This post was penned by Emily Becker, who is a Mexico-primarily based freelance writer for BMTM.
Oaxaca is a state in southern Mexico that has a glorious track record for staying just one of the most culturally lively locations in the region. The condition is mountainous, with a rugged coastline that provides way to sandy beaches and quintessential surf cities. The capital, Oaxaca de Juárez (or Oaxaca City), is a bustling spot, bursting with colour. It’s the gastronomic capital of Mexico — and for excellent rationale.
That stated, the query on your thoughts as a traveler is in all probability: Is Oaxaca secure? As a solo feminine traveler who has visited the metropolis of Oaxaca a handful of occasions, I’m here to tackle your biggest security considerations with these ideas:
1. Pick Your Lodging Sensibly
My biggest piece of guidance for being secure in Oaxaca Town is deciding upon lodging that are in the Centro, Xochimilco, Reforma, or Jalatlaco neighborhoods. The first time I visited, I stayed in the Centro, and despite the fact that I felt secure, it is a noisy location to continue to be.
If you want to remain central but in a silent and risk-free neighborhood, choose for Xochimilco or Jalatlaco. Both of these locations are well known for their impeccable avenue artwork scenes, so you’ll want to go to them anyway. I stayed in the Xochimilco community the past time I was in Oaxaca and totally liked the quaint streets, colourful murals, and relatives atmosphere.
Reforma is also a protected community, but it is a little bit further more out. It usually takes about a 20-moment walk to get to the Centro from Reforma, relying on what end of the community you’re in.
2. Be Cautious of Taxis
The very first time I frequented Oaxaca at the end of 2019, I was shocked by how a great deal the taxi motorists harassed my good friend and me. To be genuine, I would not have advisable taking a frequent taxi in Oaxaca if you had asked me then.
Having said that, the city has cracked down significant-time on harassment, and much more and additional ladies are coming forward to denounce their aggressors. I cannot be specified if these two matters are linked, but I recognized a change this past time I visited Oaxaca. I was not harassed at all — not in the street or in taxis. It’s possible this is one of a kind to my working experience, but I’d like to hope that issues are modifying.
A excellent way to make sure your basic safety although taking taxis in Oaxaca is to get quick photos of the license plate and taxi range just before you get in. Make this obvious — when the driver sees your vigilance, they will be extra possible to be on their most effective behavior.
If you nevertheless experience doubtful about taxis in Oaxaca, contemplate hoping DiDi. It is like Uber and will allow you to file a criticism if your driver can make you feel unsafe.
3. A Small Mezcal Goes a Lengthy Way
Oaxaca is acknowledged globally for its mezcal, and there are loads of areas to check out it. Considering the fact that so numerous people today flock to Oaxaca to do so, it’s no surprise that there is a dense social gathering lifestyle right here. Any given working day, you can come across mezcalerías, bars, and clubs full of people consuming and partying.
If you have attempted mezcal, you know that it is really sturdy. If you have not, well, I’ll save you from a nasty hangover by breaking the news.
I have generally experienced a terrific time in Oaxaca, dancing and socializing when sipping mezcal, but it is under no circumstances a great thought to binge-drink in a overseas put.
Perhaps I seem like a broken document, but be very careful how considerably you consume when you vacation. Allowing your guard down far too a great deal can put you at risk — and no social gathering is really worth shedding handle.
If you want to try out the unique varieties of mezcal in a more small-vital atmosphere, choose for a daytime mezcal tasting. A lot of tours present them as a portion of the tour, like this one.
4. Try to eat Avenue Foods Wisely
Oaxaca is road food heaven. From tlayudas to mole and almost everything in between, you could spend your full excursion consuming practically nothing but avenue meals and be completely satisfied with the wide range you are going to come across.
Not all street foods stands are produced similarly when it arrives to cleanliness, on the other hand. Specially if your abdomen is not utilised to the spices employed in Mexican cooking, you might obtain you wishing you hadn’t absent for that next splash of salsa verde on your roadside tacos.
To have the ideal possibility of avoiding any tummy difficulties while having fun with Oaxaca’s extraordinary road fare, seem for the stands exactly where there are lengthy lines of individuals ready to purchase. Chances are, locals will not be lining up someplace that has a status for remaining unhygienic.
One more tip is to eat within the sector. Mercado 20 de Noviembre is complete of tiny stalls, and several of them are nearby favorites, where you will come across lots of people today enjoying a food. These stalls are generally cleaner than the ones on the road, as the market place has a larger normal of hygiene.
I propose using a lap all-around the market or the avenue food items stalls around the Zócalo around lunchtime, say 2 or 3pm. See which put is the most well known, and go back again all over 4 or 5pm, when there are much less patrons.
5. Gown Down
Oaxaca is absolutely not the position to flaunt any flashy jewellery or designer clothing that could make you a goal for petty criminal offense. Looking at that most people — locals and travelers alike — dress pretty casually, nearly anything too glamorous would make you adhere out like a sore thumb.
6. Learn Some Primary Spanish
From time to time I discover that men and women from Mexico are stunned that I speak Spanish fluently, which would make me chuckle a small bit. Speaking the language has opened several doors for me and authorized me to make mates quickly, even when I was a rookie.
For some persons, it can be daunting to take on mastering a new language. You really do not have to be fluent to stay risk-free in Oaxaca, but it positive will help to know at least a very little bit of Spanish.
