Be careful going off-resort in Cancun and Playa Del Carmen nowadays. I know to a degree its media hype and of course do not go looking fr trouble; but, drug related murders have skyrocketed in the region over the last year or two as the Sinaloa Cartel seems to be hell bent on pushing out the Los Zetas Caretl from the region, which is valuable to the Cartels as a transportation route between South America and the US, the local tourist drug trade, and poppy growing.
Cancun sees record 540 murders in 2018 | Daily Mail Online
Initially, I looked into going to Playa Del Carmen last year to an all-inclusive with the family last year; but, my wife wanted nothing to do with Mexico and we went to Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic instead.
Only a small number of tourists have been directly involved to date; but, its enough for the US State Department to put up alerts:
Quintana Roo state – Level 2: Exercise Increased Caution
Exercise increased caution due to crime.
Criminal activity and violence, including homicide, remain a primary concern throughout the state. While most of these homicides appeared to be targeted, criminal organization assassinations and turf battles between criminal groups have resulted in violent crime in areas frequented by U.S. citizens. Bystanders have been injured or killed in shooting incidents.
There are no restrictions on travel for U.S. government employees in Quintana Roo state, which include tourist areas in: Cancun, Cozumel, Playa del Carmen, Tulum, and the Riviera Maya.
Yucatan state – Level 2: Exercise Increased Caution
Exercise increased caution due to crime.
There are no restrictions on travel for U.S. government employees in Yucatan state, which includes tourist areas in: Chichen Itza, Merida, Uxmal, and Valladolid.