sorry for the off-topic post... my girlfriend & her mother have been planning a mother/daughter trip to the cancun/tulum area of mexico in march. i've been hearing some conflicting safety/security opinions about that area right now. i was basically just wondering if anyone out there in cyberspaceland has any more insight into it...should they go someplace else or forge ahead & see what happens? i'd prefer not to have my gf blown up &/or kidnapped by a drug cartel, but at the same time, she's been looking forward to this trip since it first came up over the summer. any (useful) thoughts would be appreciated! & it's surf related b/c when she's gone i'll be able to surf my brains out w/out checking in w/ anyone & i get to buy a new board!
Tulum is safe I've been going to Tulum and traveling throughout the Mexican state of Quintana Roo with my wife and kid for years, and never had a problem. Crime, besides the usual petty theft/pickpocket stuff in Cancun and Playa del Carmen, has never been an issue in Q.R. or Yucatan; the violence that we're hearing about is happening in the border states way up north. Use common sense, but in general it's all good - the locals are super cool. Not much surf, though, although once in a while...
see, this is what i'm talking about. 2 responses, one saying they should go elsewhere, another saying that it's cool. hmm....& neither of them surf, so waves aren't an issue. if this were a trip i was planning or going on, i wouldn't care about the violence issue, but i would care about the waves (& there's no way in hell i'd be going to cancun!!). but i'm not going, & she does care about the violence issue. they're talking about going to disney world instead...(thank the lord i'm not going!)
I don't know if pumpmaster has been to Cancun or that area, but Aldous is right, I grew up in Mexico, Guadalajara which is northwest of Mexico city, not far from Puerto Vallarta, another turistic place, and Cancun or Playa del Carmen and surroundings are safe to the tourist. As he mention, asides from the petty thieves, you won't see any cartel killings. I get mad when people think this is happening all over Mexico. It's like saying that schools here in the US are not safe, there's so many killings. Altough the ones here (in schools) had civilian casualties, and the ones happening in Mexico are mostly betwen each other or the army vs narcos. Recently there was an accident in Playa del Carmen, where a hotel blew up and 10 people died, mostly Canadian tourist, which is really sad, because people already think Mexico is really unsafe, now with this, it's even worse publicity. Of course there's going to be a few people that disagree, but if you going to make a negative coment, just specify where do you get your information. It's like saying that going on a cruise ship, it's guaranteed you're going to get sick.
Oh! and by the way the state department website says that with the holidays coming up, the alert level will be raised to orange, so try to avoid traveling, any aiports or big gatherings of people, it might not be safe.
im not very familiar with the area, but from what ive heard cancun is pretty safe. a friend of mine went there last year with his family and had a great time. sorry for the lack of info, just trying to be helpful
