What's the crime rate against Americans and other expats in Puerto Vallarta?
Michael Keller - Guardian Insurance Mexico
The crime rate against Americans and other expats in Puerto Vallarta is always a big topic. For sure, I don't have to worry about going in and watching a movie and someone coming in and shooting up the place; or going downtown to the Malecon (which is the boardwalk), and because maybe on Halloween, there are thousands of people there so someone might decide to use it as a good place to plant a bomb or something. Things like that don't happen down here. As long as you're not excessively...The crime rate against Americans and other expats in Puerto Vallarta is always a big topic. For sure, I don't have to worry about going in and watching a movie and someone coming in and shooting up the place; or going downtown to the Malecon (which is the boardwalk), and because maybe on Halloween, there are thousands of people there so someone might decide to use it as a good place to plant a bomb or something. Things like that don't happen down here. As long as you're not excessively flaunting your wealth in front of people, driving between large cities at night, or getting involved in drugs and the cartels, then you really have nothing to worry about.I have heard that there have been some muggings at Puerto Vallarta to some of the expats, but it's very limited and it doesn't happen very often. As I wrote above, mostly if you stay away from the drugs and you stay away from the cartels, and you don't wear your Rolex watch out or pull a lot of money out of your pocket, then you're fine.
The biggest problem here in Puerto Vallarta is that credit cards and debit cards get copied when they're used at ATM machines. The person goes and tries to use the American person's money off of their credit card.
There isn’t any physical violence to be afraid of. I go out at night all by myself. I take my dogs out. Puerto Vallarta is broken into two parts where there's a touristy, gringo, expat section; and then, there's what I would call "real Mexico," where the Mexicans live. That's where I live now, in "real Mexico". I take my dog out at 11:30, 12 o'clock at night walking down to the park. Even some homeless guys live in the park and they leave me alone and I leave them alone. Mexicans are overall really friendly and they want to establish good relationships with people. I definitely go out at night. I go down to the Malecon and go to a bar or a club and sometimes don't leave until two to four in the morning.
You have to be careful. It's like anywhere you go, anywhere in the world, anywhere in the US. You have to be aware of your surroundings.
(Neighborhood in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, pictured.)
Posted February 9, 2016
Audrey Royem - Ai Real Estate Group
Here in Sayulita or Riviera Nayarit, where I live, about an hour north of Puerto Vallarta, the crimes aren’t necessarily distinguishable by race or country of origin. You’re not targeted as a foreigner for any kind of crime. The crime that you see here is usually petty theft; house robberies where there’s lack of protection on houses or a tourist who comes down and leaves the house totally open and all of their valuables out. That’s the kind of crime we have...Here in Sayulita or Riviera Nayarit, where I live, about an hour north of Puerto Vallarta, the crimes aren’t necessarily distinguishable by race or country of origin. You’re not targeted as a foreigner for any kind of crime. The crime that you see here is usually petty theft; house robberies where there’s lack of protection on houses or a tourist who comes down and leaves the house totally open and all of their valuables out. That’s the kind of crime we have here. We do not really hear of any other type of crime, even the type of crimes that we’re used to in the States, such as rapes or drug related crimes. We have very low crime here. Theft is the biggest crime we have. Here in Sayulita, you have to be a little more careful relative to crimes against possessions than, for example, when I grew up in Colorado, when we used to leave our door unlocked. Here, you don’t do that. You lock your car and you lock your house. People put bars on the windows.
It’s the opposite situation when talking about personal security. You very, very rarely hear of incidences of any type on that level as far as people being held at gunpoint or knife point. In the 6 years I’ve lived here, I’ve probably heard of 3 incidents that ever happened. And again, the crime involved theft, but never to cause bodily harm to anybody. The 3 incidents I’m citing would probably be, for example, walking home late at night and somebody tries to rob you of your possessions.
There are areas where you can walk alone at night and there are areas you don’t do that. When I walk alone at night depends on the hour. Up to around 11 o’clock it’s fine and after that I would most definitely be walking with somebody. After 11 o’clock and walking alone, you’re running a higher risk of people preying on you because at that hour you’re probably drunk or drugged and so therefore, they would prey on you more easily.
(Casa Encantada with security windows and door, Sayulita, Mexico, pictured.)
Posted March 15, 2016
Paul Mayer - Vallarta Food Tours
The crime rate against Americans and other expats in Puerto Vallarta is not too high. When I walk around, I don’t feel like I’m in danger at all. The thing that Mexico does lack is news. There are no crime statistics per se in the news unlike in the US. In Mexico, there’s Spanish news, but it’s not like in Atlanta, Miami, or Chicago where you would know this year’s number of homicides, for example. We don’t have that information, but I can tell you...The crime rate against Americans and other expats in Puerto Vallarta is not too high. When I walk around, I don’t feel like I’m in danger at all. The thing that Mexico does lack is news. There are no crime statistics per se in the news unlike in the US. In Mexico, there’s Spanish news, but it’s not like in Atlanta, Miami, or Chicago where you would know this year’s number of homicides, for example. We don’t have that information, but I can tell you that we don’t feel scared here in Mexico. My wife goes out on her own or with her girlfriends at night. There’s no issue with the safety at all. You hear things, but every time you hear that something does happen, it’s usually gang-related and it’s something that happens once a year. Even our guests walk around Puerto Vallarta and feel very safe.
For example, just a week ago, somebody bought a ticket to Puerto Vallarta. When we asked him, ”What else would you like us to know?” He said, “I’d like to be picked up because of what I’ve read about crime in Mexico.”
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I didn’t even know how to respond to what he said. I thought, “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” and I told him, “Where did you find this information?” to which he answered, “I looked it up.”
Sometimes, Americans who come here have that kind of feeling towards Mexico. They come to Mexico feeling afraid or concerned, but that concern disappears before they leave.
(A family enjoying fresh coconut juice on the malecon of Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, pictured.)
Posted March 24, 2017