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The stunning tourism hotspot of Isla Mujeres is a truly special destination. Close enough to the coastline and Cancun to see the bright lights at night, it provides a more exclusive and contained experience for travelers.
A huge plus of this exclusivity, and perhaps one of the top-selling points for Isla Mujeres, is just how brilliantly safe it is.
But, this envious level of safety travelers get to enjoy while enjoying the Isla Mujeres treatment isn’t accidental. It is thanks to a serious and committed effort by the authorities on the island.
And now, yet another new initiative has been put in place that promises to raise the bar of traveler security even higher.
24/7 Police Presence
Across Mexico, and normally strategically placed in high crime areas, police booths are a common sight.
These booths feature a 24/7 armed police presence whose main job is deterrence but also operate as a fast response to any incidents in the area.
While Isla Mujeres is far from having any “high crime” areas, the authorities on the island have recognized just how big of a positive addition to criminal deterrence they can be in tourism hotspots.
Isla Mujeres is a small island, and already that plays into its favor, leaving very few places for would-be criminals to run. And now, with the strategic placement of these booths, which will guard 3 of the most important traffic routes, the island becomes a fortress against crime.
Prevention Not Reaction
Across the state of Quintana Roo, which is home to Cancun, Playa del Carmen, and, of course, Isla Mujeres, law enforcement has undergone an extensive strategy change.
In previous years the state carried out reactionary policing, waiting for an issue to raise its head before thinking up ways to combat it.
Thankfully for travelers, that outdated approach to security is out the window. And now, a serious effort with extensive investment is underway to make this tourism giant unattractive for any criminal element to operate in.
Isla Mujeres has been especially fast to adopt this new ethos. The island has a tiny crime rate, so small in fact that it barely registers on respectable crime statistic providers like Numbeo.
Since July alone, there have already been 3 major initiatives that include increased police patrols, the inclusion of military patrols, as well as the construction of a new police station at the entrance of the Isla Mujeres hotel zone.
Is This Overkill?
With the island already being extremely safe and not showing any signs of going in the wrong direction, it would be easy to assume this is a government PR move, especially with elections coming up in Mexico.
But there is one less easily controlled aspect of Isla Mujeres that drives these initiatives from authorities.; Each day as many as 20,000 people make the 20-minute ferry trip from Cancun to explore the island, a number not easily policed with a small island attitude.
With such a huge number coming and going each day, the worry that a negative minority could hide among the majority of genuine visitors is a reasonable one.
What New Visitors Should Expect
For travelers who are new to a Mexican Caribbean vacation, the presence of heavily armed police officers and military personnel can be very jarring at first.
This is a completely natural reaction to have at first, but not one travelers should hold onto for too long.
While the optics can look pretty intimidating, these security elements patrol purely as a deterrent, and seeing a small group of armed Mexican Marines strolling through sunbathing travelers on the beaches of Isla Mujeres is no cause for worry.
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