In late February, almost a month ago from right now, Jalisco and surrounding areas in Mexico faced a sudden surge of Cartel violence after CJNG leader ‘El Mencho’ was killed. This caused roadblocks, arson attacks, and city shutdowns in cities like Puerto Vallarta and Guadalajara. This urged many tourists to cancel plans and set the government into panic. However, since then things have returned basically to normal minus the outlook on the city.

Since popular destinations were attacked, tourists were scared to travel there and many travel restrictions were put in place to deter traveling. On February 23rd the city shut down, but within days essential services resumed, flights were back on time, and the city had recovered instantaneously. The government also helped reassure these places by adding extra security measures to make Puerto Vallarta and surrounding areas as safe as possible.

Although so many spring breakers canceled plans for travel to Puerto Vallarta, tourists there at the time remained completely safe from the violence, and would not have even been aware of what was going on if it weren’t for social media. Resorts, hotels, and tourist infrastructure remains strong and in full swing, slightly unbooked, but overall back to normal. 

The U.S. state department continues to keep an “increased caution” travel advisory, but it is important to know this is almost the same for all areas in Mexico, even places like Cancun and Cabo. Anywhere you go in Mexico has the risk of cartel violence and a lot of the scare from this specific violence is from dramatic images being shared on social media.

Now you may be wondering what this means for travelers who have already canceled trips to Puerto Vallarta and rebooked. Students at Sartell have canceled their trips to Mexico and mainly have rebooked to Punta Cana. This left the resorts in Puerto Vallarta almost empty and caused resort rates, flights, and anything tourist related to go down in price significantly; so if you have been wanting spring break in Puerto Vallarta, now is the time! On the other hand, resorts in Punta Cana have been fully booked.

Sophie Heathcote, a senior at SHS, said “I rebooked to Punta Cana as soon as my family heard what was going on in Mexico like many other families, when we called the resort they said they only had a few rooms left so now we are cramming five people in one room.”

Prices in the Dominican Republic and other tropical countries outside of Mexico have skyrocketed. The demand for resorts, flights, etc. in the Dominican after the unrest are at an all time high. This isn’t just because of the violence in Mexico, in 2025 they had a record year with 11.6 million visitors, and in January 2026 1.22 million which set another record. This is likely because since COVID many travelers are returning to international travel and view the Dominican as a safe, cheap, and easy place to travel to.

Senior, Kaylee Meester, has gone to Punta Cana several times and only has good things to say about it: “It feels so safe compared to Mexico, the amount of police in Mexico scares me, but in Punta Cana there is just the right amount to make me feel safe. I also loved how the water was so clear!”