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Travel to Mexico

brunk

I'm New Here
I have flown to Mazatlan, Manzanillo ,and Monterrey del Norte in my RV10 in the last 2months and only have good things today about travels to Mexico. I stay at ElCid resort in Mazatlan and Barcelo all inclusive in Manzanillo. Any questions? I can help. I travel with my wife. Robert
 
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I have pretty much written Mexico off of my places to fly list
because of violence, corruption and outright uncertainty when it comes to
dealing with officials.
Am I overly concerned?
tell us more on how to deal with customs and in and outs.

Thanks
 
Mexico is out

I have a worker employed on our farm who has been with us about 15 years. His father has a debilitating life threatening blood disease, and he was trying to weigh the risk of traveling down to see him in Mexico. He knew he wasn't taking his family but was wondering if he should go. If he won't travel to Mexico I won't. Just the facts and my opinion; your results may vary.
 
I will not travel the highways to a number of parts of Mexico. State department advice on these areas is spot on. However I will fly to areas deemed safe such as Mazatlan, puerto Vallarta, Manzanillo, CanCun, and Holbox island. The Comandantes and their staffs are very deferential to pilots from anywhere. You are addressed as "Capitan" and treated like a professional. Your aircraft is guarded around the clock by an armed federal soldier. Fees are minimal. I paid ramp fees of about $2 a day in Manzanillo. All airports are built to accommodate large commercial airliners and all controllers are patient,courteous , and speak good English. I enjoy flying in Mexico. They treat you special and I feel welcome and appreciated. If you want more details you can text me at [email protected]. As for the fellow who has a man needing to see his relative , I would explore the possibility of flying him there. aOPA has easy directions for travel to Mexico.
 
We flew to Guaymas, Mexico from Tucson, AZ for Thanksgiving last year. It was fun and easy. You can read more about it here.
 
has anyone been thru Veracruz, Mexico, in an experimental?

if so, were they VFR? any probs besides minor fees? know i'll need passports for us, big numbers and a 406 ELT and insurance good in Mexico for the plane...anything else? any problems with the locals officials?
 
I've never flown a GA plane to Mexico so can't comment on that. But since I'm married to a Chilanga (gal from Mexico City) I airline there all the time and can make a few statements generally.

Indeed parts of Mexico are dangerous but then so is a lot of the USA. If you really want safe try Europe or parts of Asia. I won't travel near the border at all, too many druggies there for me as a gringo. But in the interior, the smaller cities and tourist or resort towns are fine.

As for bribes, I lived there over a year a long time ago and only paid a bribe once. It's no big deal but if that is absolutely against your principles best not to travel. If you do, generally everybody pretends it's a fine or fee or tax and you're on your way.

Basic Spanish or at least a few phrases are helpful. Like any place, if you show basic respect you'll almost always get it back. Traveling anywhere, even within the USA, shows that lots of stereotypes are bogus, and Mexicans have their own stereotypes and issues with us.

I do want to fly my RV there someday (like, uh, when it's flying here) and I plan on going the first time with somebody who's done it before. So I'd recommend that for sure.

As for the guy who won't travel back to Mexico, most immigrants, especially undocumented, are from the north where the drug gangs are worse. Or maybe the guy doesn't have legal papers and is rightfully uncertain he could not get back here.
 
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