Food, beverages, health and additional precautions
Mexico is a country of contrasts and an enormous social inequity. In the area of the Mexican Caribbean coast we have a close neighborhood between very fancy and developed zones and extremely poor communities, without the basic public services.
Because of that, the visitor must be very careful with certain things. We will make here our best effort to provide the right information and counsel, in such a way that the visitor and traveler can enjoy completely the time spent here and awake in her or him the desire of returning as many times as possible.
Food
When we talk about the Moctezuma’s Revenge, we say that is a funny tale, but also that it can be real and present. The Mexican food of the Yucatan peninsula is highly spicy, a bit greasy y very heavy for the foreign stomach. We recommend avoiding having an excessively adventurous palate. It is better to ask for simple things (there are always options). Do not abuse the hot spicy stuff and have light late dinners or even lighter suppers.
The tropical areas and specially the ones near to the coast, are the perfect environment for bacteria, though there are logical health risks mainly related to the consumption of food and beverages. We strongly recommend avoiding beverages that are not bottled or canned. We also advise to be very careful with fish and seafood that are not cooked, as ceviches and oysters.
The developing Mexican Caribbean zone has virtually no ecological consciousness, neither government surveillance, though the restaurants rarely respect the seasonal limitations. They easily provide the hungry travelers all year around with lobster and conch. For health and ecological reasons, we strongly recommend avoiding the consumption of these products unless the traveler is certain that they are fresh and in the right season.
Drinking
Avoiding the consumption of non bottled or canned beverages is the first advise. Also the “drink whatever you can” bars or “unlimited beverage for your fee” clubs expend very low quality liquors (even the ones in big hotels) that are very risky for your health. We strongly recommend avoiding the abuse of alcoholic beverages, especially if the traveler is an active diver. We remind our visitors that the number one cause of Decompression Sickness is dehydration related to alcohol consumption. In the tropics is easy to get dehydrated. Prevent.
Important: our operation will deny the diving services to any person that can be intoxicated with drugs or alcohol and even with notorious alcoholic breath.
Additional precautions
Besides the regarding issues related to food and beverages, it is important that the traveler be careful with some other things:
The bites of mosquitoes are nothing to be too concerned about, but it is better to avoid them or prevent them with the use of adequate clothing and insect repellents. It is not harmful the bite itself. Anyway, the presence of malaria and dengue in the Mexican Caribbean areas is not very common but it is a fact in some level. Sometimes, due to the presence of construction workers from Central America and some very poor areas of Mexico, cases in the local population appear especially during rain seasons. Prevention is the name of the game.
The level of crime and violence in the area of the Mexican Caribbean is not high, especially involving visitors. However, it is always better to take some precautions: avoid driving long distances during the night in lonely areas; avoid giving or asking for “rides” or getting involved in any kind of “hitchhiking”; avoid the excessive consumption of alcoholic beverages, especially with strangers of any aspect or nationality; avoid the purchase or consumption of illegal (here are also illegal) drugs; avoid leaving alone small valuable objects, such as cameras or dive computers and… be very careful in the gas stations not getting distracted, you will be robbed with a smile and at the end you are even going to tip.
