Cozumel Airport Security WARNING

[Mossman]

A small, Xuacan security guard (female) took my strobe batteries when we were leaving Cabo last October. I got very mad and insisted they had no right to do so. A supervisor, who spoke English, came and told me I could not have batteries on the flight (they did NOT take my camera battery thank God). He told me I could go back and check it but considering the flight was leaving I just let them trash them. THEN the little guard turned me around and gave me a thorough body search!!!!
SO, if you travel to Mexico, check those batteries!!!!!

What's a Xuacan?

Just a heads up about driving vehicle in Mexico. The reason you will be detained until you pay up after an accident (if you do NOT have Mexican insurance) is because it is illegal to be involved in an accident per their law. You purchase insurance because it is your bail bond. With insurance, you still go to the station, but your insurance agent is called and he comes and handles the $$ details. We live full time in Baja, and we do have insurance. I am sure you can buy it as a rider on rental cars. This has been a law for oh, about 30 years. FYI

You live full time in Mexico and don't speak Spanish?

It's not "illegal" to be involved in an accident there, they just want proof you can pay for any damages you might have caused. Insurance proves that someone will pay.

 

[randy88k5]

I went to the Cozumel invasion. I was right at the weight limit going over, and I had to do some rearranging in order to meet the weight limit coming back. On the way over from the US, I had a 6" adjustable wrench, and metric and imperial hex wrenches (the kind that fold up into the handle) in my checked luggage. I moved them to my carry-on to spread the weight on the return flight. At the airport in Cozumel, the technician saw them in the x-ray and told the coworker. He took them out of my bag and said I was not allowed to bring them on the plane, due to the airline's rules. I protested and said the rule is for larger tools, but he said the same thing only louder.

TSA: Prohibited Items

I said fine and walked away. I think I saw him put the tools under the counter as I was walking away. That was the only snag in the travel. I had a few spare button batteries in my checked bag, and they were never bothered.

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As for security in airports, I don't know exactly how I feel about the TSA. I do believe it is mainly a deterrent, and that it is mostly for show. My mother was harassed for having little cuticle scissors in a toiletry bag that went through numerous security checkpoints before they were found. I went through a backscatter x-ray machine a few weeks ago, and the only thing that happened was they told me to take of my belt and run that though the regular conveyer x-ray. Both times though security, my carry-on bag was stopped on the conveyer line and additionally screened. It had my dive computer, flashlights, and regulators in it. Just a 10 minute delay, and they were polite the entire time. I'm sure it is not always that way.

For improvements, I found this article fascinating. It talks a bit about the preventative measures taken at Ben Gurion.

Terrorism: Can you really stop a bomber by asking, 'Are you terrorist?' | Mail Online

 

[ggunn]

A couple of years ago, TSA confiscated my mom's pill cutter, the kind with a little blade in a bottle cap that you close over the pill. She joked (much later, of course, not in the security line or on the plane) ,"I'm taking over the plane. Come over here and stick your pinky finger in this little bottle."

 

[darook]

It is all security theater and does not do a thing to make a person, plane, or country safer. I fly a lot and am routinely disgusted at the treatment I see the flying public subjected to. I am guessing it will be changing back the other way in the future. We are already seeing the naked scanners being dialed back to protect the dignity of the passengers. I would expect more to follow. I say eliminate the TSA and make the airlines responsible for the safety of their airplanes, employees, and customers. With that change you would see very different behaviors that balance safety and customer satisfaction with likely less emphasis on political correctness and more on effective security.

 

[Rhino434]

My wife studies Spanish, and I speak "Pocho" or a mixture of Spanish and English. It is difficult to follow Mexicans when they speak quickly, hence the need for translation sometimes. Most of the Mexicans living where we do (in Baja) also speak Pocho, so I get along fine.
You may say it is not illegal to be involved in an accident, but when the police "detain" you for over 24 hours when are involved in a non-injury one (like my neighbor), it sure feels like an arrest. That is why when Mexican illegals are involved in traffic accidents in the US, even when they are in "sanctuary cities" like L.A..... they leave the scene.
The geographical area in Mexico where the small female guard comes from is phoneticaly prounouced "Wa haca", but it is spelled with an X, which is silent. If I misspelled it, perhaps you can set me straight??
By the way Mossman, what the hell is "awesome" status??? Rhino

 

[ggunn]

You may say it is not illegal to be involved in an accident, but when the police "detain" you for over 24 hours when are involved in a non-injury one (like my neighbor), it sure feels like an arrest. That is why when Mexican illegals are involved in traffic accidents in the US, even when they are in "sanctuary cities" like L.A..... they leave the scene.

The reason they leave the scene, by and large, is because they have no insurance.

 

[baystr]

I am there three times a yr, and have never had this problem.............weird................

 

[DandyDon]

I am there three times a yr, and have never had this problem.............weird................

We hope it was a temporary problem and passed now. Recent reports seem to indicate so.

 

[cvchief]

We just came back. Security leaving was a little tighter, like actually take the laptop out. No problem with my carry on bag of electronics. They did want hats off for id checks. Carry on physical exams were random and light, but there were a few plane actually boarding about the same time. Coming in we got pulled for a BCD in one bag at xray. They took a quick look, yelled back the the xray girl and cleared that. Had to go back and push the button after that, then we were rolling out.

 

[Mossman]

My wife studies Spanish, and I speak "Pocho" or a mixture of Spanish and English. It is difficult to follow Mexicans when they speak quickly, hence the need for translation sometimes. Most of the Mexicans living where we do (in Baja) also speak Pocho, so I get along fine.

Isn't that called Spanglish?

From wikipedia: In general, the word "pocho" can sometimes have these different meanings:

• A person of Mexican heritage who is assimilated and acts "American" (a "wannabe" American).
• A Mexican-American who can speak little or no Spanish.
• An American who speaks Spanish and acts "Mexican" (a "wannabe" Mexican).
• A person who frequently crosses the U.S.-Mexican border and feels at home on both sides of the border.

You can always ask fast speakers to slow down (mas despacio, por favor). While Mexican Spanish may often be spoken fast, with clipped vowels and slang terms so it's hard to understand, it's far easier than understanding the Spanish spoken in Puerto Rico or Cuba. You can practice comprehension by listening to Mexican radio or watching Mexican TV. However, if you don't make the effort to speak, you'll never achieve fluency.

You may say it is not illegal to be involved in an accident, but when the police "detain" you for over 24 hours when are involved in a non-injury one (like my neighbor), it sure feels like an arrest. That is why when Mexican illegals are involved in traffic accidents in the US, even when they are in "sanctuary cities" like L.A..... they leave the scene.

Probably detained under they were sure he could pay the property damage. If he simply carried around a few thousand in cash at all times, he likely wouldn't have been detained. Since carrying around so much cash is hardly wise, proof of insurance is the next best thing. Mexican illegals leave the scene because they are likely unlicensed and uninsured, not to mention illegal and therefore afraid of authority.

The geographical area in Mexico where the small female guard comes from is phoneticaly prounouced "Wa haca", but it is spelled with an X, which is silent. If I misspelled it, perhaps you can set me straight??
By the way Mossman, what the hell is "awesome" status??? Rhino

I assume you mean Oaxaca. How did you know she was Oaxacan? Did she wear a nametag that said "Hola. Me llamo Maria. Yo soy de Oaxaca."???
If you had awesome status you wouldn't have to ask about it.