One thing I will say about Mexico, is nothing is standardized and you have to be careful not to get ripped off on things like taxis. We went fishing one morning.  Asked the taxi driver how much, he said $25. Okay whatever.  Next day took an Uber to almost the same place....like $7

When we tipped the boat people I handed the cash to the skipper expecting him to dole some out to the deck hand.  Fuck no, right in his pocket.  So we paid the kid to give a ride back to the resort.

Always take an Uber. Avoid using taxis at all costs in México.

I'm wearing a lower cost Seiko. I have relatives who migjt be able to get me a carry permit (it's not impossible for foreigners, last I checked), but I don't think they would and I'm sure use of force laws down there suck. Plus all of my stuff is in a prohibted caliber, anyways.

The beach at Puerto Morales used to be stunningly beautiful.  Haven't been there for years. I'm sure the beach is still fantastic.

You tourists can't understand how Mexico's make-believe gringo trap vacation spots are not representative of real life Mexico. Go vacation in the same location in Baja & report back, if you make it.

@Your1Savior awesome! Thanks for the info!

You can leave the resort as much as you want.  And we did the first few trips.  Not at all trapped like on a sterile (except for norovirus and e-coli) cruise ship where if you get off you have to get back or get left.

Priced motels/hotels in popular tourist areas lately?  Just for a smallish room.  I stayed one night in the Fairfield Inn at Kodak TN Saturday before last.  Motorcycle trip.  $237.00 (I had a free night voucher or it would have been a small town mom and pop).  Add in the cost of 3 really good restaurant meals, snacks, and drinks.  Not far off resort pricing.  Check out the prices for a nice hotel near Yellowstone or GNP.  Just the room only can run more than a nice resort in Mexico.      

We take grandkids on trips.  We love off-the-interstate long road trips.  I take motorcycle trips, sometimes long, and sometimes take a grandkid along.  Going to Mexico for us, now that we've touristed around the area as much as we've wanted, is two weeks of chill out at a place where no kids are allowed.  Our vacation choice nowadays is not binary - go to the resort or go somewhere else.  We 'get both' since I'm retired and my wife has more paid leave accumulated than she can reasonably use before she retires.  Before I retired we went to Mexico every second or third year and on the off years we took the grandkids we were/are raising (was 3 and now down to 1) on a two-week vacation somewhere stateside.  We're still so busy that crashing for two weeks a year in Mexico is really, really nice.

Where we go doesn't get boring.  7 restaurants, 11 bars, 2 food trucks poolside, a snack bar, and a coffee shop.  46,000 sq ft main pool, 30,000 sq ft long and skinny pool fronting some of the buildings, and a small pool that is screened off from everything by tall hedges.  Lots of shady spots and trees.  Live entertainment and activities, considered to be one of the best or the best in Mexico, from early to late.   The place is big enough that you can find peace and quiet.  A lot of staff to talk to. Guests (18 to 80) from all over the world to talk to (mostly USA, Canada, and Western Europe). Not cheap enough to attract trashy people and not hoity toity enough to attract the snobby wealthy.  Sprawling and never crowded.  Effortless living.  First-time guests who stay for less than a week or so that we've talked to hate to leave and plan on coming back.  

Sorta like Disney World isn't representative of the USA.  Outside of Disney World the entire rest of the country is just like the poverty-stricken Mississippi Delta and backwoods Appalachia.

I'm a married, college-educated, white, male in his 50's, with annual household income in excess of $100K a year. I'm going to bet I'm safer here at home than I would be as a tourist in Mexico.

Mexico is the Wild West but only the criminals have guns, act responsibly.

Biden is dumping a lot of illegals on Florida.  A lot of them are criminals.  Give it a couple of years and Mexico will be safer.  The criminals will all be here.

Because he stayed at a resort. Resorts have hired security and deals sorted out with the locals and such. It's as safe as it gets in the third world.

Yeah, I see one alright.

Is that so?



Indeed. Not all of the USA is low rent, but there's certainly plenty of it. The difference between here & Mexico is being a gringo in the 3rd world with no rights & no guns. No thanks.

Oh I fully understand that sitting in a pool by the ocean with a margarita in my hand does not represent the “real” Mexico. But I don’t go for the “real” Mexico, I go for the drink and pools.

We go to Cancun several times a year. Absolutely love it. We travel off the resort and check out the history and culture.  It’s a beautiful country run by criminals.

-are you referring to Mexico or the country just north of it?

Both. Final answer.

There is a solution to all of this Mexican cartel crime shit.  

Yellowstone and other wild parks are vacation for us. We rent a Sprinter van. It's expensive, but the combination of transport/home allows us to explore and experience.

Just don't care about pools of various shapes, live entertainment, lawn chairs, food trucks, effortless living, lounging about.

I don't want service. I want travel. A resort doesn't count for me.

I know I'm on vacation when I wake up before dawn despite the fact that my flat feet are aching and  I can't wait to get back on them knowing that I got some places to see that will walk that ache off.

What does this have to do with the op?

@azjogol
I just got back from a 4 day trip there yesterday- first time. I had a great time. It’s sketchy in parts but with even a little bit of common sense and cursory Spanish phrases folks that arnt pushy vendors are polite and happy to interact with you (take your green backs).

