Northeast Mexico — any ideas?

[Taft]

My wife and I have been talking about flying to Mexico recently. We live in Austin, not a long flight from the border, and there's a local guy (pilot) who does training flights down to Mexico. He helps people who haven't done any international or Mexico flying how to do it and goes with you.

I'm going to do that with him soon and so we're starting to talk about where to fly. San Miguel de Allende is high on our list. Any other ideas? Any cool beaches or airports on the east coast of Mexico?

 

[sourdough44]

https://travel.state.gov/content/tr.../traveladvisories/mexico-travel-advisory.html

They say one has to check the ‘Baja Pilots’ site for info flying into Mexico. Call me a wuss, but right now I’ll settle for a getaway in the lower 48, maybe Bahamas at the most. If the lower 48 is to confining, take the long way to the destination.

Yes, likely it will all be ok. If a beach is the goal, I think FL has room for two more.

 

[rene86mx]

Nothing on the east coast.

I would advice MMAN as your first trip to MX

Might not be the Mexico everyone thinks but the area around San Pedro and Chipinque is truly amazing.

If you want to stretch that East Coast, I've heard Campeche is amazing specially all around Calakmul

 

[Rgbeard]

I do Mexico with some frequency, but my trips are limited to the Baja peninsula.

I've found it easy, as long as you get the paperwork and electronic notifications all right.

Do the training run with your Mexi-smart guy, and have fun!

 

[Let'sgoflying!]

I'm trying to think of a place in NE Mexico that has some appeal and have come up empty.
We already have the gulf, in Texas. What is down there?
My understanding of SMdA is that it is a town of Americans...in Mexico. So it is very americanized. When I travel to Mexico, I like to visit..Mexico.
In Dec we went to Puebla and puttered around the volcanoes, ate real Mx food, partied with Mexicans, toured a farm.

 

[danhagan]

Wish I had the stones you guys do ... I live on the border, traveled all over that country in the 80's, but don't now ... be careful down there.

 

[rwellner98]

My wife and I have been talking about flying to Mexico recently. We live in Austin, not a long flight from the border, and there's a local guy (pilot) who does training flights down to Mexico. He helps people who haven't done any international or Mexico flying how to do it and goes with you.

I'm going to do that with him soon and so we're starting to talk about where to fly. San Miguel de Allende is high on our list. Any other ideas? Any cool beaches or airports on the east coast of Mexico?

I live in SMA. Great town, I'm sure you'll love it. Unfortunately, I can't advise you on the gulf coast. I mostly hang out in the mountains or the pacific side. But if you want more advice on the Guanajuato area, let me know. Send me a PM when you'll be in town too, would be happy to meet another aviator if we're there at the same time.

 

[rwellner98]

Wish I had the stones you guys do ... I live on the border, traveled all over that country in the 80's, but don't now ... be careful down there.

Oh, I suppose it's like anyplace. Stay away from the sketchy places and your odds of having problems plummet. There are tons of sketchy areas in the US also.

 

[danhagan]

Oh, I suppose it's like anyplace. Stay away from the sketchy places and your odds of having problems plummet. There are tons of sketchy areas in the US also.

Am guessing the border may be a little more sketchy than the interior. Can't even eat at a restaurant in our sister city here without threat of a potential hit squad taking out most of the restaurant. Cancun had some trouble last month ...

 

[Let'sgoflying!]

Jeez I just heard from my employee who is a US citizen born & raised, with a US passport - hispanic but not great with spanish.
In Nov the Mexicans held her after her trip to Cancun; saying she could not leave the country and return to the US! After 10 days of living in an open air cell (no ceiling, just tall concrete walls and sleeping on the floor) they let her go with no charges or discussions about it - and said don't try to return to Mexico for 4 weeks (she has family in Mx).
So this weekend she tries to go across locally and the Mx turn her away; she is flagged now. Her husband took the car into Mexico for some important business, and she walked from where they left her, in the middle of the bridge, back into the US at night!
She is not prone to lying and has zero criminal past. This is on the up and up.
No one likes to hear such stories, but it would be foolhardy to ignore them as well.

 

[rwellner98]

Am guessing the border may be a little more sketchy than the interior. Can't even eat at a restaurant in our sister city here without threat of a potential hit squad taking out most of the restaurant. Cancun had some trouble last month ...

As a rule of thumb that's not a bad one. But it might mislead you into thinking that you don't need to check into the specific city further south that you're considering. You do.

Jeez I just heard from my employee who is a US citizen born & raised, with a US passport - hispanic but not great with spanish. In Nov the Mexicans held her after her trip to Cancun; saying she could not leave the country and return to the US! After 10 days of living in an open air cell (no ceiling, just tall concrete walls and sleeping on the floor) they let her go with no charges or discussions about it - and said don't try to return to Mexico for 4 weeks (she has family in Mx).

I don't know if this was her specific situation, but the Mexican government has been cracking down *a lot* in the past year on people overstaying their tourist card. And they do have systems now for identifying people who have previously been in the country illegally so they can deny them entry in the future. Again, that might not be her deal, but that's exactly what's happening to those people.

On the flip side, they have also created a new program to make it *tons* easier to get residency and be in the country legally.

Pro-tip: Don't be in countries illegally

 

[Let'sgoflying!]

