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Are you headed to sunny Cancun this winter and, as usual, worried about your personal safety after being bombarded with mainstream news stories about rising crime in the Mexican Caribbean?
While there some The truth is, and we definitely recommend that you exercise more caution during your visit to Cancun one of the safest– if not the safest – beach destination in Mexico this season, especially if your main reason for going is, well, basking in the tropical sun at a luxury resort.
Unless you’ve been keeping up with the latest security developments lately, you might be wondering what exactly makes us so confident that Americans don’t have to worry about visiting Cancun in the near future. here’s why:
Why is Cancun safe for Americans?
For starters, Cancun is a low-risk destination for US citizens, and always has been.
It is classified by the US authorities as a Level 2 city, which means that they don’t discourage Americans from visitingand instead simply warn them of the necessary precautions to take when vacationing south of the border, which we’ll get to in a moment.
It is closely guarded, CCTV and patrol units can be seen everywhere, especially in the hotel zone, and even a tourist police – a battalion charged with caring for visitors – has been formed to ensure that Americans, and all other guests, feel protected.
In fact, in 2022 we reported extensively on how the US issued a kidnapping risk alert for the entire state of Quintana Roo – including Cancun – during a single individual who had been kidnapped under unknown circumstances at the time.
By comparison, can you imagine if there was ever a safety warning? to which applied everything and mentioned a similar, very specific incident that happened sporadically in a major American city like Atlanta, New York or San Francisco, as if it recurring?
There was one that year single kidnapping in the state.
Cancun is less dangerous than you might think
All this to say that based on the way travel warnings are issued, government agencies appear to be conservative in the way they assess safety risks in Mexico, and you can agree or disagree with that, but it is clear that in reality the risk of kidnapping in Cancun is minimal.
That’s just one newsworthy event: We can’t tell you exactly when we last heard of shootings that injured tourists in Cancun’s hotel zone.
This should be encouragement enough, but we are happy to report that the Caribbean Hub is on equal footing further:
Starting this week, Ricardo Morales Santos, director of the Tourist Police, confirmed that they will increase security in the hotel zone, with a total of 8 units, each with 7 to 8 officers, deployed in the area to to ensure that crime rates remain low.
Gun violence against tourists may be unusual, but extortion and corruption are more common.
Cancun is low risk, yes, But…
We can’t tell you how many times we’ve had messages from readers claiming they’d been caught or fined after breaking ill-defined traffic rules, especially if they rented cars locally.
These are all seriously difficultand Santos has stated that the main goal of the latest deployment is to control extortion, and curb drug trafficking, a major problem in Quintana Roo, and “high impact crimes.”
We can’t promise that corruption will decrease in response, but based on what we’ve seen for crime trends in recent years Cancunpetty criminals may feel less empowered to target tourists:
In Mexico they call it the ‘cockroach effect‘, when criminals feel cornered by an increased police presence, and jump to the next town where security is not yet so tight.
Interestingly enough, the locals of Cancun’s immediate neighbor to the south, Playa Del Carmen, are concerned that now that state authorities have made it very challenging, if not impossible, for lawbreakers to operate from Cancun’s hotel zone, they will flock there.
That’s a concern raised by the National Association of Regional Business Councils (Ancer), and it is true not exactly A Good thingin any way, but it just goes to show how effective Cancun has been in conveying the message of zero tolerance.
On top Of the 8 new hotel zone units, Santos is adding 16 motorcycle units, to respond more efficiently to incidents that occur between kilometers zero and twenty, in case there are traffic jams along Kukulcan Boulevard.
The result is a much safer Cancun, as Mara Lazama Espinosa, the governor of the state of Quintana Roo, has noted himself.
The bottom line
In short, Americans really don’t have any major concerns when traveling to the Caribbean destination, other than keeping an eye on personal belongings in public spaces, especially in the busiest areas, and avoiding marginal districts where tourists don’t go. Anywayand keeping valuables in a hotel safe.
Crime can preventsure, as in each popular tourist hotspot, but this is often limited to non-violent robberies and pickpocketing audience beaches – within resorts that extend over their own private beach, which is very rare – and shopping areas.
Regardless, the hotel zone and adjacent streets and leisure centers are incredibly safe, with police immediately available to assist if needed, and English is widely spoken, at least at a basic level.
So… ready to relax by the sea?
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This article originally appeared on TravelOffPath.com
The opinions expressed here are solely those of the author, and not those of any bank, credit card issuer, hotel, airline or other entity. This content has not been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by any of the entities included in the post.
