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Me and my spouse want to book a one week trip to Cancun, Mexico in fall... However we are afraid of the high crime, kidnapping, drugs and other things in Mexico. We constantly hear bad things.
Is Cancun fine? Should we book our trip, or avoid it? We do not speak Spanish.
Cancun and the Yucatan Peninsula in general are ok. Cancun gets so many tourists from Europe and North America, there's safety in numbers. If the area were plagued by crime, the resorts wouldn't exist, and Mexico would miss out on a major source of revenue and jobs.
Still, anytime you're traveling abroad, take basic precautions; carry your passport with you in a small pouch under your clothes (shoulder pouch, waist pouch or leg pouch) at all times. Keep spare cash (if any) in a locked suitcase, or use traveler's checks. Don't carry an expensive-looking purse or wear expensive jewelry. Be low-key.
Best time to go, imo, is October through February. In September it's still intensely hot, but by October it cools off to a pleasant temperature. Take equipment for snorkeling to enjoy the coral reefs. A day trip by taxi to the town of Xel-ha or Playa del Carmen (there's also a bus to Playa del Carmen) is a nice side-trip for a change of scenery, and better snorkeling.
You should also take a trip out to Isla Holbox, Mujeres or Tulum, some ruins or something. There is a lot to see in that area, despite the boring, flat landscape inland along the roads.
I would choose Chichen Itza over Tulum myself - but actually I'd do both. That is to say, I will do both. Merida is also advisable. But yes - from all I hear and statistics show the Yucatan is safer than many even most US States. I'm - as long as Popocatepetl is congenial - am on my way to my second trip to DF. Taking the wife this time. We're doing Frida, food tours, and museos. RLooks like we'll need a big umbrella. I personally want to add jogging and biking in the mornings.
Missing the Mayan ruins on a Yucatan visit would IMO be like skipping Giza on a trip to Cairo because of trouble in Lebanon. The major drug problems are in the remote areas of the northern states and some of the west coast. It is almost exclusively limited to dope war participants in seedy locations. Even the Cartels have specifically announced they condemn crime against non-participants.
You will be safer in Cancun, than you are driving your car from your house to the airport. Per capita, there are probably more murders in your own home town than in Cancun, but you are not going to be murdered in either place, so, so what?
My husband, best friend and myself went to Cancun in Sept 2010. Was wonderful. Never once felt scared or uneasy. Do the zip line tour. Best vacation I have ever had.
I have been to Cancun a few times. The hotel zone and the touristy shopping area located nearby are probably the safest most urban looking areas I have ever been in Mexico. Do Not stray outside of this little bubble into Cancun proper (the city) as you will quickly find yourself in the real Mexico.
I like Mexico and would love to go back. Unfortunately the uptick in drug related crime has kept me away. I personally will not be going back. Cancun has nothing to offer that you cannot find better in other places in the Carribean or South Pacific. My vote would be to research those.
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