Travel in Mexico

[bikerboy]

Greetings, my wife and I would like to drive a loop from Texas to San Miguel de Allende to Puerto Vallarta and back up the coast to the USA. We are wondering about travel and safety and places to stay along the way. Day driving only planned. Is boon docking safe? Would a truck pulling an Airstream along free and/or toll roads be a target? Happy travels.

[unifreck]

I travel and drive mostly in Baja and do not boondock without others nearby, in Mexico there is safety in numbers. That said, just follow the laws of the country, have good Mexican insurance, be polite but be careful and you will have a great time in a beautiful country.
Look into a travel club (Vagabundos del Mar) for help arranging insurance, visas, fishing licenses, etc. they are a great help and good group to offer guidance. AEW

[mayco]

Nice RV park on your way north out of PV. Playa Amor in a little village called Playa Los Cocos. American owner from my home town, we've been there many times but were not in our 310. Safe area, stunning sunsets, and he does a great job with the park. Its beautiful.

Mike

[RMB]

We have pulled our AS over 25,000KM in Mexico and never had trouble - as you say, be polite, use "por favor" and be respectful. Travel only by day.

There are lots of places to stay - check out Church's book or look at the routes taken by Fantasy Tours, and Caravanas de Mexico - you can get the names of good RV parks from their websites.

Boondocking is problematic. You are "rich" in that shiney AS. The best approach is to go to a good looking hotel and ask if you can park in their lot for a night or two and offer some pesos.We always found small towns the most hospitable for temporary parking, one time even staying in a fellows yard.

Don't worry - just go and take appropriate precautions. If you get pulled over and someone wants a small bribe , just roll with it. Don't be self righteous and indignant.

Carry some money in your pocket, the rest hidden. Credit cards and Debit cards can be used just about everywhere.

Good luck!!

[Bajaexplorer]

Originally Posted by bikerboy

Greetings, my wife and I would like to drive a loop from Texas to San Miguel de Allende to Puerto Vallarta and back up the coast to the USA. We are wondering about travel and safety and places to stay along the way. Day driving only planned. Is boon docking safe? Would a truck pulling an Airstream along free and/or toll roads be a target? Happy travels.

My advise is to always drive on the toll roads when available along your route.
Towing a two axle trailer could be expensive, you pay by the axle. There is a Gov website, called capufe.gob.mx that will help you find toll roads and costs, it even has a feature that will help you trace your route, some knowlewdge of Spanish will help you to navigate on their website. Stay always on the main Federal routes which are the main roads that link the major towns, like Laredo to Monterrey, San Luis Potosi to Guadalajara and so on. On the road if you need to overnite, is better to find a small Hotel on the side of the Road and ask permision at the front desk to park, in most places they will let you do it, or just offer to pay a fee, or a tip for their security guard. When fueling make sure you go out of the car, make sure the gas pump is a 000 and when you pay make sure the atendand acknolwedges one by one the bills denominations you are tendering to him, never ever use a credit card to pay for gas. (number one places in Mexico to clone your card) Keep your trailer locked at all times and hide from the view on your vehicle phones, tablets, cameras, etc. Always travel at day time and I will recomend you to stop no later than 4pm, it will give you plenty of time to find your night stop with plent of day light..Be cautios, carry a lot of pesos always like the equivalent of 500US, money that you can get from a ATM located only at Bank locations. When using any ATM at any Bank, do that only during bank operation hours and do no accept any help from any extranger. Have a safe travel and enjoy it, Mexico has great and safe roads to discover. BTW, in order to get your temporary importation permits for your vehicle and trailer you need to carry along your title and proof of owenership for the trailer, or you can do that at the Mexican Consulate before you leave.. it is much better.

[Jeepers!]

travel.state.gov
Look for the recent Mexico travel warning PDF

[Photobum]

You have some great advice here. I spent four months in Mexico last winter, with very few issues.

However, Playa Amor in Los Cocos may not be a choice you want. Although pretty, a neighbor of mine last year had his truck stolen from him at gunpoint the year before...and there seems to be a fair amount of crime along that stretch of road.