Is Cozumel SAFE?

[jscheier]

Thanks. Going to go in August (based upon the recommendations from the board.)

 

[mstevens]

For some reason people leave their brains on the plane or ship while on vaca. The reality is every destination has its issues and risks and if you wouldn't do it at home, what makes one think it's safe to do it on vaca?

The biggest danger to me on Cozumel is from tourists.

I went to medical school on a tourist destination island (Galveston, TX). After a few years, my mind (mostly) stopped boggling at the things people would do an hour's drive from their home merely because there was sand and palm trees. Much of the startling idiocy wasn't even directly related to alcohol (though Texas did at the time have drive-through bars and no law forbidding drinking while driving). I can think of at least twice when we treated someone in the Emergency Department on successive days for the same completely avoidable injury.

1. Do not put your brain in check-through luggage. Keep your brain with you at all times.
2. The presence of palm trees does not confer new athletic abilities, judgment, agility, strength, or balance.
3. Your alcohol tolerance is the same whether you're wearing a bikini or a business suit.
4. Beach sand does not absorb and suppress danger when dangerous activities are undertaken near it.
5. A plane or ship ticket is not the same as a motorcycle license and does not mean you can ride a scooter safely.
6. Cars and trucks on islands are made of the same hard, unforgiving materials as the ones back home, and the things that look like roads are full of them.
7. Your pale skin is just as sensitive to the sun as that of those red people with the horribly painful sunburns you saw the moment you disembarked.
8. "Don't drink the water" does not mean the same thing as "drink nothing but alcohol".
9. All of the old, familiar laws of physics apply more-or-less equally throughout the universe, even on islands.
10. Irrespective of how fun it may be, sexual activity with strangers has essentially the same risks everywhere. STI's are highly resistant to beautiful sunsets.

 

[Lorenzoid]

Cozumel sometimes feels more like an extension of Texas than the Yucatan. There is no particular danger in Cozumel that you wouldn't find in similar tourist destinations anywhere in the world.

As for the rest of Mexico, I've traveled the length and breadth by bus, and I never felt unsafe. Don't do anything in Mexico that you wouldn't do in your own country or any other country, meaning don't stumble drunk down dark alleys at night, don't flash around money and jewelry, don't get involved in anything illegal, and that sort of thing. Common sense.

 

[JohnN]

Cozumel sometimes feels more like an extension of Texas than the Yucatan. There is no particular danger in Cozumel that you wouldn't find in similar tourist destinations anywhere in the world.

As for the rest of Mexico, I've traveled the length and breadth by bus, and I never felt unsafe. Don't do anything in Mexico that you wouldn't do in your own country or any other country, meaning don't stumble drunk down dark alleys at night, don't flash around money and jewelry, don't get involved in anything illegal, and that sort of thing. Common sense.

+ Never leave a bar with someone you didn't arrive with

 

[kelemvor]

The biggest danger to me on Cozumel is from tourists.

I went to medical school on a tourist destination island (Galveston, TX). After a few years, my mind (mostly) stopped boggling at the things people would do an hour's drive from their home merely because there was sand and palm trees. Much of the startling idiocy wasn't even directly related to alcohol (though Texas did at the time have drive-through bars and no law forbidding drinking while driving). I can think of at least twice when we treated someone in the Emergency Department on successive days for the same completely avoidable injury.

1. Do not put your brain in check-through luggage. Keep your brain with you at all times.
2. The presence of palm trees does not confer new athletic abilities, judgment, agility, strength, or balance.
3. Your alcohol tolerance is the same whether you're wearing a bikini or a business suit.
4. Beach sand does not absorb and suppress danger when dangerous activities are undertaken near it.
5. A plane or ship ticket is not the same as a motorcycle license and does not mean you can ride a scooter safely.
6. Cars and trucks on islands are made of the same hard, unforgiving materials as the ones back home, and the things that look like roads are full of them.
7. Your pale skin is just as sensitive to the sun as that of those red people with the horribly painful sunburns you saw the moment you disembarked.
8. "Don't drink the water" does not mean the same thing as "drink nothing but alcohol".
9. All of the old, familiar laws of physics apply more-or-less equally throughout the universe, even on islands.
10. Irrespective of how fun it may be, sexual activity with strangers has essentially the same risks everywhere. STI's are highly resistant to beautiful sunsets.

