suze

Nah, because if it had been on ABC news on TV, I would have seen it.

kellysfamily, The only thing I am "passionate" about is truthful information.

tenthumbs

"An" incident in PV "in the last few months" doesn't make it any more unsafe than "incidents" in New York City, San Francisco, LA, Boston, London, Rome, Madrid...........

suze

Sure I agree, tenthumbs, but still I want to ask WHAT this "incident" was about, what exactly were the circumstances, who was involved? Because I have not heard of anything reported that fits what is being alluded to.

tenthumbs

I Googled "tourist murders in Mexico" and found very little that were reliable news sources. The only link that appeared to be official and reliable was at travel.state.gov.
There is a warning issued on September 10, 2010, by The US Dept of State that warns of potential violence; however, after reading it, I have the same amount of trepidation about my Mexico trip in February as I have my weekend trip to San Francisco right before Christmas. Here are a few excerpts from the warning:

"Millions of U.S. citizens safely visit Mexico each year. This includes tens of thousands who cross the border every day for study, tourism or business and at least one million U.S. citizens who live in Mexico. The Mexican government makes a considerable effort to protect U.S. citizens and other visitors to major tourist destinations. Resort areas and tourist destinations in Mexico do not see the levels of drug-related violence and crime reported in the border region and in areas along major drug trafficking routes. Nevertheless, crime and violence are serious problems. While most victims of violence are Mexican citizens associated with criminal activity, the security situation poses serious risks for U.S. citizens as well. "

"It is imperative that U.S. citizens understand the risks involved in travel to Mexico, how best to avoid dangerous situations, and who to contact if one becomes a victim of crime or violence. Common-sense precautions such as visiting only legitimate business and tourist areas during daylight hours, and avoiding areas where criminal activity might occur, can help ensure that travel to Mexico is safe and enjoyable. "

mlgb

I'm guessing the incident in PV was the grenade explosion in the bar.

Drug related violence is not restricted to the border areas. Check the various state department websites for the latest, ie Britain, Canada, Australia as well as the US.

suze

IF it IS the grenade in the bar incident that is being referred to in this vague manner, that had NOTHING to do with tourists or "targeting Americans".

The it happened in a Mexican bar, nothing on the tourist radar and nowhere a typical tourists would likely find themselves. It was caused by a local punk drug dealer and was written up as an *accident*. The worst injury was to himself (supposedly he had a grenade in a backpack).

EcoFunMX

Unfortunately, the Mexican and international news mention that violence on the border with the United States and some isolated points is present throughout the country, when this is completely false, sensationalist sell newspapers.

Puerto Vallarta is very safe, especially in the tourist zone.

Bill_H

The U.S. Department of State compiles data on U.S. citizen deaths abroad by ‘non-natural’ causes and makes this info available on-line with the title “Death of U.S. citizens abroad by non-natural causes”. This will give you some sense of how safe Cabo and Vallarta are.

Note that the data doesn't distinguish between citizens living in Mexico (roughly 1,000,000) and tourists.

For Puerto Vallarta, between October 2002 and June 2010, there were 39 'non-natural' deaths, which break down as follows:

6 homicides
10 traffic-related
6 drowning
8 suicide
9 other

For Cabo there were 26 deaths, the break-down was

0 homicides
6 traffic
17 drowning (Sol-mar beach is very dangerous)
2 suicide
1 other

Probably makes sense to include near-by San Jose del Cabo and Los Cabos too since together with Cabo they have about the same number of tourists at Vallarta. San Jose and Los Cabos combined had 28 deaths during this period:

1 homicide
7 traffic
17 drowning
0 suicide
3 other

kellysfamily wrote <b>don't want to ruffle anyones feathers but there was an incident in PV in the last few months.</b> and was criticized for doing so. Can't quite tell which incident was being referred to but here are links to three U.S. tourist murders in Vallarta between March 2008 and February 2009. All were robberies gone bad. Probably one of them is what kellysfamily saw on the news.

2/11/2009 Tim Connor, 47, sleeping in a time-share condo near Los Muertos beach with his wife when someone broke in at 4 AM and stabbed him to death, injuring his wife as well.

http://www.examiner.com/gay-travel-i...urist-murdered

3/28/2008 David Parrish, 21 year old college student, shot near the Marina during spring break at 4 PM. A report said two men were robbing his mother after she withdrew money from an ATM and when he interceded he was shot and killed. The men were caught but the trigger-man walked out of jail after changing clothes and ID with another prisoner.

http://www.denverpost.com/breakingnews/ci_8758977

3/26/2008 Felicia Melton-Smyth, a tourist on a group trip from Wisconsin, stabbed to death and robbed in her hotel room by a 36 year old homeless man.

http://www.channel3000.com/news/16402749/detail.html

I would add that I've been to Vallarta four times and to the Cabo area (including Todos Santos and East Cape) maybe 20 times and never felt especially unsafe, but it's just not accurate to say that nothing bad ever happens down there.

mightyrita

I think there are a lot of misconceptions about Mexico regarding safety and tourism. This is my third time back in Puerto Vallarta and honestly, I feel more safe here than I do back home in Seattle. Im currently staying at Oasis hostel (www.oasishostel.com), and although its a 15 minutes away from Centro, I never have any concerns when walking home at night. I find that the locals in this country are extremely friendly and helpful. I realize that northern Mexico may not be the safest place in the world right now, but that doesnt mean that the entire country is dangerous. In reality, this country is not much more dangerous than the states or any other country.

gumbi

Mexico is a huge country, and you cant describe it all in just one frase. Puerto Vallarta is one of the safest palces Ive been to, and you can feel that. I am usually "street smart" and keep an eye open for signals, one that absolutelly gives it away is that there are regularly groups of girls (and even single ones) walking on the street late at night after going to the bars in the downtown area, you cant do that just anywhere, even parts of newyork, LA, and new orleans, you just wouldnt if you were a girl by herself, never the less, in vallarta, thats absolutley normal, so stop the "is it dangerous?" babling, more people get in to trouble in big cities here in the U.S. in a week, than most people do in a life time in vallarta. I absolutely love it there, and cant wait to get back to my lovely Puerto Vallarta www.puertovallarta.mx

fourkus44

Your acquaintance might be thinking of all the reports of violence mainly centered on cities near the Southwestern U.S. border.
I just returned on Nov. 5 from 2 weeks in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, where I have visited about 20 times. I am a senior citizen woman traveling alone, and walked all around the city alone (of course during the day), practiced my Spanish when attending cooking classes at a local school and also in stores and banks. Took the buses and taxis - no problems. As always, there were families with small children in local restaurants. It's a lovely city and a great place to vacation.