It’s a good experience. It was weird to lay down my safety blanket for a week and go somewhere that I would never go without it. Folks do it every day. You’re not going somewhere asking for trouble, you’re just going somewhere riskier than normal with no back up plan.


Be polite and act like a guest in someone else’s house.

Just got back from a cruise in Mexico. Puerto Vallarta, Cabo and Mazatlan. Amazing as always and never felt unsafe.

Going to Cancun in July and staying at the Marriot. Really looking forward to it.

I’m in Mexico right now for a work trip. I vacationed in Cancun last summer with my family. Cancun was great. We left the resort once and had private transportation arranged. Never felt unsafe.  Our vendors here hold no punches that basically any city in Mexico has a certain amount of danger. Not just for tourists but for anyone. They have been stopped on the highway and robbed before. I don’t plan to make it a habit coming down here for work and it’s really a shame. This family treats us like royalty while here and it’s a gorgeous area in the mountains.  It’s weird. I never feel u safe but it’s just a little unsettling all the time knowing the possibility exists. They said the government is so involved with the cartel that it will continue to get worse. They also said that when trump was president there was pressure to clean up the government in an effort to drive more us business to the country. They said it is going downhill since trump.

Blackout here where I'm at in Mexico, so here I am sitting in the dark, lol.

I'm sure a lot of people who got robbed, kidnapped, &/or murdered in MX "felt" safe right before things went into the weeds. Situational threat assessments are best not made based on "feelz".

Um, there actually are statistically significant differences in the murder (and other crime) rates in certain parts of Mexico and Chicago, compared to the average small town.

Now you can argue that, with a little caution your likelihood of being murdered is still very low, but to equate average small town with Mexico or Chicago is simply not true.

As much as I love where we go in Mexico there is another type of days on end trip I like a lot better.  My wife doesn't ride with me so I don't get away more than a few several-day rides a year with the occasional longer trip.  I still like to ride long, hard, and fast (phrasing).   Got rid of the Goldwing in my avatar since it was too sedate and porky.  Sunday before last.  The bulge on my hip isn't fat.  I was packin OWB.

Attached File

I might have to go there for work at the end of the year. I'm dreading it.

Beats going to India for work.

It's true. Trump was making all of North America Great Again.

True that.

Mexico City is amazing.

I wouldn't vacation in Chicago either. I lived in the suburbs and worked in the city for many years. I know what kind of scumbags live there. I try to stay out of big cities altogether, especially if they're managed by democrats.

Well at least you can carry in the US. Most of it anyways.

Black market guns in a back alley sure I see your point, can you not buy knives at a store though?

Not true at all. The locals have armed themselves too.

There are legal ways to own guns and non-military calibers, but some areas will still arm themselves for protection.

There is no Cartel that wants attention. Carjacking isn't cartel work and is some street thug junk. Cartels do not want to interfere with the money making tourism industry.

Look at how the cartels have turned over guys for shootings as a peace offerings when the shootings went against the acceptable norms. Like our gang stuff here..... that no one wants to talk about.

So just like CA

It's actually been a while now.

I forgot how loud people are here and how early it all starts. Must suck to be a graveyard shift worker here, lol.

Yep. Some places are super busy and there is no sleeping in. Up and to work is the norm. Concrete structures do a great job of echoing the sound too.

How do you know? You might be dead, and you just don't know it.

Hell, maybe we're all dead, which would explain all the crazy stuff going on around the world, maybe we all ended up in the bad place.

lol

Posted above that I’m in Mexico for work right now. I was in Kanpur India in October. I’d come back to Mexico several times a year before going back to Kanpur. Absolute disgusting hell hole everywhere you look. I mentioned not feeling unsafe in Mexico. I never felt safe in India at all. It was always uncomfortable. On top of that it’s the absolute rudest culture I have ever been around.  No one gives the slightest shit about an ounce of courtesy. It was absolutely miserable. At least Mexicans are a polite culture in general…at least where I am.

We should send an armored division to vacation in Mexico for a few months.

Did you even read the article? It said 75 out of 28 million tourists died. That ain't shit. Listening to you guys is like listening to the Europeans I talked to in Mexico City who won't visit the U.S. because they're sure they will be gunned down by a white supremist with an assault weapon.

What you're saying is like saying my trip to Charleston in a few weeks to the French Quarter downtown is not representative of life in South Carolina and that I should go to the shithole of North Charleston and report back. The point is, don't go to sketchy places regardless of the country. Mexico is full of safe, wonderful places to visit and plenty of places to avoid.

And no, I don't go to resorts. I rent a car and drive and stay in small privately owned places. I've been all over the Yucatan Peninsula with zero issues. The people have been nothing but kind. Far more courteous and kind than here at home.

Did you read it? 28/100K (MX) vs 7/100K (US) = 4x greater odds of getting KIAed in MX. Just the facts, ma'am.

Looking at the sheer stupidity of American government & its courting of the criminal element, I don't blame any foreigners for avoiding America, because it is getting bad here. But at least we citizens can still be armed, unlike Mexico, where you're SOL.

I go for the fishing and the people. Have made friends with many locals over the years down there.
And before the "You can go fishing here in the US" crowd. Find me a place I can drop a line in 500', less than a half mile offshore, or get to a 6000' trench in less than 20 miles from shore for $200/day.
That's for the boat, not pp.
I'm not an Arfcom millionaire so I go where I can get the most bang for my buck.

Ain't that the truth!