Hello, I am going to Mexico for the first time in April. We're going to Playa and staying at the Royal Hideaway. How careful do we need to be about drinking the water, eating fruit, etc. there and in the city and on tours? I don't want to spend the week mainlining Immodium AD. Any advice and information would be much appreciated! Thanks!

Short answer , drink bottled water.
You are staying in a very nice place but that is no guarantee of being sickness free.
Eat fruits that you peel, like bananas, papaya etc.
Take some meds along with you always, like Immodium, Tylenol.

I was in Acapulco , drank the water and never got sick!!!
When I was in Cancun, drank bottled water only and got sick...go figure!!!
Percy

Hi...we stayed at RH this past May.Everything is top-notch and in addition to purified water they also offer bottled water.We didnt get sick at all and in fact never really thought about it there.Id stick to bottled outside the resort.

I've traveled extensively in Mexico. In my experience, good hotels provide bottled water, for brushing teeth/drinking,in guest rooms. Do not drink water straight from the tap. Generally, water served in good restaurants is purified and safe to drink. ASK! And skip the ice. My daughter, as a child, especially loved lemonade served in hotel restaurants. For breakfast,I've always ordered an assortment of fruit, beautifully presented,a roll and coffee. Avoid buying food & prepared beverages from street vendors, for obvious reason: they don't have access to handwashing facilities. Any commercial bottled beverage (soft drink, beer) would be safe. Adapt to Mexican meal times: main meal served from 1 -4, leisurely eaten, then followed by siesta (nap). Have a very light supper (soup, sandwich, fruit, etc.) at what would be typical U.S.A. dinner time. Just in case, go prepared, but don't be so cautious you limit yourself. Have fun!

Personally, I think freshly prepared, hot food from a street vendor is probably safer than the food that sits out on a buffet for hours at an all-inclusive property. Of course, this doesn't really apply to Royal Hideaway, since I believe their restaurants are al a carte, other than breakfast.

I do drink bottled water, but also have drinks with ice and eat lots of fresh fruits and vegetables, and have never gotten sick. We stay in small hotels, often without water purification systems.

Jean

The above is good advice. If you are at a resort hotel or if water is provided you are probably fine. Any other situation drink bottled water. I have never stayed in a Mexican home where they drank the water. Which tells me a lot....

The rules: Peel it, cook it, or don't eat it. Avoid buffets. If any doubt, ask if the ice is made from agua purificado. I never get sick in Mexico, have been at least a dozen times, all over the country.

I don't even drink tap water at home in L.A., much less in Mexico! I always stick to bottled water, but then I tend to break the rules with frozen drinks. I've been to Mexico many, many, times and am usually just fine however I've gotten really sick twice. Once in Acapulco, the day I boarded a cruise ship, I got a 24 hour intestinal bug that gave me the worst 24 hours of my life. It could have been something I consumed in Acapulco or on the cruise. I also had a problem when I returned from a trip to Cancun. I had to take lots of Cipro to get rid of a 2 week nightmare! The moral of this story is to be careful, have a good time, and hope for the best!

I think LA tap water tastes worse than any potable water I've ever had. I don't drink it either!

Two times I have gotten ill (not in Mexico) from food at expensive restaurants or 5-star hotels. No more buffets for me!

As long as tourist travel to Mexico or elsewhere in Central America, people will get sick.
It is not as simple as staying away from buffets at5 star resort, or not taking ice with your drink.
Think of all the people who have drinks with ice and do not get sick...yet you get sick.
How about when you are in a group of 4-10 people and you all eat at buffets and you are the only one that gets sick!!!
How about those people that go ala carte from restaurant to restaurant and still get sick!!!
You can take prophylactic medication like Cipro and bring along whatever meds you feel you must have ..just in case.
I do not want to go into the whole Enterotoxigenic E. Coli bacteria system which is the most common cause of the gut infections and diarrhea.
The latest information from the Centre of Disease controls says this:
Take prophylactic meds like Cipro IF:
1. You always seem to get sick and
2.You just cannot afford to get sick.

I found the second comment amusing!!
Like ,Oh yes, I can afford to get sick.
I came all the way to mexico BUT I can afford to get sick.
Percy

Thanks everyone! Maybe I will just stick to drinking "cerveza"... sounds like there are a lot of different opinions about the water! Think I will take most of the advice and stick to bottled water and peel-your-own fruit. Thanks all, only 37 days until our trip...

Agree with most of the above. I would avoid street vendors, as tempting as the aromas are. Also, when in Mexico (been there 7 times, got sick once, at a Denny's in Cancun!) I make it a point to eat yogurt every day. It helps balance intestinal flora. Have a great trip!