Safety In Puerto Vallarta: Don’t Sweat it!
Wed, Feb 17, 2010
Alot of people expressed to us before we moved to Puerto Vallarta, sentiment along the lines of “Mexico… wooow, that’s pretty dangerous isn’t it? Drug cartels, gangs, etc? Are you sure it’s ok?”
If you searched Puerto Vallarta safety in Google, I can only assume it’s because someone’s expressed the same thing to you and you’re trying to find out the true story. Since you’re asking, I’ll be happy to oblige 
Downtown Puerto Vallarta has in alot of places and at alot of times, the feel of an American retirement community. Walking around areas like the Malecon, you’ll see swathes of grey and almost grey haired Americans and Canadians walking the streets, shopping, and eating, going about their day just as if they would at home.
The majority of the tourist population (and keep in mind, Puerto Vallarta is a tourist town, based and reliant on the tourist industry) are… older (says me as a spritely 24 year old )… so in terms of the danger you’re likely to encounter on their behalf, it’s fairly miniscule.
As for the local population:
Different places we’ve been to in the world see locals with temperaments of varying natures with regard to the tourists that frequent their town. Locals at any place we’ve been to in Puerto Vallarta, from one end of the bay to the other, are so used to tourists that, far from hostile in any way, they’re almost ambivalent. Tourists come and go, do stupid, sometimes arrogant things like expecting people to speak English for them, or being pushy and condescending to a local service person, but the locals in Vallarta act like they’ve seen it all before, and they just don’t care.
They have their own lives, their own families and their own concerns.
The first week I spent there I would frequently make sure my wallet was still in it’s place, make sure I kept it in my buttoned up pockets, and be careful not to flash my money around. That was before I realized the aforementioned truth.
Not only are locals ambivalent, they are, for the most part, friendly and helpful. You see children riding the local buses back and forth without their parents and men on the bus have often offered Elysia their seats just because they saw a woman standing up, tourist or not.
I’ll never forget our first week in Vallarta when we saw a blind gentleman on our bus playing the guitar and busking. At the end of his performance, I was shocked by the number of locals, many of whom work for a minimum wage, scrounding their pockets for some change for the man. Mexican value people and community and it shows.
Finally, the issues you see associated with Mexico on TV like drug problems and gangs are not even on the radar of most locals at PV. They happen so far away from this area that it’s a non concern, it’s not going to affect any of these people’s lives so they don’t care.
All of this said, this isn’t an invitation to be careless while you’re in Vallarta, because like any place in any city in the world, there’s spots you’d rather not be walking or flashing your cash around when you’re drunk late at night (though to be honest I haven’t found any yet). What you will notice is that there’s a very clear distinction between the areas where most people are and are safe, to the areas that are suburban, infrequently visited, and potentially unsavoury.
That’s about all you need to know about safety in Vallarta. Don’t sweat it, come here, relax and enjoy yourself!
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Thanks! My wife and I will be there in two days for a weeklong visit and she was a little concerned.
Gracias
I think you hit an important point, you should be as careful as you would in any city, not showing your money, walking alone, etc. These tips should apply for anywhere!