More stories from people vacationing in Mexico right now

Some of my friends who have the good fortune and had the "guts" to take my advice and go experience Mexico (for 2 of them, it is the first time in their lives doing so) despite all the State Department warnings about that country in regards to Covid. These people are not vaccinated and are not really keen on doing so for the time being and they also have the very fortunate ability to have the option of doing this since they both work online.

They were apprehensive and didn't just take my word for it but instead reached out to the expat communities in those regions to determine whether or not I was just spreading hopefull rumors rather than actual facts about the country basically being "wide open" as far as the relative lack of Covid regulations are concerned, which is in stark contrast to the near New York City area that they currently call home. They are currently enjoying a bunch of sunshine on tranquil beaches and are being left alone about masks, curfews, and gathering in groups.

I suppose it is up to the individual to determine if they think this is a good idea or not but for me personally, I don't really know what to think about Covid in a general sense but given all the conflicting information that exists out there I tend to believe that we are definitely being lied to by our government leaders - although for the life of me I can't figure out why they would do so.

Having never been to this specific part of Mexico before, I can't really comment on how it is compared to a "normal year" but according to my friends who are currently there right now, the locals say that they have about 20% the normal numbers of visitors but that things are starting to get busier, although it is not anywhere near the numbers they have seen 2 years ago.

Most Americans would choose the winter months to visit places like this and this is especially true for my NYC friends who are there now as they escape the hustle and bustle of city life and the freezing temperatures that at least for me, make life a bit miserable.

There are apprently a ton of quieter beaches located in the South West of Mexico and I don't think it dawns on most people to even attempt to go down there because most tourists think Cancun or other such tourist hotspots. But if that isn't your thing this country is enormous and there are tons of places that you can visit, and stay beachfront or near beachfront for $20 a day or less right now. Normally, according to the little bit of research that I have done, these places would be going for at least 3x that much but you know... supply and demand and all that.

Here is the real world experience that my friends went through in order to get where they are right now.

They had to fly out of NYC so of course the restrictions and enforced social distancing was a bit silly in that city. It never really made much sense to me that they force everyone to stay away from one another only to cram them all into a airborne tube inches away from one another. I suppose they have some reason but not one that I think makes any sort of scientific sense.

When they arrived in Puerto Vallarta (the largest city in this Pacific coastal area) they had mask policies and some level of social distancing being enforced but for the most part it was nothing like in USA. They were not allowed to take pictures for some reason so they have no shots of that so I'll just have to take their word for it. Immigration areas around the world tend to have a "no photos" policy so I guess this is understandable that it would be that way in Mexico as well.

Once they were in their shared bus from the airport they started to notice that nearly all of the Mexicans were taking their masks off so this was their signal that it would be ok for them to do so as well. About 30 minutes later they were at their destination and from that point forward they have told me that there was no sort of enforcement of any sort of Covid protocols at all. This appeals immensely to them as they have been in one of the strictest parts of the United States as far as all of this is concerned.

Again, I am not trying to state that no one should be worried about Covid, I suppose it is up to you whether or not you want to be afraid of it but my friends are not and they are even in the demographic that is considered "most deadly" as far as their ages are concerned since both of them are over 65.

What they are experiencing on a day to day basis is complete freedom. There is no curfew, in some places the staff wear masks but it is not expected of any customers to do so. The locals are also not wearing masks and my friends are the kind of people that if they locals were wearing them, they would do so as well. It just doesn't appear to be government mandated in any way.

Therefore, If you are tired of the Covid restrictions of your area and you have the ability to get down to Mexico from a financial standpoint, I think right now might be the best time to do so. It was always an inexpensive country (compared to USA / Canada) but it is even cheaper now.

According to my friends who are there right now the only thing that they don't like is that you are constantly harassed to purchase things wherever you go and I suppose this is understandable given that this area which depends almost entirely on tourism for income, has been hit particularly hard.

So if you have the ability to go, I would say you should definitely do so. Once things return to normal, you can be all but guaranteed that these deals will no longer exist, probably ever again.