrent in mexico. tourists are off limits as tourism is a major income source for mexico.
there is nothing about usa politics that affects these cartel rumblings and shakings. this is all territorial, as usual. the only differences here in mazatlan since 2011 have been increased military presence--more checkpoints and patrols. same in colima and jalisco states when i left there.

[gaucho]

Im all for not making things look worse than they actually are. But we also have to be realistic. Mexico is going down the drain, and it clearly will start affecting eventually the tourists, and Mexico's third most important industry (after Oil, and sadly the income from people that emigrated).

15 years ago, we all thought that violence was only between the cartels or sicarios. It slowly evolved and 15 years later, while still not "every day at all places all the time", many cities through out Mexico have become overran by this situation. People just don't go out at night anymore, people avoid a lot of places, and general insecurity (robbery, kidnap, blackmail) is on the rise.

Eventually 5, 10, 20 years down the road, it will be all-encompassing if this problems are not dealt with. And all this stuff about not affecting tourism, will be a long one memory. Mexico has been VERY BAD at dealing with this situation, and the "it's not so bad" attitude (because it's not affecting me) is even worse. I know I have been a conspirator myself; I haven't been the victim of ANY violence whatsoever in the last 15 years (I think somebody stole a fixed gear bicycle I left on the street once). But I can clearly tell how more and more and more people closer and closer to me are being affected.

Mexico is a POOR country (actually it's a rich country with poor people, but that's a more political rant). Don't leave **** unlocked, it will get stolen. It's no magical place where "people are good". It's a place where people get ****ed through generations and social resentment builds up. Be realistic.

So, keep coming to Mexico, keep supporting the tourism industry, and don't think this is a terrible violent country. It is not for the most part. And it's unlikely as a tourist bad things will happen to you. But we shouldn't disregard how bad things are. The situation needs urgent addressing.

[zeehag]

Originally Posted by gaucho

Im all for not making things look worse than they actually are. But we also have to be realistic. Mexico is going down the drain, and it clearly will start affecting eventually the tourists, and Mexico's third most important industry (after Oil, and sadly the income from people that emigrated).

15 years ago, we all thought that violence was only between the cartels or sicarios. It slowly evolved and 15 years later, while still not "every day at all places all the time", many cities through out Mexico have become overran by this situation. People just don't go out at night anymore, people avoid a lot of places, and general insecurity (robbery, kidnap, blackmail) is on the rise.

Eventually 5, 10, 20 years down the road, it will be all-encompassing if this problems are not dealt with. And all this stuff about not affecting tourism, will be a long one memory. Mexico has been VERY BAD at dealing with this situation, and the "it's not so bad" attitude (because it's not affecting me) is even worse. I know I have been a conspirator myself; I haven't been the victim of ANY violence whatsoever in the last 15 years (I think somebody stole a fixed gear bicycle I left on the street once). But I can clearly tell how more and more and more people closer and closer to me are being affected.

Mexico is a POOR country (actually it's a rich country with poor people, but that's a more political rant). Don't leave **** unlocked, it will get stolen. It's no magical place where "people are good". It's a place where people get ****ed through generations and social resentment builds up. Be realistic.

So, keep coming to Mexico, keep supporting the tourism industry, and don't think this is a terrible violent country. It is not for the most part. And it's unlikely as a tourist bad things will happen to you. But we shouldn't disregard how bad things are. The situation needs urgent addressing.

hahahahahahaha. i have not needed to lock my boat since i left usa. dangerous here|??/ depends on your compadres. it is still ok at night to go out to shows and restaurants and have fun.
\it is not good to drive at night into remote areas..... it is not safe to seek drugs or wtf from cartel members., it is not ok to flaunt wealth anywhere.
la violencia is between cartels. there is a territory change with the void left by the sinaloenses losing chapo., cartel went weak. it is obvious where the shifts were made, and it is obvious the affect on the nation.
to call mexico a failing nation is a presumptuously arrogant statement.
mexico has many manufactured goods traded and sold. they manufacture cars and motorcycles and electronix and many items many citizens of usa are ignorant about.
laws and regulations keep the income as it is.
i laugh at those thinking mexico is failing. is merely corrupt, in a different manner than is usa.
the good in these travel warnings besides the entertainment value, is the fact that these warnings do keep some folks away. keeps anchorages empty and towns comfortable.
funny how mazatlan is growing madly despite the warnings. gringoville here has more than doubled in size. so many gringo oriented homes and condos.

[gaucho]

Im happy Zeehag to hear that you have had a good experience in Mexico. Im happy that most Americans still have a good experience in Mexico. I live in Mexico City, my girlfriend is and lives in Culiacán, Sinaloa (she travels back and forth to Mexico City), I have lived in: Argentina, Brasil, Dominican Republic, Mexico and the US, so I think I have a pretty broad understanding on how Latin America works politically and socially. Unlike other people in this forum, I do not live on my boat, or cruise that often. My boat is right now in Fort Pierce, Florida. Just wanted to give you that bit of feedback so you better understand my viewpoints.

There is close to 56 million people living in POVERTY (REAL poverty, with no access to basic services), thats 46.2% of the total population. 9.5% of the total population of Mexico, that's 11.4 million live in EXTREME POVERTY (this means they cannot even feed themselves and risk dying of malnutrition).

Opportunities are scarce, minimum wage is ****, and the best business in town is the drug business or politics. Mexico has a unique (and terrible) political system in which the system itself is paid for by tax income; everybody is paying for the political parties and their expenditure. It's become a thriving business to be a politician. Add to that the insane levels of corruption at all levels, and we have a completely failed model, government, and thus (eventually) country.

