Skip Mexico. Here’s why after visiting Uruguay, Costa Rica, Canada, USA, India and now Mexico.
I’ve travelled a fair bit so this comes from actual experience, not just reading horror stories online. Uruguay and Costa Rica were both genuinely great trips. Mexico, specifically Cancun and Tulum, was a completely different story.
Let me tell you about the two police encounters I had because I think they say everything.
The first happened at a random checkpoint. They pulled me over, scanned my bags, and found a nicotine vape. Nothing else. Four beers packed away and a vape with nicotine. I wasn’t smoking. I wasn’t drinking. I wasn’t doing anything. They told me the vape was illegal and that I was facing a 36 hour arrest. Here’s the part that got me. That same vape is sold openly everywhere in the city. Every shop, every street corner, completely out in the open with zero interference. Nobody gets stopped for it. Nobody gets arrested for it. But I’m sitting at a checkpoint being told I’m going to jail for having one in my bag. I asked them to write me an official ticket so I could pay it at the station. They huddled together, talked amongst themselves for a few minutes, and then just let me go. No ticket. No explanation. I was then told that since you were not smoking it, you can go and that just because I have been in India where you might face a similar situation many times so to my understanding, they understood that if I push, they’ll have to go through official paperwork so they just let me go this time…
The second stop happened as we were leaving the beach in Cancun, right in the hotel zone, the proper tourist area. A police car pulled us over and said we were speeding. I asked them if they had a photo or any record of our speed. They said no. I said fine, write me a ticket and I’ll pay it at the station. The officer looked at me and said give me 400 pesos and we cancel everything. I asked him directly, so you are asking me for money, nothing official happens, and I get to leave? He said yes. So I started haggling. I offered 200. He said no, 400, I can see it in your pocket as I had it open to show my drivers license. That last line tells you everything. He sized me up as someone who would pay. I was not the only car on that road. Everyone around me was doing the same speed. They picked me specifically because my rental probably gave that away with the license plate.
This is not a one off situation. This is the system. The police in these areas operate alongside the cartels or are owned by them outright. Asking for an official ticket is your best move because they will never write one. That alone tells you all you need to know.
Beyond the police, Tulum itself was a massive disappointment. South Tulum is nothing but boutique shops catering to people who flew in to party. It is completely Americanized, overpriced, and has nothing authentic left in it. The beaches are fine but if you think Mexico has some of the best beaches in the world you have clearly never been to the Philippines or pretty much anywhere else in Southeast Asia or even Europe.
The biggest myth about Mexico is that it’s cheap and pretty. It is not cheap anymore. You will be charged as much as they think you will pay, the exchange rate advantage disappears fast, and then you add on the fines and the scams and suddenly your $5,000 trip is a $8,000 trip and you had less fun than you would have anywhere else. Also, this is a huge highlight, but you do have to know that the cartels own everything… they own the government as well like you might think that you’re just interacting with a local Mexican but as much as they hate it just as much as you do, the cartel still runs their businesses indirect they extort the money. I’ve talked to several shopkeepers and you know store owners, and they all say that every month a cartel member will come and they will ask for an extortion of protection fees and they have to pay if they don’t then their family member dies they die that shit happens so at the same time they won’t disturb you as a tourist cause you have nothing new with them, but just know that your money is not going to the place you think it is.
What I will also say is this. Every single local you interact with in Mexico is fully aware of the cartel situation and the socioeconomic problems in the country. They live inside it every day. That awareness shapes every interaction you have as a tourist whether you realize it or not.
If you want Latin America, go to Costa Rica. If you want your money to stretch, go to Argentina or Peru. If you want beaches, go somewhere that actually has world class ones. Mexico works if you are rich, staying inside a resort, and never leaving the property. If you are travelling independently and actually trying to experience a place, just skip it entirely.
TLDR: dont travel to Mexico, this is coming from an able bodied, young, healthy and educated traveller.