Local News

[gopbroek]

Back during Covid things were getting a little out of hand with customs in Cozumel. I personally know several folks who were hit up for bribes. If there was an overage on something, usually tobacco or alcohol, you would be taken over to the pay window and they would show you their phone which had a message on it like ‘place $50 USD in your passport and then had it over’. They would then hand back your passport without the cash. There were complaints and about the same time the military started overseeing operations at the larger airports in Mexico, including Cozumel. Suddenly new customs folks showed up and there was news blurb that they had been replaced due to corruption.

Last April on the flight in from DFW I watched a gentleman at the inspection table get hit with a $300 USD fine for having three cartons of cigarettes. He tried to explain that he was a Mexican citizen and was in town to work for three weeks. He said he did not realize he was in violation and offered to either pay the excess duty or they could just throw the excess quantity in the trash. Nope customs was having none of it he was given the choice of paying the fine for failure to declare or be hit with a larger $2-3K fine for attempting to smuggle. They were no negotiations; the customs gal was all business and there was a soldier with an assault rifle standing behind her to make sure there was compliance.

Scared the crap out of me and I was glad I got a green light. Since then, I am a little more careful of what I smuggle in.

 

[ggunn]

Hmmm. My iPad is also a musical instrument, as well as a camera and a computing device. My iPhone is a phone, a camera, a GPS unit, and an audio player.

 

[gopbroek]

Hmmm. My iPad is also a musical instrument, as well as a camera and a computing device. My iPhone is a phone, a camera, a GPS unit, and an audio player.

And I may agree with you and have debated and occasionally won arguments with the customs folks in the past but now we have an armed soldier standing next to them who seems to be the final arbitrator

 

[ibj40]

Privatization of Cozumel beach area under public consult - Riviera Maya News

Cozumel, Q.R. -- A private beach club being promoted for construction near a natural protected area of Cozumel is being met with resistance.

riviera-maya-news.com

 

[DandyDon]

Privatization of Cozumel beach area under public consult - Riviera Maya News

Cozumel, Q.R. -- A private beach club being promoted for construction near a natural protected area of Cozumel is being met with resistance.

riviera-maya-news.com

That would ruin shore diving from BA. It's bad enough that divers have to swim around the prison. But there is no parking to speak of so it's a foolish idea. Needs to be canceled by the city.

 

[OregonDM]

There is a Change.org petition if anyone is interested. Yeah, won't beat out the payola from the beach club company to the local govenrment, but at least it makes you FEEL like you're doing something Cambia algo. Firma esta perición.

 

[gopbroek]

Lots of turmoil over the proposal to replace all the judges in Mexico

Thousands protest Mexico’s Senate judicial reform approval - Riviera Maya News

Mexico City, Mexico -- Mexico’s Senate approved López Obrador's reform of the Judicial Branch after hours of debate and a change of venue.

riviera-maya-news.com

https://www.npr.org/2024/09/10/g-s1-20967/mexico-judicial-reform-elect-judges-constition-change

The MXN is taking a real beating

 

[MBinDC]

Out of curiosity - any local mechanism for reporting crocodiles near the beaches? A few weeks ago, I found myself waiting on my balcony for my (8 year old) son to quit screwing around so we could jump in for a snorkel. And as I was waiting for him, I watched a 4-5 ft. crocodile swim right past our entry point (like, 2-3 feet from it). I let my son continue to screw around for a while before I decided we should head in


Just wondering, really, whether or not there was some kind of "Hey, crocs out" thing in Cozumel the way you sometimes flag jellyfish in Cayman (or even the US, really).

 

[ggunn]

Out of curiosity - any local mechanism for reporting crocodiles near the beaches? A few weeks ago, I found myself waiting on my balcony for my (8 year old) son to quit screwing around so we could jump in for a snorkel. And as I was waiting for him, I watched a 4-5 ft. crocodile swim right past our entry point (like, 2-3 feet from it). I let my son continue to screw around for a while before I decided we should head in


Just wondering, really, whether or not there was some kind of "Hey, crocs out" thing in Cozumel the way you sometimes flag jellyfish in Cayman (or even the US, really).

How dangerous to humans are the Cozumel crocs?

 

[DandyDon]

How dangerous to humans are the Cozumel crocs?

I would not want to crowd one nor tease it with food, but we never hear of injuries with the local crocs. There have been reports of Pacific crocs (swimming in a pond at night) and Belize while spearfishing, but that's all I know of.