Mexico RV tourist....

briansue wrote:
MM49,

I am sure you have vast experience traveling in Mexico so probably know a great deal more about it than my over 40 years of traveling there. So instead of telling us what you have read in the yellow press you tell us of some of your personal experience and leave out the media nonsense. I can certainly post some crime statistics about the great state of Michigan where there are some of the world's highest murder rates. If you have nothing of a useful nature based on personal experience maybe you can find another forum where things you actually know about will welcome your vast knowledge.

SOS International is an world wide rescue service used all of the fortune 500. Please tell me where they got it wrong. By the I've been working in Mexico longer than you have traveled it. Don't try to BS me.
MM49

MM49,

I am sure you have vast experience traveling in Mexico so probably know a great deal more about it than my over 40 years of traveling there. So instead of telling us what you have read in the yellow press you tell us of some of your personal experience and leave out the media nonsense. I can certainly post some crime statistics about the great state of Michigan where there are some of the world's highest murder rates. If you have nothing of a useful nature based on personal experience maybe you can find another forum where things you actually know about will welcome your vast knowledge.

MM49 wrote:

briansue wrote:

But the type of crimes one is most likely to encounter is the property crime not Murder. Focusing on Murder tells us very little and misses the real point.

I agree - but I did not write the story - I just quoted it. I think it is very difficult to get accurate crime stats anywhere - even the US - where the FBI and Dept. of Justice keep records to make the head swim.

Two points I try to make.......

We should not be judging an entire country - any country - by what happens in certain specific areas. Because there is a lot of crime in some areas does not mean the whole country is a war zone.

People seem to believe they are safe in the US but they won't be safe if they go out of the US. The press does not help. No one thinks the entire US is like Detroit. Why think Mexico is less safe than much of the US?

I am also pointing out what I hear from people in RV parks in the US when we tell them we spend our winters in Mexico. I have been hearing it for over 40 years but more so in recent years with all the cartel stuff. All we hear is the cartels this and the cartels that. If we don't get killed we will be kidnapped or our vehicle will be stolen or just about any crime you can think of will surely happen to us. Well it never has - not in all the years - not one single crime has happened to us in Mexico.

So to try to reply to the question - we think RV travel is down in some areas of Mexico. But in other areas we cannot find a space available. Some RV parks have closed but I think they put themselves out of business by charging too much and providing very little for the money - and requiring US dollars which we do not have in Mexico. How much should we really pay for an overnight stop when all we need is a little electricity? Much easier to find a Pemex where we can park for free. We very much want to support the RV parks in Mexico and we do whenever we can - but many have priced themselves out of business. It is not the idea that we cannot afford to pay but that we are being asked to pay far more than what we get for our money. That said - the same is happening in the US which is why we seem to be evolving into Walmart parkers even though we hate the whole idea.

I'm a member of SOS International. They publish a daily security post for all of the worlds hot spots. How about I re-post the Mexico detail and let you twist it any way you want. There is not a day that goes by without a headline.
MM49

Mexico: Authorities Arrest 24 Kidnappers in Operations across Country
On July 8th, Mexican authorities announced that a series of operations carried out by Federal Police resulted in the arrest of 24 suspected kidnappers and the rescue of 15 suspected kidnapping victims. The operations took place in the Mexican states of Hidalgo, Veracruz, Guerrero, and Tamaulipas as well as the Federal District. Authorities also recovered numerous firearms and narcotics in the operations.
MM49

briansue wrote:

But the type of crimes one is most likely to encounter is the property crime not Murder. Focusing on Murder tells us very little and misses the real point.

I agree - but I did not write the story - I just quoted it. I think it is very difficult to get accurate crime stats anywhere - even the US - where the FBI and Dept. of Justice keep records to make the head swim.

Two points I try to make.......

We should not be judging an entire country - any country - by what happens in certain specific areas. Because there is a lot of crime in some areas does not mean the whole country is a war zone.

People seem to believe they are safe in the US but they won't be safe if they go out of the US. The press does not help. No one thinks the entire US is like Detroit. Why think Mexico is less safe than much of the US?

I am also pointing out what I hear from people in RV parks in the US when we tell them we spend our winters in Mexico. I have been hearing it for over 40 years but more so in recent years with all the cartel stuff. All we hear is the cartels this and the cartels that. If we don't get killed we will be kidnapped or our vehicle will be stolen or just about any crime you can think of will surely happen to us. Well it never has - not in all the years - not one single crime has happened to us in Mexico.

So to try to reply to the question - we think RV travel is down in some areas of Mexico. But in other areas we cannot find a space available. Some RV parks have closed but I think they put themselves out of business by charging too much and providing very little for the money - and requiring US dollars which we do not have in Mexico. How much should we really pay for an overnight stop when all we need is a little electricity? Much easier to find a Pemex where we can park for free. We very much want to support the RV parks in Mexico and we do whenever we can - but many have priced themselves out of business. It is not the idea that we cannot afford to pay but that we are being asked to pay far more than what we get for our money. That said - the same is happening in the US which is why we seem to be evolving into Walmart parkers even though we hate the whole idea.

I'm a member of SOS International. They publish a daily security post for all of the worlds hot spots. How about I re-post the Mexico detail and let you twist it any way you want. There is not a day that goes by without a headline.
MM49

We find that the paperwork is not at all difficult. Get your vehicle permit on line. We usually go to Tijuana and get our FMM's. Very easy, one window for forms, one to pay. That's it. Insurance? Yes, we have it, no, you don't HAVE to have it. Buy it on line. A lot easier than it was to get our visas to visit China this year.

