Is Cancun A Safe Destination To Visit For 2022?

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Last Updated 7 hours in the past

Cancun is unarguably the go-to sunny getaway for hundreds of thousands of Americans. A metropolis like no different, it gives guests each the colourful ambiance of different equally-busy international hubs, and extra secluded seashores (if you realize the place to search for them).

On the opposite hand, Cancun’s status as a great summer time vacation spot has come underneath menace currently resulting from reviews of elevated violence, even in traditionally-safe vacationer areas, journey scams, and even the landfall of an unprecedented quantity of seaweed.

If you’re considering of flying to Cancun quickly, and have been following carefully these highly-publicized developments, you is likely to be questioning whether or not this massively standard seashore hotspot is certainly a great decide. After all, is Cancun nonetheless a secure vacation spot to go to for 2022?

There is so much to unpack right here, however briefly, sure.

You is likely to be questioning how precisely we’re in a position to nonetheless deem it a secure metropolis even after bearing in mind current reviews, which we have covered extensively ourselves, and the doubts raised by many different journey information web sites about safety in Cancun. Here is why:

On Travel Scams

By being an already sought-after vacation spot that’s now experiencing overwhelmingly excessive demand, it hardly comes as a shock that ghost journey businesses, just a few ill-intentioned cab drivers, and different scammers have intensified their operations in Cancun and the broader Riviera Maya in current months.

Even although we can not overlook the truth that 250 scams happen round Mexico per hour, and numerous these are in Cancun, vacationers additionally danger being victims of fraudulent taxis and/or tour operators nearly anyplace on this planet. Although Cancun isn’t any exception, that is removed from being a Cancun-exclusive situation.

Foreigners have traditionally confronted scamming when touring all through the Caribbean, with Belize and Jamaica being two infamous examples. Even the preferred cities in Europe usually are not exempt from their justifiable share of journey scams. In different phrases, worldwide journey is rarely risk-free, particularly when you may’t converse the language of the nation you’re visiting and will, due to this fact, be taken benefit of.

Still, there are some precautions vacationers can take to be higher ready when flying overseas and in concern of being scammed, akin to:

• Booking journey packages solely via licensed operators in Mexico
• Pre-book an airport switch earlier than touchdown in Cancun
• Once in Mexico, solely use approved taxis, both by calling or requesting a driver via an official app
• Never get right into a cab with no seen taximeter or earlier than agreeing on a worth for the route

On Violence:

We have all heard of Cancun’s current run-ins with the legislation. Gang shootings, robberies, and murders linked to organized crime within the metropolis have taken the information by storm. For that purpose, we don’t blame extra cautious vacationers for having reconsidered Cancun as their summer time vacation spot.

Having stated that, we want to pose a query: which huge metropolis doesn’t battle, a method or one other, increased crime ranges in comparison with less-dense areas? Cancun shouldn’t be a single seashore or a resort city: it is among the largest cities within the Caribbean.

While violent incidents have undeniably elevated, main the United States to revise its Travel Advisories, Cancun is sure to file extra incidents than different smaller cities in Quintana Roo resulting from its place as a global hub.

Still, when assessing journey dangers and selecting their subsequent vacation spot, vacationers ought to all the time analysis the violence ranges of their dream trip vacation spot, however also needs to evaluate them to the place they at present dwell.

It is price noting town of New York, which gives of the main metropolis breaks in North America, can be dealing with a violence surge this 12 months, with a marked improve in each shootings and murder. The similar goes for Los Angeles, the place violent crimes were up by 60% in 2021 in accordance with LAPD information.

Even although a number of cities throughout North America, each within the U.S. and Mexico, wrestle with crime, it’s Cancun that has been notably pinpointed as violence-ridden currently.

However, because the U.S. State Department itself affirms, shootings usually are not directed at vacationers, and are as an alternative a results of quarrels between felony teams, despite the fact that bystanders can nonetheless be injured.

Despite these dangers, that’s the exception quite than the rule.

Mexico Takes Tourist Safety Very, Very Seriously

Lately, Mexico has been investing closely in safety, deploying none lower than the National Guard to maintain vacationers secure in Cancun, and vowing to clamp down on corrupt entities extorting vacationers within the wider Quintana Roo. This is a rustic searching for to ascertain itself as a secure haven within the post-pandemic world, because it has been identified to take safety issues very critically.

As Dario Flota Ocampo, Director of the Quintana Roo tourism Board stated, ‘Quintana Roo remains a safe destination to visit (…) it continues to operate normally and remains one of the world’s main locations’.

On prime of that, the U.S. doesn’t advise vacationers in opposition to journey to Cancun (or the Quintana Roo state) citing violent crime, although they need to ‘maintain a high level of situation awareness’ and keep away from dangerous areas. Like anyplace else, guests are urged to stay in vacationer zones and be cautious when strolling after darkish.

While we do encourage all our readers to observe this steerage whereas on trip, we are able to guarantee you Cancun isn’t any more dangerous than a number of different locations in Mexico, together with Mexico City, Baja California Sur, Oaxaca, and Chiapas.

In reality, the U.S. considers it a lot safer than explicit Mexican states, akin to Sinaloa or Colima.

Bottomline

Throughout the pandemic, Cancun has maintained its standing as one of many freer, and maybe most tourist-friendly locations on Earth, incomes a king-of-tourism, kind nickname. Even throughout the woeful months of December and January, when Omicron was rampant and restrictions have been the norm, it remained open and recorded a record number of visitors.

This implies that, whereas quite a few opponents throughout the Caribbean imposed strict entry necessities, Cancun went the other manner fully and permitted all to enter restriction-free, regardless of vaccination standing. On prime of that, Cancun Airport has not seen a single relatively quieter month since Mexico determined to maintain its borders open.

Due to this formidable transfer, it has been on the forefront of the minds of many vacationers – and on the radar of the mainstream media – for months on finish. To put it merely, Cancun is being carefully watched by all, which implies any native incidents will probably be rapidly picked up on, and subsequently scrutinized.

Yes, shootings and robberies happen, and sure, they’ve grow to be extra frequent in vacationer zones as gang exercise worsens, however the danger of being caught in a crossfire, or experiencing any abuse in any respect, remains to be inside acceptable ranges each by Mexican, U.S., and different worldwide requirements.

Unlike in other parts of Mexico, the place the U.S. authorities issued journey restrictions for U.S. authorities staff and has been adamant Americans ought to chorus from visiting, Quintana Roo and Cancun have not been particularly focused.

This corroborates our findings that Cancun stays a secure vacation spot with no notably exacerbated security or well being dangers when in comparison with others.

At the similar time, we want to remind vacationers this doesn’t imply Cancun is crime-free. When visiting, it is best to keep in mind all the data we now have given you on right here and watch out for your environment, particularly in crowded areas the place robberies and pickpocketing may happen, equally to any giant metropolis.

Read More:

Travel Insurance That Covers Covid-19 For 2022

Cancun Deploys 6000 Soldiers To Keep Tourists Safe Amid Record Arrivals

Cancun Hotel Guests Will Now Have To Sign New Form Acknowledging Laws

Cancun Beaches Are Safe, Clean And Ready For Tourists

Mexico Adding Seaweed Barriers To Popular Tourist Hotspots Including Cancun And Playa Del Carmen

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Disclaimer: Current journey guidelines and restrictions can change with out discover. The resolution to journey is in the end your duty. Contact your consulate and/or native authorities to verify your nationality’s entry and/or any modifications to journey necessities earlier than touring.  Travel Off Path doesn’t endorse touring in opposition to authorities advisories