Safety in Rosarito Beach

[Learjeff]

I spent a week there in June. Lovely visit. My wife’s sister and her husband live 5 or 10 minutes south of Rosarito, in a gated community on the coast. Nice homes, mostly owned by or rented to middle-class Americans (many blue-collar), great sandy beaches, nice surf, and decent food is pretty inexpensive. A guard tends the gate. We went out once or twice in the evening but never late, and didn’t walk around in Rosarito late at night, though that may have been more coincidence and that we preferred our own Margaritas and music to the nightspots.

During the day, I didn’t feel at all threatened. It seemed safer than many places I’ve been in Detroit.

Safety wasn’t a big concern, assuming you didn’t do anything foolish. We weren’t pushing the boundaries. We talked to a number of folks who lived there and safety wasn’t a subject of conversation.

I live in Durham, NC. Folks I live with who work in other nearby cities talk about how dangerous Durham is. It does happen to have the biggest ethnic community. However, as it turns out, Raleigh had a bigger violent crime incidence, last I checked (a year or two ago). IIRC, it switches back and forth between the two. Yet nobody ever talks about dodging bullets in Raleigh.

[Pauly01]

anyone else?

[Pauly01]

http://drugwarchroniclesbajacalifornia.com/2014/01/01102013-rash-of-executions-in-rosarito.html
I was told most of the bad things in mexico are in tijuana and its all the way on the east side and not west side. Aren’t all these things that happened this year in these articles in rosarito though?

If not, why does it say rosarito. Because one story mention about innocent cab drives and innocent people and this doesn’t seem to be drug related.
Can someone with knowledge on this tell me?

[Pauly01]

Anyone else?

[Mangosteen]

@Ornery_Bob

FWIW, my buddies and I were robbed by Federales while camping on a private beach outside of Rosarita where we had paid the owner for permission to stay the night. They took everything except our van and the clothes we were wearing. Surfboards, camping gear, phones, everything… all gone. They told us if we squawked, we’d be arrested for drug possession (the main guy pulled a baggie of white powder from his pocket to show us what would be “found” in our possession). Granted, we were outside of town in an isolated area and basically easy targets.

So, yeah, statistically you’re not going to be murdered, but there are other types of unpleasantness I’m sure you’d rather avoid. Getting robbed is never any fun; getting robbed by the police, even worse. The sense of helplessness is pretty overpowering, in my experience.

The main thing I would ask is how much/often are you going to be at the mercy of someone who might see you as easy prey. If you’re staying in a decent hotel and are able to avoid using taxis, and keep your wits about you, then you’ll probably be fine. OTOH, if you get smashed and try to stumble back to the hotel on your own late at night… not such a good idea.

So that’s how I’d look at it… are you going to be an easy target or not?

Same thing happened to my friends and I. I never went south of the border again. And never will. Other friends were just driving in the same area and were pulled over by the Feds. The friends were robbed of pretty much everything. You don’t have to worry about criminals so much, its the police you need to be afraid of.

[tallartist]

For those of you who are thinking of visiting Rosarito or investing here you may wish to familiarize yourself with some of the local news. There is a facebook group where the news from the local papers is translated form spanish to English and open and uncensored discussion takes place. The group is on facebook and is called Rosarito Beach Uncensored. Rosarito Beach Uncensored! | Facebook

You may also wish to read and take seriuosly the Crime and Safety Report

Working Together to Protect U.S. Organizations Overseas

Finally for the greater Baja area there is another facebook group called Baja y Mas

https://www.facebook.com/groups/BajaYMas/

There are many many sites that promote Baja. The sites above can provide the other side of the story directly translated from the local spanish speaking papers.

[tallartist]

@Pauly01

I read many ppl mention its very safe there. But is it true going out at night by yourself is never a good idea? I know the American media makes Mexico sound really bad.
Most ppl seem to say its lot safer than us cities but then there are others that say its not safe and theres some things that are not mentioned in the news.

I assume if you are downtown or close to downtown, its fine?

For those of you who are thinking of visiting Rosarito or investing here you may wish to familiarize yourself with some of the local news. There is a facebook group where the news from the local papers is translated form spanish to English and open and uncensored discussion takes place. The group is on facebook and is called Rosarito Beach Uncensored. Rosarito Beach Uncensored! | Facebook

You may also wish to read and take seriously the Crime and Safety Report

Working Together to Protect U.S. Organizations Overseas

Finally for the greater Baja area there is another facebook group called Baja y Mas

https://www.facebook.com/groups/BajaYMas/

There are many many sites that promote Baja. The sites above can provide the other side of the story directly translated from the local spanish speaking papers.