Violence Leads Some Spring Breakers to Bypass Mexico
Travel Blog • Jim Benning • 03.11.08 | 10:50 AM ET
Many college students on spring break once took the so-called “two-nation vacation,” consisting of a visit to South Padre Island, Texas and a jaunt across the Mexican border to Matamoros. But the AP reports today that news of drug-related violence in Mexico has many students this year taking a one-nation vacation instead and staying on U.S. soil.
Not all students are staying away, however. The Los Angeles Times reports that, farther south, Acapulco is attracting quite a few college students on spring break, accounting for “about 25% of [STA Travel’s] spring-break packages sales”—despite a U.S. State Department warning that drug-related violence is on the rise there, too.
“Although this violence is not targeted at foreign residents or tourists,” officials advise, “U.S. citizens in these areas should be vigilant in their personal safety.”
The Times’ story notes that Costa Rica is an increasingly popular spring break destination. In the U.S., spring break hot spots continue to include Las Vegas and Panama City Beach, Florida, among other places.
Related on World Hum:
* A Bad Situation Gets Worse in Tijuana
Photo by Kyle May via Flickr, (Creative Commons).
Email to friend
Twitter
del.icio.us
Digg
Facebook
Furl
Ma.gnolia
Mixx
Reddit
StumbleUpon
Yahoo! Buzz
Jim Benning is the editor and co-founder of World Hum.
TambourineMan 03.11.08 | 3:22 PM ET
Excelente! More cerveza for me.
Last January, I actually stayed at the Oasis Cancun hotel (cited in the LAT write-up as party central). Lovely place. During my stay, I nearly slipped in a puddle of puke, saw a dead frat boy floating belly-up in the pool and witnessed a drunken melee at the Thursday night “Foam Party.” Good times!
Learn Spanish in Mexico 07.13.08 | 1:02 PM ET
The violence in Mexico is very very localized. Stay away from the U.S. Mexico border, Sinaloa and some bad areas of Mexico city and you will have no problems at all.