Originally Posted by
JDiver
This I take with a rim of salt. I know resorts use cheap, no-name plonk to serve mixed drinks made by the bucketful. And I've witnessed too many drunks, binge drinkers, chug-a-lug and "Hidalgo" contests to believe a major resort chain will taint liquor. It's not unheard of for people - even in the US - to get sick, and occasionally even die, from acute alcohol intoxication. Add deep (or even shallow) water and a hot day, I can easily see a scenario for tragedy.
Drugging by a bad guy, just as in the US, is possible - Rohypnol is as available in Mexico as it is in the USA. Going anywhere and getting drunk is a great precursor to trouble. While I've seen this specific allegation of "tainted" alcohol before, I am not investing much credibility in it.
Yes. Just occurred. I have a lot of family there. They've faced issues - from scams to robbery to false and real abductions to attempted scams from law enforcement over the years. Then again, they know (mostly) how to cope, wherevtonavoid, etc.
I'd agree with that, not been to Mexico yet (roll on 4th Nov), but from being on holiday in a variety of Med resorts in Europe, seems lots of people land somewhere hot and get totalled, then blame the booze/drugging instead of just taking responsibility that they just didn't monitor their drinking. Don't get me wrong, I'm Scottish, I love a drink but you need to be aware whenever you are not at home/friends place.
Now to add something to this thread - been a lot of talk on TA about issues driving privately/with a driver/public bus between San Cristobal and Plaenque where people have been stopped by roadblocks and held up at gunpoint. That was part of our original itinerary and we have swapped that drive out for a flight to Merida instead. A shame, but whilst I'm willing to take risks while travelling, what I've read has put me off.
We have a week in Puerto Morelos and again there have been stories of unscrupulous police stopping rental cars - I'm not totally convinced how much of an issue this is? We will be renting a car in Merida and dropping it at Cancun 9 days later, but I'm hoping that staying off the roads in the dark and driving sensibly will result in no issues.
As to Mexico City, we fancy going to the Lucha Libre, but some sites have hinted it's not the best area to be on your own as a tourist, we will be a couple and would rather not pay an extra fee to be 'guided' through it if it's reasonable safe and easy to do ourselves, what's the thoughts of the guys here?