Mountaineer42 wrote:
So, when and where was the last time you were RVing in Mexico? :R

4X4Dodger wrote:
From the photos I see and the people I have corresponded with there seems to be plenty of RV'ers even with huge class A's still crowding the RV Parks of at least BAJA. And the beaches. From what I can tell, and there are others out there with more direct and recent experience than me, there are some nice parks with good infrastructure.

Paying in dollars instead of pesos for a site as a reason for not going to Mexico seems to be an odd reason to me as one poster wrote. If there is one price, ie $25 US Dollars or its equivalent in Pesos, Why not pay in Dollars? For the park owner it's a great hedge against inflation. I can understand why they ask this.

I recently looked at all the stats for tourism in Mexico and it is up dramatically this year. I have to assume that some part of that increase is also RV'ers.

I dont think it is quite the drastically black and white picture being painted by some posters here.

The last time I was in Mexico was quite a few years ago and I flew in then, before that I drove a VW camper van down the EAST coast, this was before there was really any discernible road south of San Felipe. For many years we visited and camped in the Baja (since I grew up in So Cal.)

I have however been corresponding with some folks who are there now (BAJA) and seeing their photos. I have also been doing some research. I dont recall ASKING questions about security because it doesnt really concern me that much ( I have been much worse places security -wise), however I may have mentioned it in a few posts.

I think I made it clear I was speaking, not from recent personal experience but only quoting research and those that are there now.

Just curious because my impression is that the process has improved over the years.

The process we undergo to get into Mexico and to be able to travel all over Mexico is somewhat absurd when compared with getting into Canada - or for Canadians getting into the US. We were just in Canada recently. We drove up to the booth and showed them our passports and answered a couple of questions and were on our way. Getting back into the US - we drove up showed our passport - answered a few questions - gave them our eggs - and were on the way.

To go to Mexico we have to show our passport and fill out forms - then go to the other windows with all our vehicle paperwork - show them everything - fill out forms - pay for this and pay for that - not to mention we already spent a bunch of money buying vehicle insurance. We also have to use our credit card to leave the $300 deposit for the car. All of this requires standing on line waiting for the clerks who take forever to do just about anything. Of course this all depends on where we cross and where we get our paperwork done. We know of a couple of crossings where the lines are usually not very long. But in some places at certain times of day it can take close to two hours. And we still have not gone through customs if we have to do that - which we rarely do when making any of these crossings.

At the top of this forum are Mike's "stickies" with the long lists of things you have to know and do to get into Mexico. To get into Canada we don't need to know much of anything or do much of anything.

We still plan to go to Mexico as we love traveling there. We consider these hurdles Mexico puts in our way very inconvenient but we jump the hurdles because it opens up a few months of enjoyment for us - and we have done it enough times to know of few tricks to making the process a little easier - all tricks which are often explained on this forum. But why do they have to make it such a hassle?

Based on experience, how many people on this forum think the paperwork is difficult? I don't have a clue because we live here so I don't need it. Just curious because my impression is that the process has improved over the years.

moisheh wrote:
4x4dodger: Your assumptions are very wrong. RV tourism in Mexico is down by huge %. Tourism is up in Mexico but it is Mexican tourists, Canadian fly in tourists and Europeans. There are more Canadians visiting Maz. in a few days than all the RV tourists for a whole season. Where exactly did you hear of RV parks in Mexico with good infrastructure?. Very few have sufficient electricity if the park is full. Very few have 30 amp or 50 amp services. Heck , half of them don't even have grounded plugs. Water pressure can be so low that in some parks the residents use an exterior water pump to fill their tanks. Lots of parks that cannot take big rigs. I could go on. Very few park owners do any maintenance. Fausto was an exception to the rule. His park had a real maintenance guy who knew how to use an ohmmeter!

Moisheh

I think if you had read my post more carefully you would have seen that I said very clearly "the people I have corresponded with". These are people who are there now or have been in the past year.

Secondly I did not claim that RV entrys to Mexico were above the past high levels. What I did say was that all the stats for tourism overall are that tourism numbers are INCREASING and therefore SOME of that is surely RV'ers.

This is not to say that the business has fully recovered from it's low point only that it is increasing and getting better from that low point. And that the story is not all gloom and doom as some posters see it.

It would please me very much if the next time you want to answer one of my posts, and I welcome your responses, at least do me the honor of reading them thoroughly first.

rvmex wrote:
I tahk you all for your information and answer to my question, this information will be used to the benefits of all RV'ers coming to Mexico....
I would like ask all of you to answer just the question all answers will be very much appreciated...
To the caravans...Just let me know when you have a date and number and will see if I have enough room for your rigs...
Remember to all of you RV'ers comiing this way, since there is no RV Park here in Hermosillo, if any one has a problem mechanical, health, accident, just let me know and will be more than happy to help....

Fausto..

I haven't been there in decades.
Number one problem that severely hampers tourism, is the complicated an expensive, needlessly, paperwork and procedures to bring an RV and vehicles and as well as the RVer.
Crossing and staying, in Canada, from the US or vice verse, does not entail anything like what Canadians and Americans have to put up with. Then there is the insurance hassle and you may or not be paid or even covered.
Mexico needs a standard form insurance to cover RVers and their RVs,
across the board and commonly available in US and Canada as well as standard form health insurance if necessary.
Everything is covered and everyone knows what is covered. In addition protection from local "interpretations" of laws and hassling of Tourists. No need for complicated bales or whatever, brain dead for the moment, to be sure they take vehicles back with them and the whole bit.
Tourists including RVers should be able to just pull up to the booth show insurance card, health ins card, if needed, and Vehicle Registration and be on their way.
Visitors would stay longer spend more money, and come back more often.
Random inspections shouldn't be any more burdensome than US to Canada.