Aside of not drinking the water, having ice cubes or eating fruit, is it safe to eat cooked seafoods? Any other tips to be aware of? I'll be eating out and doing half the cooking myself as we're renting a home. I just want to be very careful. Thanks!!

lucy, you can eat fruit if it's peeled (e.g., banana, pineapple). You can have ice in your drinks if it is made with "agua purificado" -- just ask. Generally all the better restaurants will use purified water for their ice.

The basic rule for food is "Peel it, cook it, or don't eat it." Lettuce in a salad, for example, is a BIG no-no. Being in a private home, you will have to remind yourself constantly that you cannot use the tap water in cooking the way you would at home.

If you cook the seafood yourself or order it in a restaurant you should be fine. Food of any sort that sits around for hours in a warm climate (e.g., buffets) is a breeding ground for bacteria. It is entirely possible to get ill from a buffet at a 5-star hotel and not get ill from something fresh-cooked by a street vendor.

Beyond all this, there are matters of hygiene and sheer bad luck that can get you no matter how careful you are. I like to think that a margarita a day keeps the bad bugs away, but who knows?

I am also interested in this question as we will be there in a week. Is there one over-the-counter medicine that seems more effective than another in battling this type of GI distress. Hope you don't mind that I've asked a question on your thread Lucy2003. Threehearts

The CDC website has an article that discusses the benefits of taking Pepto Bismol on a regular basis to prevent traveler's diarrhea. Seems to be about 60% effective. I tried it last year, but after a couple days, the effects from the Pepto were gross. So, I quit.

Upcoming trip we have a prescription for Levaquin, as a 'just in case' type thing.

If your trip isn't for a while I'd seriously consider getting vaccinated against Hepatitis A.

Just came back from the Crown Paradise and I must say that we enjoyed an excellant ceaser salad every evening before dinner.

If u don't already know, Cancun is very americanized and most hotels on the strip have sterylized water.

The reason most people get sick, is from over induging in pina coladas and miami vices!

Peter is 100% correct. Out of the hundreds of meals I've had all over Mexico, the only thing that made me sick (for 1 day) was bad pork.

We eat salads almost daily on trips in Mexico and have never had a problem.

Buffet food left out in the high temps and picked over by multitudes should be avoided (that's one reason we never stay at AI's.)

If you are terribly concerned you will have a problem, get a prescription filled for Cipro before you go.

Thanks everyone, it's SO appreciated!

But please, DON'T take the Cipro unless you are really, really sick (not just a little diarrhea). Overuse of antibiotics is breeding drug-resistant bacteria, a situation that imperils everyone. And I just read a study that indicates a link (not yet understood) between antibiotics and breast cancer!

By the way, I have eaten salads in Mexico also, mostly without ill effects and only in top level restaurants, but lucy2003 said she wanted to be "very careful."

In years of travel to Mexico the best preventative I have found is having a couple of yogurts a day with active lactobacilus. This good bacteria seems to help your stomach deal with the change in food and different bacteria. Eat it for a couple of weeks before and while you are there. An easy way to do this: there are small yogurt drinks in Mexico like "Yakult" that are made for just this purpose. I took a group of ten kids to Oaxaca a couple of years ago, had them do their daily yougurt and nobody got sick.

Dude, 10 kids and nobody got sick? I am <i>impressed</i>! I just got an email from a friend who is supervising a group of high school kids in Guatemala and he said that half the entire group was sick!

I was pleased that nobody got sick. It probably also helped that we never ate anywhere I had not eaten previously so I knew about the food quality, likewise we only used purified water, etc. Thus far in maybe 50 trips to Mexico I have only been sick once (but it was awful- I think it was from dishes and utensils still wet from tap water). I think in addition to precautions some people are more likely to become sick that others. I just keep drinkg the yogurt drinks, use common sense and don't worry about it.

Dishes washed in tap water and not fully dried is one of those &quot;bad luck&quot; events you just can't control. The sickest I have ever been was in Guatemala and I'm pretty sure that was what happened. There were 3 of us and we ate exactly the same meal but only 2 of us got sick. Yuck. (By the way, Dude, you are my Oaxaca guru!)

I have been to Mexico numerous times. I have been so careful, and when I return home after a week, is when it hits me. I almost refuse to go there anymore because of becoming sick. Not deathly ill, just a low grade fever and you know the rest. It only lasts a few days. Nevertheless I love Mexico.

I just got back from Cabo and never once got sick. I have also heard that the pepto a couple of days before you leave does work.
And Marilyn, they said on the Nat'l News the other night not to place much importance on that link between antibiotics and breast cancer. Too many variables that could have impacted the study. Let's wait for results of more reputable studies.

Thanks, Trish. I do know that study was preliminary and they don't really understand why there was a correlation. Nevertheless, no one should take antibiotics unless they REALLY need them, because the threat of drug resistant strains of serious diseases is definitely real.

I wanted to trow in my two cents about anti-biotics. If you need them, take them as directed- but the creation of anti-biotic resistant bacteria is a big threat caused by inappropriate use. Last summer I was at a langauge school in Oaxaca and was really irritated by students who went to the farmacia and bought one or two cipro every time they got an upset stomach. Then a few days later it happened again and they would go get a couple more. This kind of behavior hurts all of us. In the unlikely event your have a real problem in Mexico find a competent physician and follow their instructions. In the few instances I have been to a doctor in Mexico I have received good inexpensive treatment.

I think many people overindulge in the sun and drink too much, and that may be a major factor in many people's sickness when at tropical resorts. I have seen many people burning to a crisp at the pool, with little or no sunscreen, and drinking all day long at the pool, and then they wonder why they have diarrhea and sick like dogs!

In the &quot;Hotel Zone&quot; the tap water is fine to drink. It's when you go outside the that strip of hotels that you have to be very careful.

Most of the advice people have given is sensible. The only thing I might advise looking at is DUKORAL, for which you need a prescription. It is a two part oral solution that you must take prior to travel, and it provides up to 3 months of protection from traveller's sickness.