Violence is not between cartels. In many (MANY) places in Mexico, drug cartels are in everyday life. The people who are dying are just people caught in the middle of the shitstorm. Taxi drivers, small business owners, restaurant workers. These are the "cartel" people you talk about. Because drugs are an everyday side business so many people in an impoverished country can meet the end of the month. Violence affects everyone. And eventually it reaches people in "cocoons" like you or me. It's just a matter of time.

Again, Im all for happily reporting that mostly tourism has been unaffected even in the dire socio-political climate of this country. Calling it "exaggeration" when in 2016 there where 23,000 murders in Mexico (second place in the world following 60,000 war torn Syria) is just looking through a rosed colored glass.

Let's call things the way they are. I really hope the true nature of the country's situation doesn't reach where you or I live, and hopefully we start to see change for better. It's going to take at least 2 generations to bring back Mexico from the profound and complicated social deterioration it has suffered.

[Kenomac]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

That has always fascinated me, first he couldn't even get his size consistent, and you have to wonder, is anyone actually that stupid?

Being a former Georgia resident, it's embarrassing

Yes.... Rep. Maxine Waters is that stupid.

[Group9]

Originally Posted by Capt.Don

Recent (August 7) shooting/violence in San Jose del Cabo

I'm surprised Latitude 38/Baja Haha hasn't addressed this yet.
Don

Part of what makes going to Mexico on vacation so exciting! You never know when you are going to get some good home movies of a cartel shootout!

[Group9]

Originally Posted by zeehag

not pinnable on any usa president. this is cartel territorial wars which have been ongoing since chapo was imprisoned and extradited. seems the regions have changed for each group as they work their way into new territory. there have been 2 major changes here in mazatlan that i have heard about, yet no one in tourist areas has been affected nor has the sound of gunfire been heard. this is an ongoing undercurrent in mexico. tourists are off limits as tourism is a major income source for mexico.
there is nothing about usa politics that affects these cartel rumblings and shakings. this is all territorial, as usual. the only differences here in mazatlan since 2011 have been increased military presence--more checkpoints and patrols. same in colima and jalisco states when i left there.

It's been going on longer than that and news reports aren't the best gauge of what's really going on. We had an American citizen deported from Mexico in August of 2005, who had been working with Chapo Guzman, Hector Beltran, and Edgar Valdez-Villereal. When debriefed, he told us about taking several gunmen for Valdez to Cancun in August of 2004 for a hit. He told us that they killed eleven people and left their heads on the main road in Cancun.

We searched the Mexican newspapers trying to find anything about this, so as to corroborate what this guy was telling us. We couldn't find anything. I then contacted our office in Merida, and asked them if they had heard about it.

They confirmed it happened, just as our informant had said. I asked why I couldn't find it in the papers and they asked if I was kidding. I was told that no one was going to report anything bad happening in the resort areas and that the crime scenes were cleaned up very fast when it did happen, with little effort to even try and catch the perpetrators. The main thing is to have the blood bleached out before the tourists wake up.

I doubt this latest incident would have been reported but for the large numbers off tourists who actually watched it happen. I would imagine that even the people actually living in Mexico would be surprised at the amount of violence that occurs that they don't know about (and they know about plenty).

It was an eye opener for me once I started getting read in on what was really going on down there, and for the life of me, I wonder why anyone actually goes there on vacation anymore. I've been retired since 2010, but it does appear to be getting worse. But, it's like violence anywhere, I guess. It really doesn't affect you, until it does affect you.

[slegg]

Originally Posted by gaucho

Im happy Zeehag to hear that you have had a good experience in Mexico. Im happy that most Americans still have a good experience in Mexico. I live in Mexico City, my girlfriend is and lives in Culiacán, Sinaloa (she travels back and forth to Mexico City), I have lived in: Argentina, Brasil, Dominican Republic, Mexico and the US, so I think I have a pretty broad understanding on how Latin America works politically and socially. Unlike other people in this forum, I do not live on my boat, or cruise that often. My boat is right now in Fort Pierce, Florida. Just wanted to give you that bit of feedback so you better understand my viewpoints.

There is close to 56 million people living in POVERTY (REAL poverty, with no access to basic services), thats 46.2% of the total population. 9.5% of the total population of Mexico, that's 11.4 million live in EXTREME POVERTY (this means they cannot even feed themselves and risk dying of malnutrition).

Opportunities are scarce, minimum wage is ****, and the best business in town is the drug business or politics. Mexico has a unique (and terrible) political system in which the system itself is paid for by tax income; everybody is paying for the political parties and their expenditure. It's become a thriving business to be a politician. Add to that the insane levels of corruption at all levels, and we have a completely failed model, government, and thus (eventually) country.

Violence is not between cartels. In many (MANY) places in Mexico, drug cartels are in everyday life. The people who are dying are just people caught in the middle of the shitstorm. Taxi drivers, small business owners, restaurant workers. These are the "cartel" people you talk about. Because drugs are an everyday side business so many people in an impoverished country can meet the end of the month. Violence affects everyone. And eventually it reaches people in "cocoons" like you or me. It's just a matter of time.

Again, Im all for happily reporting that mostly tourism has been unaffected even in the dire socio-political climate of this country. Calling it "exaggeration" when in 2016 there where 23,000 murders in Mexico (second place in the world following 60,000 war torn Syria) is just looking through a rosed colored glass.

Let's call things the way they are. I really hope the true nature of the country's situation doesn't reach where you or I live, and hopefully we start to see change for better. It's going to take at least 2 generations to bring back Mexico from the profound and complicated social deterioration it has suffered.

Brasil was going that way. fortunatelly seems to be recovering, but will take two generations at least to go back where it was 40 years ago. Btw, I´m gaucho too.