State Dept is Relaxing Parts of the Travel Warning for Playa Del Carmen

[ggunn]

We were talking about bombs though.

And your point is... ?

 

[The Chairman]

Please, @Adiron, you should avoid Playa del Carmen at all costs.

I felt safe while passing through Playa del Carmen while @Moose and I traveled to Tulum. A shout out to Marco our cabbie for protecting us from those overly aggressive shop owners!

 

[CajunDiva]

I know, right? I felt so unsafe during the 4 nights we stayed in Playa! And those awesome restaurants...just made me miserable

 

[The Chairman]

Cozumel's and Playa del Carmen's economies rely on tourism. The guy who blew up his own ferry to get insurance money is intensely disliked by almost everyone on either side. He's in jail now and he would be in danger from many people adversely affected by his idiocy if he weren't.

 

[CajunDiva]

Well, those overzealous shop owners worry me a little bit, but not enough to keep us away. Headed back down in a couple of weeks. 3 nights in Playa followed by a week in CZM diving with Tres Pelicanos. Ultramar here we come

 

[The Chairman]

Well, those overzealous shop owners worry me a little bit,

They're more of a bother than any threat. Not nearly as aggressive as the vendors in the Philippines.

 

[falcon125]

Can the bomb sniffing dogs be trained on SCUBA? Seems like a PADI course waiting to happen.
Service animals on SCUBA, of course the US Government will need to regulate the lessons and help create the course outline. It would be a great relief If I knew that the hull of those ferries were swept for bombs by scuba equipped bomb sniffing Service Dogs.

 

[NDL_Diver]

You have information that the Cancun ferry bomb that injured dozens of people was due to a guy who was trying to perpetuate insurance fraud and is now in jail? Could you provide your source or a link? Because I haven't seen that anywhere and I've been following the travel alerts closely because we were planning on going to Cancun but now we are holding off. All I have read is that they don't know who is responsible for the bombings, at first it was suspected that the drug cartels did it but that idea was dismissed because "it wouldn't be in the best interests of the drug cartels to target tourist areas", as if that makes any difference. It sure didn't in Acapulco!

All I have read about Cancun recently is that "The U.S. Department of State, however, has warned that "turf battles between criminal groups have resulted in violent crime in areas frequented by U.S. citizens," and that, "shooting incidents injuring or killing bystanders have occurred."

CANCUN, Quintana Roo - The Mexican tourist town of Cancun is seeing a spike in violent crime, reportedly due to the opioid epidemic in the U.S.

Last Wednesday, Noticaribe reported that 14 people were killed in a span of 36 hours. According to the local newspaper, Wednesday marked the deadliest day the city has seen in a decade.

Noticaribe reported that the deaths were all linked to organized crime.

From last month:

More than a dozen killed in Cancun in 'brutal crime spree,' according to reports

And how many were tourists? I did not see ANY tourists killed on the news.

 

[Christi]

You have information that the Cancun ferry bomb that injured dozens of people was due to a guy who was trying to perpetuate insurance fraud and is now in jail? Could you provide your source or a link? Because I haven't seen that anywhere and I've been following the travel alerts closely because we were planning on going to Cancun but now we are holding off. All I have read is that they don't know who is responsible for the bombings, at first it was suspected that the drug cartels did it but that idea was dismissed because "it wouldn't be in the best interests of the drug cartels to target tourist areas", as if that makes any difference. It sure didn't in Acapulco!

All I have read about Cancun recently is that "The U.S. Department of State, however, has warned that "turf battles between criminal groups have resulted in violent crime in areas frequented by U.S. citizens," and that, "shooting incidents injuring or killing bystanders have occurred."

CANCUN, Quintana Roo - The Mexican tourist town of Cancun is seeing a spike in violent crime, reportedly due to the opioid epidemic in the U.S.

Last Wednesday, Noticaribe reported that 14 people were killed in a span of 36 hours. According to the local newspaper, Wednesday marked the deadliest day the city has seen in a decade.

Noticaribe reported that the deaths were all linked to organized crime.

From last month:

More than a dozen killed in Cancun in 'brutal crime spree,' according to reports

First - Cancun, Playa del Carmen and Cozumel are three different places. Same country, same state, but different places. Cancun is 60 miles from Cozumel and there is a body of water in between us as well. Cancun is a very large and heavily populated city. You may as well be comparing Chicago to small town USA.

Second, the ferry bomb was not in Cancun - it was in Playa del Carmen and was not drug cartel related. It is common knowledge and was over the local news and media that it was insurance fraud. The guy has been in jail for a long time - he was in jail before this even happened - which is one of the theories of why he was trying to collect insurance money and why NOW all of his other boats are no longer allowed to operate.

Third, that is the same news story repeated and every single one of the deaths were other gang members - the way the headline reads it sounds like it was random shootings - not so. It was gang banger on gang banger. Unlike the gang bangers in the USA, the ones here do go after themselves - not random innocent people - BUT - if you get in their way, like ANYWHERE you could get hurt.

My point is, do you leave your house in the United States to perform normal everyday routines? If you do, then you are in no more danger traveling here on vacation than you are leaving your house to venture out into the world in XYZ city, USA

 

[CajunDiva]

I agree Christi. On our recent group trip, one of the couples with us spent a couple of days in Cancun, a week in Cozumel, then 4 nights in Playa del Carmen. The only place they wouldn't return to is Cancun. It's fine to fly into CUN and then transfer to Playa, but Cancun is not a place I would enjoy hanging out.

We all LOVED Cozumel...both the diving and the fun on land. After our diving was done, we chilled in Playa for 4 nights and absolutely fell in love with the place. We walked EVERYWHERE in the downtown area and found some of the most fantastic restaurants I've ever been to. It was like visiting the French Quarter in New Orleans, but I felt safer