If you can grasp simple greetings and essential phrases, you are off to a good start. Getting able to talk to for aid if you need it, explain to a taxi driver to halt, or let a waitress know about your meals allergy are all significant items to be capable to convey in Spanish.
7. Adhere to the Centro at Night time
Going for walks all-around alone at night wherever is not a good notion, but if you are heading to do it in Oaxaca, adhere to the Centro. It is well-lit, there are plenty of men and women, and you are going to find pedestrian-only streets that are safer to wander along.
I found that some of the streets outdoors of the Centro have been darkish, with unanticipated alleys and total not the most secure vibe. When in doubt, just just take a DiDi vehicle, or avoid likely everywhere you are not acquainted with at night, primarily if it’s outdoors the town center.
8. Mo’ Dollars, Mo’ Complications
It is never ever a excellent strategy to stroll all around with copious amounts of hard cash though touring, and Oaxaca is no various. Even so, ATM service fees can be way also high to contemplate getting out little amounts extra routinely. To get close to this, get out what you need to have in the early morning at a bank’s ATM (stay away from ATMs in the major markets or on the avenue), then choose a DiDi to your accommodation and lock your hard cash in a secure. Only preserve what you need to have when you go away your area.
Even if you only choose tiny quantities of money with you when you go out, take into account dispersing it involving your wallet, purse, bra, etcetera. That way, if you are robbed or pickpocketed, the thief won’t get anything you have. Some vacationers advocate getting a dummy wallet with a bit of dollars and expired cards to hand about.
9. “No, Gracias”
This one particular is much less about your protection and more about the protection of others.
You may detect a great deal of men and women in the metropolis middle inquiring for transform. Occasionally you’ll see children offering goods as perfectly. Even following living in Mexico for around two yrs, I’m nonetheless unsure what my dollars would be supporting if I ended up to buy from individuals small children or give adjust to people today on the road. Some studies suggest that contributing to this informal market place is the exact as contributing to kid trafficking, and that’s sufficient for me to prevent it altogether.
I know that is is a sophisticated challenge, and I do not declare to have all the responses, so use your have judgment on this just one. I normally just smile and say “no, gracias” to the young children, and then they go on their way.
10. Vet Any Tour Corporations
As you wander by way of the Zócalo in Oaxaca’s town centre, you’ll see hundreds of folks selling tours to nearby sites. A good deal of these are fine, but to say that they are all entirely safe or worthy of your income would be a stretch. Some tour organizations don’t always abide by protection protocols and do a sloppy task of giving travellers precise details about the web pages.
It is best to just prevent the hawkers entirely in Oaxaca, and choose for a tour from GetYourGuide or Viator instead. I’ve even finished Airbnb Encounters right here and experienced a superb (and risk-free) time.
11. Get a Mexican SIM Card
I really do not believe that lots of folks recognize how low-cost it is to decide on up a SIM card and use it although they’re in Mexico. A SIM from Telcel (the major provider in Mexico) expenses 150 pesos ($7.50 USD), and you can simply pay out as you go, loading details onto your SIM using your credit score or debit card.
Acquiring a SIM card can be a great way to stay secure, simply because you are going to have the peace of head of remaining able to hook up at any time. You are going to be ready to accessibility maps if you get missing, use a translator app to connect superior, and make a call if you are in hazard.
Some US telephone organizations let their buyers a sure quantity of information per day although in Mexico, so inquire yours ahead of you head to Oaxaca to see if having a SIM card is even required.
12. Traveling Solo as a Female in Oaxaca
My initially experience traveling in Oaxaca was very distinctive from all those that followed. I really don’t have a crystal clear rationalization as to why, but potentially I have just turn out to be greater at touring by yourself and now know how to keep away from scams, food items poisoning, and in general threat.
The first time I went to Oaxaca, I was followed and catcalled twice. On leading of that, a couple of taxi drivers manufactured quite inappropriate responses to me that produced me come to feel unsafe.
To be trustworthy, I was hesitant to solo travel right here yet again. But due to the fact I experienced organized to meet a good friend in Oaxaca in January of 2022, I decided to facial area my worry and shell out a several times on your own right here in advance of she joined me. This time was absolutely distinctive. Not a solitary taxi driver harassed me, for which I felt a big sigh of aid. I also seen fewer street harassment, even however I was there for a longer period and was out and about far more this time close to.
Is this to say that Oaxaca is safer now? Not genuinely. I figure out that my sensation safer this past time I went to Oaxaca may well be owing to chance. Possibly two far more a long time of residing in Mexico has also created it a lot easier for me to blend in?
In any circumstance, I however feel Oaxaca is totally truly worth traveling to as a solo woman traveler. But it is specifically important for us to be vigilant, to system our journey carefully, and stay clear of dangers like rip-off artists and adult men who prey on drunk international women in bars (indeed, they exist).
Try out to do as a great deal as you can in the course of daylight several hours, avoid ingesting way too substantially, and make positive your cell phone is doing the job purchase in situation of emergencies. Never ever have interaction with catcallers and they’ll depart you by itself.
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General, Oaxaca can take the cake as a single of the most interesting destinations to take a look at in Mexico. If you preserve in brain these basic safety ideas, you are going to be a bit sharper and ready to make safer choices when you pay a visit to Oaxaca de Juárez or the coast, letting you to have an extraordinary knowledge.
Thinking of heading to Oaxaca? Verify out our guides to Oaxaca Town, Puerto Escondido, and Zipolite!
