Puerto Vallarta Forum (PV Bulletin Board)

I've read online the postings about what happened to the police and saw the photos of their car last week - attacked by the zetas (drug gang) apparently (since they hung up 4 banners). This happened right in the Old Town (Romantic zone) at Basilio Badillo and Insurgentes in front of Farmacia Guadalajara. Since grenades and guns were used and 3 innocent bystanders were hurt and hospitalized by flying shrapnel, I find this very significant. I have plans to be down there and staying on Amapas late Nov. - mid-Dec., and so wonder what the state of security is like down there now. Is militia posted throughout the Old Town? Any other security measures implemented. I did just read that the Police Chief resigned and his subordinate is now acting Police Chief. I've been going to PV since the early 80's and never thought it would come to this. I also have other friends that will be down in PV at that time, but I will be staying by myself, so really honestly wondering how safe it is down there? I would really appreciate honest answers on this. It is hard to find much info in the press as PV obviously does not want to discourage tourism. Help me out here to decide if PV is safe enough to come down! Gracias!

I don't live in Vallarta yet, and all my info comes from what I read on the forums and what my friends who live there tell me. I'm coming down for a week in June and looking for a condo to buy. I plan to ultimately live there full-time.

Put the situation into perspective. Yes, it was a horrible thing to happen. Horrible things can happen anywhere. I live in a small city on the coast of Texas that isn't Galveston. First report on last night's local news: a murder at an apartment complex. Over the weekend, a stabbing death in Port Aransas, a nearby laid back beach town. Last week, a person was shot over an argument about a pair of sunglasses. A few years ago in Paris, I was at the airport waiting to leave, and the area had to be evacuated for a few hours because of a suspected bomb in an abandoned suitcase.

Does this mean that travel warnings are issued and it's dangerous to live in Corpus Christi, Texas? Or Paris? Or most other places? No. Life goes on. Enjoy your vacation.

You just compared a stabbing death in Port Aransas to a drug war that has been going on for years with no end in sight and has seen tens of thousands of people, including many who were innocent, murdered. That's like comparing a shooting death in Galveston to the Vietnam war. If you have nothing intelligent to offer, please don't post.

My point was not to compare the two situations you mentioned as being the same thing. My point was that, as I stated, horrible things can happen anywhere. Do you hide behind a wall or do you go on with your life and continue to have fun while you can? If you are going to let that situation deter you from going to Vallarta, so be it. It's not going to stop me. Since I never vacationed in the border towns where the situation is at its worst, I can't compare those areas. But I will continue to travel to the parts of Mexico that have always interested me, such as Vallarta...and Mazatlan...and Merida...and Puerto Escondido...and Mexico City. I would also suggest to the original OP to check out some of the other forums and gather information about folks who drive to Vallarta from various areas of the US. And if you think Mexico is the only country where murder can happen, I suggest you vacation in certain areas of Chicago. Or New Orleans. Or Houston. The choices are endless.

Many people go to PV thinking it can't and doesn't happen here. It happens on border towns so I'm safe. This is a war. A drug war, and the participants do not care who gets in their way.

You just don't see grenade casualties and automatic weapon fire that take out tourists in The States or Canada.

I think the BIG point is not to be so naive as to think it won't happen in PV or to justify deadly situations by saying: "It can happen anyplace". Go to PV. Have fun. Enjoy. BUT, be extra aware of your environement. Not only at night, but all the time. All those pickups with armed Mexican authorities are there for a reason. Chuck...