Mexico Safety

Anyone can be a victim of crime at any time or in any place. However, there are a few tips that will greatly reduce the odds of your being at the wrong place at the wrong time.

Tip 1 :

Be aware of your surroundings. Watch the people around you and pay attention to who is doing what and who is paying attention to you. Mexican culture dictates that a woman looking at a man could be misinterpreted as attraction . . . so don't stare, but be aware.

Tip 2 :

Being drunk makes you an easy target . . . So if you are going to hit the bars . . . know your limits, don't go alone, stay in well lit areas, if you are walking and find that the way home is dark or deserted, go back to the first open business and have them call you a taxi.

Tip 3 :

If you are a female and you are not in a tourist zone like the center of Cancun . . . Don't go bar hopping without a male escort. Visiting Mexican cantinas as a single female is like playing Russian roulette . . . it's just a matter of time and the odds are not in your favor. This isn't some lame scare tactic . . . it is wisdom from someone who has been around the block in Mexico enough to know. Disregard this one at your own peril.

Tip 4 :

If you find yourself on the wrong side of the law . . . Let's just say that I have heard of some people getting 10 years for a joint and others paying a $30 "fine?" to go free on the spot. I'm not suggesting that you bribe the police, but you do whatever you feel you should do. If, however, you choose to pay the officer to let you go . . . you will have learned a valuable lesson, he will receive a bonus for doing his job, and you won't spend the next 10 years in a Mexican jail wondering, "what if?". -- Just do it before you are officially booked (if you feel that is what you should do). No judgment on this one . . . just calling it the way I see it.

Tip 5 :

Thieves like to choose isolated areas to do their dirty work, so avoid being places where there aren't a lot of other people. If you are the victim of highway robbery, car-jacking, bus-robbery, or just robbed on the street . . . chances are that there is nobody around and your property is not worth risking your life (give it up). Just one more good reason to have full Mexican auto insurance (check what it covers and the deductible) or rent a car rather than driving your own.