<p>I suspect that the culture and social environment in Oaxaca has always been a bit different from life in the larger and more cosmopolitan cities further north and in La Ciudad de Mexico.</p>
<p>Has anybody been to Cozumel this year? Not in a past, but in 2010?</p>
<p>Miami, our cruise ship made a stop in Cozumel on Aug 12. I liked what I saw. But, then again, we didn’t stay in town much.</p>
<p>^Thanks! You are actually exposed much more off the ship. We just stay in our resort, have been there so many times, there is nothing for us to see. So, now I have a bit more reasons to look forward. I was concerned, since we have skipped last year.</p>
<p>if you confine yourself to the guarded areas of a resort or cruise ship, you’re probably ok but you’re probably not really in mexico either. the drug supply currently runs along the gulf states and a friend from merida recently visited his family there reports the yucatan still isn’t so much involved which makes sense because the peninsula would be a detour if you wanted to get to the us. otoh it’s surprising to see how obscure places toward the west have their problems too. guanajuato is a really fascinating place not on the usual tourist map and not known much for drugs but in may 58 people were killed there (total in the state, not the city). difficult to say where to go. ten years ago, it wasn’t safe after dark to use the pedestrian walkway that leads from the mexico city airport terminal to the ramada next door. things are changing fast - try a site search for “mexican drug war update” on [Search</a> StopTheDrugWar.org | StoptheDrugWar.org](<a href=“http://stopthedrugwar.org/googlesearch]Search”>Search StopTheDrugWar.org | StoptheDrugWar.org)</p>
<p>I was in Baja a little less than two years ago. We drove all over the southern part of the peninsula and never felt unsafe even in places where there were no other tourists. It’s sad to think that this might have changed - does anyone know how the areas south and west of La Paz have been affected?</p>
<p>In any case, even at that time the government kept the major tourist centers under pretty close watch. I remember seeing a couple of soldiers with submachine guns patrolling one of the more popular beaches in Cabo, and many of the roads outside of the tourist zones had army roadblocks. Things may have changed since then, of course.</p>
<p>I would not count experience of two years ago. I was in Cozumel less than 2 years ago. It might be all different now, but hope not. We do not care to be out of resort, we just want to relax on a beach, eat at buffet, paint some pottery and snorkel. I just hope that it is OK. If not, Cozumel is dead, they do not have anything else there, just cater for tourists, a lot from Europe also.</p>
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You can do all that in Vegas ;)</p>
<p>^I hate Vegas, will never go back. there is no off shore snorkeling in Vegas anyway. there is no ralaxation in Vegas, way too crowded, food by far is not the same. Vegas is althogether completely different vacation. And some people just love it, going back every year. Besides Vegas, we have been to other Caribean places, but we do not like any as much as Cozumel.</p>
<p>^ It’s probably more expensive to reach from your location (Ohio?), but Hawaii beats Mexico for beaches and snorkeling.</p>
<p>Anyway, I feel like it’s kind of silly to go all the way to Mexico and never leave a resort when you could just go to a nicer resort in the Vegas area. But to each their own :)</p>
<p>^Yes, Hawaii would be at least twice as expensive, if not more, and much more crowded and commercial. I also heard, there are no all inclusive in Hawaii and most people are visiting various sites and islands, and we are not interested in this.
We have been to Cayman 2 times, first time we loved it, second time - it got so commercial, we will never go back any more. Some day we will visit Hawaii, not any time soon, maybe in 5-6 years.</p>
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<p>The most popular resorts in Mexico are on an ocean, bay or gulf. Even if you don’t stray far from the resort, there is a beach to relax on and just contemplate, and water excursions of all kinds (catamaran cruises, snorkeling, wind surfing, etc.), all within walking distance of the hotel. There is no ocean in Vegas that I’m aware of.:)</p>
<p>That said, DH and I are going to take a long weekend in Vegas soon to see some shows and just spend a little time away together.</p>
<p>“There is no ocean in Vegas that I’m aware of.”
-No ocean = no vacation. I much rather stay at home, sleep in my own bed in my wonderful house, swim in my community 50 meter pool and workout at gym with brand new machines of the newest possible versions, go to my wonderful local museum, have fun at work and classes. Why do I want to go on vacation? Answer: ocean, snorkeling many times a day without going on a boat, walking on a beach, all you can eat and drink buffet almost 24 / 7, watching and taping sunsets, painting pottery on a beach. Everything has to be available on an ocean beach. Others go for different reasons, and some love Vegas or Hawaii. They are lucky, nothing has changed there. I hope for no change in Cozumel, but it might be not true.</p>
<p>^^^^For the most part, I agree with you. I love the ocean and large bodies of water in general. Exceptions are the occasional trips to European cities and Vegas every few years or so.</p>
<p>National news today discussed “a war going on south of our border in Mexico”. This thing is growing and getting worse. I heard last night that the US was going to bring in Drones? Is that true? Could that be true and its not being discussed widely, on the news?
I was in Cabo about 3 years ago and read several local articles about large amounts of troops fighting the drug cartel (up north). These articles were very detailed and disturbing. My friends and I had a discussion about it. They felt the fighting had always gone on in Mexico and wasn’t a problem. I felt it was changing and escalating. Sorry to right on this.</p>