Damnit, if only I'd seen your list before I went I would not have violated rule #8!

 

[Dirty-Dog]

1. Your alcohol tolerance is the same whether you're wearing a bikini or a business suit.

I don't look good in a bikini (though Kim and Sue both do...), but this does deserve the caveat that your alcohol tolerance IS affected by altitude.
If you've traveled uphill from home, drink less. If you've traveled downhill... drink less anyway. Sloppy drunks are annoying.

1. Beach sand does not absorb and suppress danger when dangerous activities are undertaken near it.

Bars, even beach bars, should NOT have swings. I'm just saying.

 

[Scott]

Do not put your brain in check-through luggage. Keep your brain with you at all times.

1. The presence of palm trees does not confer new athletic abilities, judgment, agility, strength, or balance.
2. Your alcohol tolerance is the same whether you're wearing a bikini or a business suit.
3. Beach sand does not absorb and suppress danger when dangerous activities are undertaken near it.
4. A plane or ship ticket is not the same as a motorcycle license and does not mean you can ride a scooter safely.
5. Cars and trucks on islands are made of the same hard, unforgiving materials as the ones back home, and the things that look like roads are full of them.
6. Your pale skin is just as sensitive to the sun as that of those red people with the horribly painful sunburns you saw the moment you disembarked.
7. "Don't drink the water" does not mean the same thing as "drink nothing but alcohol".
8. All of the old, familiar laws of physics apply more-or-less equally throughout the universe, even on islands.
9. Irrespective of how fun it may be, sexual activity with strangers has essentially the same risks everywhere. STI's are highly resistant to beautiful sunsets.

I'm stealing this!

 

[RayfromTX]

I know there are and have been travel bands in parts of Mexico - however, is Cozumel safe (outside of the resort)?

Thanks

J

Cozumel is safe except at the resort. Those people will take your money.

 

[Gdog]

The reality is every destination has its issues and risks and if you wouldn't do it at home, what makes one think it's safe to do it on vaca?

Best advice you could give. Great comment.

 

[DjDiverDan]

Is Cozumel safe? That depends entirely upon your definition of safe. There is nowhere in the world where you are free from risk. Check the statistics on how many people die from falling in their own bathtub or shower, how many die from bee stings while mowing their own back yard, how many are injured by dog bites while walking in their own neighborhood. Life is filled with risks, most of which you can avoid or at least minimize simply by using your brain for something more than keeping your skull inflated.

On a comparative basis, looking only at the risks that are common on Cozumel - (1) Cozumel is almost certainly safer than most U.S. Cities if you are looking at the physical risks from criminal activities of others, such as muggings, assaults, random shootings, etc.; (2) Cozumel is probably about the same as most areas of most major U.S. Cities if you are looking at the risk of property theft, especially if you do something stupid; if you leave your purse, iPad, or expensive camera on the front seat of an unlocked car while you explore the beaches on the East Side, your odds of having that stolen are about the same as if you left your purse, iPad, or camera on the front seat of an unlocked car in the parking lot of your favorite Shopping Mall at home while you shop; and (3) your risks of getting Zika or some other mosquito borne illness, or of getting a really bad sunburn, or of killing yourself by trying to ride a scooter around the Island while hitting all the beach bars, are almost certainly a lot higher on Cozumel than they are in your home town (unless you already live in a tropical tourist destination). Trying to avoid all risks is a useless endeavor and would make for a very boring life. Pick the risks that you're willing to live with, then have as much fun as life will allow.