Mexican government has been cracking down *a lot* in the past year on people overstaying their tourist card.
snip
Pro-tip: Don't be in countries illegally

Didn't apply to her.
I think most tourist visas are good for 180 days anyway; she was there a week, on the beach in Cancun.
And if she overstayed, wouldn't they just kick her out?
In this case they made her stay longer. Against her will. Kidnapping would seem an appropriate term as they never ever indicated any crime. Her passport was valid for over a year past her arrival time as well. And a blank page available as they require for their official stamps.

 

[rwellner98]

Didn't apply to her.

Then I got nothing. :-(

I think most tourist visas are good for 180 days anyway; she was there a week, on the beach in Cancun.

Nope. The days of automatic 180 are over, and Cancun is one of the hotspots lately for issuing much shorter tourist cards. But it's happening all over the place.

And if she overstayed, wouldn't they just kick her out?

Nope. They have been locking people up briefly and a fine for being in the country illegally.

Look, I don't support any of this. I think it's wrongheaded and ultimately will harm the country to be viewed as heavy handed and discourage tourism. But it's a fact that it's the same kind of rules and enforcement that most countries have. Mexico isn't being excessive compared to others now, it's that they were soft compared to others before.

 

[sourdough44]

I don't know if this was her specific situation, but the Mexican government has been cracking down *a lot* in the past year on people overstaying their tourist card. And they do have systems now for identifying people who have previously been in the country illegally so they can deny them entry in the future. Again, that might not be her deal, but that's exactly what's happening to those people.

On the flip side, they have also created a new program to make it *tons* easier to get residency and be in the country legally.

Pro-tip: Don't be in countries illegally[/QUOTE]

Oh the irony! ROTFLMFAO!!

 

[rwellner98]

Oh the irony! ROTFLMFAO!!

More like retaliation, maybe. Americans have been coming to Mexico illegally since forever without fear of being held accountable. Many of them are being held accountable now. As I wrote above, I don't support what's being done, but it does seem at least fair. If the US is going to enforce its immigration laws, I guess Mexico has the right to do the same.

 

[rene86mx]

More like retaliation, maybe. Americans have been coming to Mexico illegally since forever without fear of being held accountable. Many of them are being held accountable now. As I wrote above, I don't support what's being done, but it does seem at least fair. If the US is going to enforce its immigration laws, I guess Mexico has the right to do the same.

But this new government is shooting itself in the foot. Americans and foreigners in general play a big role in the economy. Last week while passing customs at MEX I saw the officer deny entry to a Mexican/American that was trying to enter with his US passport because he was staying at a private house and didn't provide an invitation.

I don't get that treatment when I go to my parents' place in Texas. This new government (Mexican) is making very dumb decisions

 

[rwellner98]

But this new government is shooting itself in the foot. Americans and foreigners in general play a big role in the economy. Last week while passing customs at MEX I saw the officer deny entry to a Mexican/American that was trying to enter with his US passport because he was staying at a private house and didn't provide an invitation.

Yup, agreed. I wrote above that "I think it's wrongheaded and ultimately will harm the country to be viewed as heavy handed and discourage tourism". We are already walking the line on politics for PoA, so I'll just say that Sept 2024 can't come soon enough IMO.

 

[cowtowner]

My wife and I have been talking about flying to Mexico recently. We live in Austin, not a long flight from the border, and there's a local guy (pilot) who does training flights down to Mexico. He helps people who haven't done any international or Mexico flying how to do it and goes with you.

I'm going to do that with him soon and so we're starting to talk about where to fly. San Miguel de Allende is high on our list. Any other ideas? Any cool beaches or airports on the east coast of Mexico?

Just saw this post. Did you go with Ranferi on his recent trip? He helped me a ton and I just returned from my 4th trip to MMAN this past weekend.

My recommendation would be AUS-MMNL-MMAN then return MMAN-KSAT-AUS

If you need any advice, send me a PM. But Ranferi really is a great resource.

 

[cowtowner]

Wish I had the stones you guys do ... I live on the border, traveled all over that country in the 80's, but don't now ... be careful down there.

I've been to Monterrey 4 times in the last 6 months and CDMX once. I have insomnia, so I have a habit of walking around at night outside of hotels....in the middle of the night. Never once did I feel unsafe.

 

[cowtowner]

Here is what I've been told in Mexico as far as the FMM (tourist card/visa)

When I went in the past, they would automatically just put 180 days on the card when I flew into MMAN as I would tell them I didn't know my date of departure as it depended on too many factors, weather being the main one. The guy in Nuevo Laredo told me as of the first of the year, they have to put the actual numbers of days you will stay, and at some ports of entry, they are requiring to see validation of hotel accommodations for anything over 7 days. During Covid, lots of Americans went to Mexico to "work from home" and overstayed their entry cards and now they are cracking down. This last trip I was going down on a Friday and planned to come back home on Saturday, but the weather was 50/50 I'd be able to do it. He gave me 7 days on the card and told me in the future just to say I'm staying for a week if it was just going to be a couple of days. But if I said I was staying for longer than that, be prepared to show that I have a booking at a hotel.

The immigration guy told me that what the government really wants is taxes. If you are "working from home" in Mexico, the country want's their cut. You are basically living there tax free, and they don't like that.