When we first began telling fellow Americans about our tours to the Valle de Guadalupe last year, you wouldn’t believe how many times we heard the question, “but isn’t Mexico dangerous?” Or maybe you would… If you’ve seen the headlines coming out of the country over the past decade or so, safety in Mexico definitely seems like a valid concern.
The question, however, took us at least off guard. We’ve been traveling frequently to the Valle de Guadalupe for quite some time now, and it’s always struck us as an incredibly peaceful place—more peaceful than much of Southern California, no doubt!
Though years of firsthand experience have shown us that the Valle de Guadalupe is totally safe for Americans to visit, we’ve taken the liberty of doing a bit of research for you if a simple “don’t worry” doesn’t quite do the trick:
We began by running a basic Google search for “Valle de Guadalupe safety.” Not surprisingly, aside from pages of vague statements like “the Valle de Guadalupe is totally safe,” nothing much turned up. Not satisfied stopping there, we moved on to “Valle de Guadalupe crime”. Still nothing. Finally, considering the language that local media outlets publish in, we decided to repeat both searches en español. For a moment, with “Valle de Guadalupe crimen,” we thought we had something—however, it was nothing more than an interview excerpt comparing the construction of a golf course in the valley to a crime! The speaker seemed to have a valid concern, but for our purposes, so far, so good.
Still undeterred, we decided to dig deeper. Turning to the official U.S. Department of State travel warning for Baja California Norte, it was the city of Tijuana that specifically got a shout out—despite most violence there being “targeted criminal organization assassinations,” there’s still a warning for U.S. citizens. However, this won’t be a concern on our tours as our route down Highway 1 passes by Tijuana completely. Of course, there was no mention at all of the Valle de Guadalupe.
Finally, though it might seem a bit morbid, we decided to search the official U.S. Department of State archives for citizen deaths overseas (yes, we know there’s no sea between here and Mexico, but that’s just what it’s called). Coming as no surprise to us, since archives began in October of 2002 and until today, no U.S. citizens have died from unnatural causes in the Valle de Guadalupe.
Look—the fact of the matter is that plenty of U.S. citizens are traveling in Mexico at any given time, and even in the traditionally more “dangerous” parts, most tend to have a totally pleasant experience. Furthermore, it’s estimated that over one million U.S. citizens live in Mexico, including in Baja California Norte and Sur and even in the Valle de Guadalupe wine-growing region itself. This speaks volumes about the safety situation throughout the vast majority of Mexican territory.
At the end of the day, despite the fact that the Valle de Guadalupe is a totally, unequivocally safe destination for American visitors, we still make safety our top priority on every tour. We want you to enjoy your experience with Baja Winery Tours, and above all this means that we want you to feel comfortable! If you have any further questions about safety in the Valle de Guadalupe, please don’t hesitate to reach out via our Contact page. We’re always happy to provide information and guidance for potential tour-takers.
