When you think of scenery in Mexico, what's the first thing that comes to mind? Is it white sandy beaches? Is it the desert, or is it cartel country? Whatever it might be for you, many Americans seem to think that geography and topography in Mexico is limited to one type. In this article, we'll go through some common expat areas, as well as some lesser known destinations.

And while we're at it, we'll compare crime statistics.

Region 1: Baja California

In 2017, an old friend of mine and I drove from Phoenix, Arizona to Ensenada in Baja, California for their annual beer festival. And on our way back to Arizona, we drove through Northern Baja California along the Federal Highway One, which is like their version of the Pacific Coast Highway. And Rosarito was one of the places we stopped at on the way back home.

Rosarito is about a 15-20 minute drive south of the US Mexico border. Probably about 10 miles or so. It's a fairly removed from the border.

Farther down the road from Rosarito, I'd say about an hour and a half south driving distance, you'll end up in Ensenada, which is about 80 miles (ca. 129 km) south of San Diego, a two-hour drive south from the border. Ensenada has a population of about half a million people, so it's a fairly major city and has all the amenities you need.

It's a major cruise port, major tourist destination. So English is fairly well-spoken there.

In 2017, I went on a cruise to Southern Baja California. We left Long Beach, California, stopped at Cabo San Lucas, and we did a shore excursion. We took tender boats from the ship because the ship was too big to fit into the port, so they put us on small little tender craft that got us to the shore. And then we got on a bus and just went up the western coast of the southern tip of Baja, slightly northwest of Cabo San Lucas. It was horseback riding in the desert, about four or five hour shore excursion. It was fast.

We went horseback riding, after it was over, got back on the bus, back to Cabo, back on the tender boat, back on the ship, and then we were underway again, headed to Puerto Vallarta the following day.

I had a great time in Cabo. I wish I could have seen more of it, but we had very little time and that's okay. I'll be down there again someday.

Port of Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur

Another, city in Baja California, Mexico is La Paz. It's the state capital of Baja California Sur, it's probably a couple of hours drive northeast of Cabo San Lucas. Haven't been there yet. I hear wonderful things about it. It's a hot desert climate, hot, and dry, kind of like Phoenix and Tucson, which I'm used to.

And it's also, obviously you got the beach, you got that advantage, and there are ferries that go from La Paz to the mainland, like Mazatlán. So that's another bonus. So, once I make my way to La Paz, I'll have more content for you.

Let's go into some crime statistics now. This is the website, El Crimen, elcri.men/en, and that takes you to this page, which is the February 2025 crime report for the country. And these are homicide stats. If you go hover, your mouse pointer over Baja California, 154 homicides, I believe that month in a population of 4.1 million people. That works out to 48 murders per 100,000 residents, but that's statewide, so that obviously it doesn't granularize down to Tijuana, Ensenada and those other cities. For that, you need to access the crime map, which is available at this link. The video below explains in more detail how to use the El Crimen website.

Crime statistics for Baja California

Region 2: Middle Pacific Coast

For the purposes of this article, I divided Mexico into five regions: Baja California, the middle Pacific Coast, the southern Pacific Coast, central highlands, and the Yucatán Peninsula. Now, I know this doesn't encompass the entirety of Mexico, but for this blog, this is how I'm going to lay out these regions.

Region number two is the middle Pacific States. There's Sinaloa, Nayarit, Jalisco, and Colima. First, let's take a look at the state of Sinaloa.

Crime rates and travel in Sinaloa State

Crime stats and travel around the city of Culiacán, Sinaloa

Travel advisory for Culiacán area

Now let's move on to the states of Nayarit and Jalisco. Popular expat areas in Nayarit are Sayulita, Bucerias and Nuevo Vallarta. Popular areas for expats on the Jalisco coast include Puerto Vallarta and Mismaloya. Fun fact, Mismaloya was a site where the film, I believe, was a 1963 film directed by Richard Burton featuring Elizabeth Taylor called Night of the Iguana.

Homicides in Nayarit, Jalisco, and Colima states

Region 3: Southern Pacific Coast

Now we're moving along to the Southern Pacific Coast States, which include Michoacán, Guerrero, Oaxaca, and Chiapas.

Region 4: Central Highlands

Now, moving right along to the Central Highlands area of Mexico, which I've designated for the purposes of this article, the states of Jalisco, Querétaro, Guanajuato, Aguascalientes, the State of Mexico, and Mexico City.

Central highlands area of Mexico

Region 5: Yucatán Peninsula

And finally for our fifth region. In this video, we go to the Yucatán Peninsula, which includes the states of Quintana Roo, Yucatán, Campeche, and Tabasco. Yes, Tabasco, like the Tabasco sauce. Fun fact.

Crime stats in the Yucatán Peninsula

Conclusion

These five regions are just the tip of the iceberg in terms of exploring Mexico. The country has 31 states plus Mexico City, and it would take a very long article to cover them all sufficiently. The El Crimen website is a fantastic resource for investigating homicide rates for individual cities and towns, as well as aggregated crime data at the state level.

If you have any questions, please put them in the comments below and I'll answer them for you.

Choosing the Right Destination in Mexico: Balancing Opportunity & Safety