Mexico For Dummies.....

Seafever

Seafever

Well-Known Member
Was there years back once...long before all the killings and cartel wars and innocent bystanders being "offed".

There are a lot of Canadians that go to Mexico on a regular basis....some staying for months over winter.

Some of those Canadians are people that post regularly on this site.


So what's the secret to coming home in one piece?

Is it as bad as they say it is ...or is the whole thing overblown?

Should one stay out of certain areas?

Maybe you people that go there all the time can offer up some tips on how to fly under the cartel radar and have a worryfree trip?
 
I would start by saying dummies should not travel - period. If you aren't street smart and choose hang out in the wrong places you could run into trouble in Surrey, or Vancouver, or Victoria, etc. I started traveling to Neuvo Vallarta 4 years ago, and no problems. Been to East Cape 2 years ago, and no problems. I'd never drive across the Mexican Border, only fly. Don't flash cash or jewelry etc. Stay under the radar, and always tip and be a respectful guest when traveling - anywhere.
Adios Amigo
Stosh
 
I would go almost anywhere in Mexico as a tourist and traveler. Common sense with your money etc. and not flashing stuff around as others have posted. PM spring fever. He has spent a lot of time down there.

I love it down there in Mexico. The bad rap with the news etc. is just the same as up here if you really stop to think about it. How many tourists stopped coming to Vancouver when the gang wars were going on? I would say it's about the same in all reality. The news blows things out of proportion.

Don't go looking for drugs, don't get wild azz drunk, and don't go looking for sex. End of story.

It's the people that "let" themselves be open for this kind of crime that have it happen to them IMHO. Just be a cautious traveler and you will be fine.

I would go back in a heart beat. Zero problems.

Cheers,
John
 
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Most parts of Mexico are totally safe. Media likes to feed fear into the masses. Fear sells. It's a shame really. So many good people in Mexico and other countries but the majority of the vacationing "westerners" are afraid to explore.

What others have said is how you stay outta trouble. Don't get really drunk, don't look for drugs or sex, respect the locals, respect their women, don't drive at night, don't flash cash or wear flashy jewelry.
 
It's getting too crowded down there with all you gringos

Stay home, nothing to see there and no fish
 
The most dangerous things in the Baja are the cows! The roads have no shoulders and the cows wander all over the place. So definitely no driving at night!. I've spent lots of time in the Baja over the past decade and have never had a problem. It seems to me that most of the Canadians who have gotten into trouble in the Baja in the past decade have been into things they shouldn't have been. Yes, there are the unfortunate random bad things that happen to people, but these things can happen anywhere, even here in Canada. I hope to be able to spend a lot more time down there in the next few years.
 
What happened to Poppa Swiss's post?

I don't see it in the line-up.......??.....??


Anyway.....I think I know what you all mean about flashy jewellry....my sister was downtown in Puerto Vallarta once, and a guy ripped the gold (but not incredibly expensive) necklace right off her neck and vanished immediately.
 
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Oh yes, I almost forgot..... If you go hiking in the desert canyons, watch out for tarantulas. I came within a foot and a half of a big, cute one last month on a hike just outside of Loreto. Sure glad it was a shy one.......
 
Other great countries down that way are Panama, Nicaragua, Dominican Republic, Costa Rica. Each a little different then the other.
 
My Cuz has lived in Mexico (up the mountain from Cancun) and when asked how safe it is there he says "just mind your own biz and alls fine"

He loves it and has no plan to come back (except when he has to LOL)

I have been to PV several times and always had a great time , only one time a slight problem and that was because someone was looking for trouble and she found it , ya she !

Looking forward to a trip there next year to do some fishing and recommend it !!!

PS: But stay away from the Texas / Mexico boarders , they do have some really really tough areas my Uncle lives there and has decided to sell and move back to Canada
 
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I will add that if anyone is looking to rent a nice 2 bedroom condo in San Jose del Cabo I can hook you up
 
after 30 yrs of Mexico from South border to North border in Western Mexico--all good advice above- would add that after 5pm at least 90% of the drivers in the Cape area (Cabo to La Paz) you will encounter are legally drunk-watch for beer bottles thrown out the window on the hyways-Taxi drivers there seem be sporting a lot of prison tatoo's - not sure what to make of that other than the fact a native Mexican on the peninsula is a rare bird-Starting to like the more relaxed safe atmosphere of Nuevo Vallrta or Lake Chapala as I get older. lol
 
Just spent the winter months down on Southern Baja, 11th year in a row, have driven every year. Take my whole family, 9 yr old daughter and 4 yr old son. To date I have yet to have a bad experience anywhere in Mexico. With more and more tourists showing up down south it has become safer and safer, four lane highways, super safe. I will continue to travel down with my family until they are tired of it with no hesitation. Mexican people are fantastic, generous people that would help most people in a pinch. It is the few bad apples that give the country a bad wrap.

Cheers and safe travels
 
Sculpin said:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Noriega

Yup....no cartel's in Panama. LOL!!!!!
Click to expand...

Manuel Noriega aka piña face was shipped state side along with Carlos Leder,one of Colombia´s first most famous narcos to be extridited > US. Have no fear US jails have plenty of room for future Cartel members... Basically Mexico is caught between a rock and a hard place where the ongoing ¨war on drugs¨ battle continues to rage... Colombia had a similar bad rap before the US implemented their failed Plan Colombia.
My personal nod for Mexico goes too the fabled Caribbean Coast of the Yucatan; geting out of the concrete jungles of Cancun > Playa Carman the coast is studded with sleepy little fishing villages i.e. Puerto Morelos
http://goo.gl/byz8p

I have been traveling Mexico/Latin America since the seventies and would go back to the Yucatan in a heart beat...
 
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