Is Cabo San Lucas safe?
In one sentence, Los Cabos is perfectly safe – you can travel here without hesitation.
Millions of tourists visit Los Cabos every year. Many international events are held in the Los Cabos area (comprising Cabo San Lucas, San José del Cabo, and the Corridor), including:
- Los Cabos International Film Festival
- The Cabo Comedy Festival
- The Cabo 500 off-road race
- Several sport fishing tournaments
- The Los Cabos Open (a Surf contest)
- Gala de Danza Mexico
- Many Golf tournaments
- Cabo Half Marathon and
- Ironman.
In 2015, over 40,000 students came to Cabo for their spring break.
The safety of Cabo San Lucas or San José del Cabo is no different than any other moderately sized city in the world. In fact, relatively speaking, the area could be considered safer than most similarly-sized cities.
Federal, municipal, and tourist police maintain a reassuring presence in almost every corner.
In a 2015 survey of their perception of the safety of the area, visitors ranked Cabo San Lucas with a very low crime index and very high safety index, including very low concerns for being mugged, robbed, or attacked, and very low concerns for theft (Numbeo February 2015).
Cruise lines have increased itineraries to Cabo San Lucas.
The U.S. Department of State has issued a travel warning for Baja California Sur to exercise caution in the capital city of La Paz due to an increase in violence between organized crime factions.
However, these warnings do not extend to Cabo San Lucas or San José del Cabo, and there has been no recent activity in the news in these areas.
After Hurricane Odile in 2014, some looting was reported. Of course, it only takes one bad apple for news to spread of someone taking more than food and water – however, for the most part, due to the severity of the storm, many people were simply trying to gather critical supplies before more help had arrived.
Therefore, when it comes to safety in Cabo San Lucas, common sense prevails. Risks associated with imbibing too much, uneven sidewalks, and sunburns are the most common hazards to be encountered here.
- Click here for the latest U.S. Department of State travel advisories in Mexico.
- Click here for the latest Canadian travel advisories in Mexico.
References:
- [1] Renato Mendonca President of the Los Cabos Tourism Board
- [2] Spring Break Mexico (Travel.state.gov)
- [3] What you should know (CaboVillas.com)
- [4] Los Cabos Magazine 33 edition
- [5] Consumer Affairs
- Cabo San Lucas, one of the safest cities in the World (icabo.com/about-cabo/safety-in-cabo-san-lucas.aspx)
- Crime Map for Mexico (stanford.edu/~dkronick/mexico-crime/)
- How Safe is Mexico? (site)
- Numbeo
Leave A Comment