Unfortunately my Iowa CCW isn't valid in Illinois. Guess I'll just have to keep going to Cancun instead!
I personally think, Cancun is like anywhere else, you are in a bad place with bad people, doing bad things???? 20yrs ago, my sister hid 3 murders in her area, at college in Dundee, from our parents... They would've frecked out!!! Where I originally come from, every death from a car accident is reported! If someone targets Cancun resorts as a 'target' or terrorism threat... while I wouldn't want to abandon Temptation, I would because we have young kids... anything else.... stay in the resort, is my answer...
We have young kids too, been here 13 years and have never heard a gunshot let alone been caught up in anything remotely dangerous. Far safer on the street here than in my home town of Nottingham UK. There was a shooting on the beach by Coco Bongo a while back, one of the beach vendors - you can guess what he was 'vending'. Same rules apply as anywhere, if you stay away from bad guys they stay away from you. Of course you could be in the wrong place at the wrong time, but in my 13 years of living in Cancun not a single tourist has been harmed, let alone killed, by the drug gang infighting. And there are 5 Million tourists a year (2015 figures)
I did see that the “street vendors” on the beach were much more open about what they were selling during our last trip (June 17). They actually flashed Cocaine and marijuana in their cigar boxes whil asking if I needed anything. During the foam parties the same vendors were grouped on the beach by the pool holding their boxes up. One main reason for the dramatic increased violence in Mexico is that there are now domestic (Mexican) markets for substances and the cartels are fighting for control of these, not just production areas and shipping routes. Mexico has shifted from a source state to their own markets. I could go on and on about this....but things are changing. It used to be that tourists did not get messed with because the resorts (big money...controlled everything) didn’t want bad press. Historically if a thug messed with a tourist he would be taken out. It’s not that way so much anymore.
Attempted drug sales were common during our last visit over 2 years ago but the lack of any threatening environment was present. When monitoring the press about incidents in Cancun, I haven't seen any where tourists have been attacked or kidnapped. The only incidents I can find were some kids who drank too much at a resort and discussion of "tainted" alcohol or shootings between rival drug dealers at a recent club in Cancun or on the beach. Although this is concerning, I don't see any reason to be worried on the resorts at this time. It seems like the violence has been remaining at acceptable levels compared to the big cities in America (Chicago, Philly, Baltimore). Can you point towards any incidents where tourists are specifically targeted for assault or kidnapping in Cancun's resort area?
The biggest issue that tourists in cancun deal with is extortion when stopped in rental cars by local police. Usually it’s $500 to $1000 in cash to go on your way. The cop will even take you to an atm. They conduct those activities with the permission of the cartel who control most crimes there. Btw...most taxi drivers there pay a fee to the local cartel/gang so they can keep their jobs and sell dope on the side. Taxi drivers are deeply involved in the drug culture there. I hope it stays relatively safe in Quintana Roo as opposed to the rest of Mexico. There were several gang related killings in cancun this week. One was a dealer in the hotel zone. I am guessing that is why this thread got started. “Narco banners” have been being posted in playa Del Carmen mostly and some in cancun. These are large signes usually hand written that are warningsto other gangs to get out of town or that a new gang is there. Usually violence follows. We will be back in cancun in this coming summer for sure but I can see the time that we might start looking at other tropical vacation destinations outside of Mexico. As long as you are smart about it. Stay at the resort or with a reputable transport company. Don’t go into shady areas .... don’t buy dope or girls.... . Most of all show respect to the locals and they will respect you back. If I see anything violent involving tourists I will let you know.
Thanks. I do think the situation is worsening as well and hope it doesn't get to Acapulco level violence in the future. It seems that a free for all is developing between the cartels due to so many splintering groups developing whereby it can become much less safe without a few strong men running everything. The murder rate has definitely spiked in the last year or so according to the stats. In Quintana Roo, its Doña Lety vs. Los Zetas in fight over drug territory Mexico Captures Cancun Drug Cartel Boss When one or two cartels ran Quintana Roo, they could keep violence against tourists under control by just getting money out of the resorts and selling drugs. If a power vacuum develops, all bets could be off in the future. Fortunately, I think its still safe for tourists on the resorts at this time, so we do plan on going again in the next year. We feel safe using USA Transfers to the resort and back, remaining in the resort for partying and taking the cruise to Isla. I really hope it stays safe because we do like going to TTR and found it more enjoyable than Las Vegas and other US destinations.
Indeed. We live in Houston, and there are parts of Houston where you just know you don't want to go or you put yourself in harms way. That being said, we still go out in Houston, and we go out and walk the streets at night partying... but it's in downtown, or midtown, or the heights... not in 5th Ward.
New record! 33 drug/cartel executions in Cancun in January 2018. Old record was 32 (December 2017). Ouch ...update there were 36 not 33. Missed three on the last day of the month.
We were planning to hit CocoBongo on a Monday night in April, taking a cab there, since TTR does not have club nights anymore. Should we skip it due to crime concerns or is CB in a safe-ish area?
