The recent firebombing attack on a Cancun bar has many tourists worried, but I think USA Today makes a good point in noting that "'the horrific violence that is jacking up the national death toll is largely in nine of Mexico's 31 states,' and that while Mexico's 2009 murder rate was still more than twice as high as the U.S. rate, the murder rate of 2 per 100,00 in Yucatán, the Gulf of Mexico state known for its beaches and Mayan ruins, was comparable to Wyoming and Montana."
In fact, Yucatán state has Mexico's lowest murder rate, and almost all of the states with high murder rates are along the U.S.-Mexico border. The neighboring state of Quintana Roo, where Cancun is located, has a lower murder rate than the state of Arizona, although the state does have one of Mexico's highest overall crime rates.
Facts worth considering before you bail out of a Cancun trip because of one shocking but still relatively isolated incident.
More Caribbean Travel Safety Information
Overseas Security Advisory Council: Mexico 2009 Crime and Safety Report on the Yucatan Peninsula
Cancun is not in Yucatan state. It’s in Quintana Roo.
@Rodney: Correct — as noted in the second paragraph…
What news fail to report is this happened in a bar in the ghetto of Cancun. People just tend to read headlines and assume a bar in the Hotel Zone was hit
@Pablo: True, and that’s the misconception we’re trying to clear up!
I want to clear something up about where this bombing took place. I write a travel guidebook about Cancun, and can tell you that I know the area quite well.
The location where the attack happened is not in what is considered to be a “bad” part of town. While it is certainly not frequently visited by tourists, a friend of mine from Canada used to live a couple of blocks from the pub that was bombed. I can assure you that if this was a ghetto, she would not have felt safe enough to live there.
In my opinion, shakedowns will keep happening, as long as the police don’t find and prosecute the perpetrators.
212eric
FYI: I found your story via a post on Twitter reprinted here
http://www.facebook.com/notes/cancun-soon/should-cancun-killings-stop-you-from-traveling/150407898322393
Ive been following this story also, and did some of my own searching. Ive always felt very safe in Mexico. Even when traveling some of the rural parts between areas. We took a driving tour from Texas to Guadalajara, then to the west coast and back north a few years ago. We minded our own business and paid attention. I did find a good article from a well respected NBC News journalist, Linda Ellerbee. I posted it on my facebook and made mentions on my blog. Definately worth reading what she has to say.
Violence in Mexico is happening mostly at the North of the Country (Cancun is at the South) and it is a very large country. Yes, there are crimes in Cancun, but not much more than in any other city of the world. Crimes in Cancun come from drug cartels disputes and they do not target tourist, as they are not their enemies in any way. Tourists can feel themselves absolutely safe in Cancun, just stay at the tourist areas and do not go to poor neighborhoods or risky nightclubs.
I will never travel and give my money to the Mexican government. I know for a fact that they look to get Americans into trouble and want them to pay big $$$. Then they make it hard to bail them out of jail cause government only allows so much money to be transfered into the country. I know this from experience and I would recommend never going to Mexico no matter how beautiful it is. There are many other places that do not target Americans.