New US State Dept warnings, Is it safe to travel to Puerto Vallarta?
On February 8, 2012, the US State Department issued warnings about travel to Mexico.
One of the most popular resort destinations in Mexico is Puerto Vallarta, on the country's west coast. The State Department's warning did include the state of Jalisco. Puerto Vallarta part of Jalisco, but the warning was specific to the border regions of the state, not to Puerto Vallarta itself. The advisory did go on to warn travelers to "exercise caution" when traveling outside cities in Jalisco.
Below is the the US State Department's official warning as it pertains to Jalisco:
Jalisco Guadalajara and Puerto Vallarta are the major cities/travel destinations in Jalisco -see map (PDF, 286 kb) to identify their exact locations: You should defer non-essential travel to areas of the state that border the states of Michoacán and Zacatecas. You should also exercise caution when traveling at night outside of cities in the remaining portions of this state. The security situation along the Michoacán and Zacatecas borders continues to be unstable and gun battles between criminal groups and authorities occur. Concerns include roadblocks placed by individuals posing as police or military personnel and recent gun battles between rival TCOs involving automatic weapons.
So once again, the US State Department's warning does not specifically apply to travelers to Puerto Vallarta. But the department does warn that tourists should "exercise caution" when traveling outside cities such as Puerto Vallarta
Is Puerto Vallarta safe?
Puerto Vallarta's tourism board commissioned a study from the security consulting firm Thomas Dale and Associates. The firm found that "the number of negative events involving foreigners or non‐foreigners is fractional compared to the large ex‐pat resident population and the millions of visitors that come to vacation each year in Puerto Vallarta"
The study found that "visitors to the destination feel safe and continue to visit Puerto Vallarta numerous times through their lifetime and that thedestination’s support services are well above the average standards and dedicated to serving the visiting public. In relations to the drug wars, TDA found that the limited land transit makes the smuggling of guns and drugs through Puerto Vallarta very difficult and thus a non‐issue in the destination."
So, the general concensus is that it is advisable for tourists to exercise the same cautions in Puerto Vallarta as any city in the US. But the US State Department's recent warning does NOT apply to Puerto Vallarta.
Crime against tourists is relatively rare in Puerto Vallarta. Many of those involved in the tourism industry have long complained that Americans paint Mexico with a broad brush and that when violence is reported in one part of the country, all the cities are tainted by association. Few Americans would judge the safety of Beverly Hills by violence in West Los Angeles, but many Americans judge safety in Puerto Vallarta by crime in the Mexican border towns.
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