# Merida



## SSGMullie

Hello,

Long time reader of this forum but first time posting!

A little about me, I am a US soldier in the retirement window, within 22 months, and am married to a Mexican National that has permanent residency in the US. We are planning to retire in the Merida area and my wife is from Mexico City which also is the city I am most familiar with however my wife has spent much time in Merida (loves it) and my first visit will be this summer.

Anyway, I am curious as to the expat perspective of this city and any information and or experiences that one can share with me about Merida would be appreciated.

Thank you!


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## ronb172

Everyone on YoListo.com lives in that area. You may try there also. We love that area. Going back in 3 weeks. Will be staying in Chelem this trip. Can't wait


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## SSGMullie

ronb172 said:


> Everyone on YoListo com lives in that area. You may try there also. We love that area. Going back in 3 weeks. Will be staying in Chelem this trip. Can't wait


Thank you!


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## jlms

Merida is cultured, hot, humid and a bit gentler than most Mexican cities.

The food is splendid and the people charming. If you are prepared to learn a bit of Mayan and its dialects you will be loved by everybody there


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## Merida Yucatan

The summer afternoon sun is overbearing, so many Meridians go out mainly in the morning or at night. It's never hot at night here in Merida. Winters are comfortable. So far this winter, I have only had to wear socks for a couple of hours, whereas I'm always cold in most parts of the world. I've spent a few years in Merida. It might not be the best city in Mexico in all categories, but it's considered one of the very best all round. It's perhaps the most peaceful city, has a lot of cultural activity and has both a lot of old and new architecture. Merida's not as gringoized as some Mexican cities. If some one wants to be served in English all the time, the nearby beach towns are better that way. Apparently the medical facilities are above average. International Living rates Merida as one of the best cities in the world to retire to. A lot of people are moving to Merida now from other Mexican states, for the safety. I would say the drawback is the labour force here. While many workers are pleasant, many are also unreliable. Getting work done requires patience and enough money to sometimes have the work done two or three times. There is a shortage of good construction workers here at the moment.


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## ronb172

My wife and I stayed in Centro when were ther last Aug. We had to laugh walking around as we had sweat dripping off us and the natives were dry as they could be. We really stood out....lol. But we loved every minute of it and are going back in 2 weeks.


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## Merida Yucatan

*April/May/early June !*

You probably know that April is when it starts to get hot in Merida. Late April is extremely: hot as are May and early June. Usually we start getting rain regularly in early June, which 
cools things down considerably. 

Yahoo weather for example, shows temperature and precipitation averages for each month.

Mornings, evenings and nights are pleasant, though.

I hope I'm not burdening you with too much detail.


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## tepetapan

Something like 4000 expats in Merida, half are from the USA. a quarter from Canada....more or less.


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## jim42

tepetapan said:


> Something like 4000 expats in Merida, half are from the USA. a quarter from Canada....more or less.


I have been to Merida on 2 occasions and will be going back in Sep for 3 weeks. Beautiful city and beautiful people.


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## Hound Dog

We retired to Mexico in 2001 moving from San Francisco to the Lake Chapala area. In 2004, anxious, we thought at the time, to leave the Lake Chapala area, we considered buying a home on the Yucatan Peninsula among the towns of Mérida, the Northern Gulf between Progreso and Isla Holbox, Playa Del Carmen, Xcalac and Bacalar among other places. we were especially fond, we thought, of Central Mérida or perhaps the Gulf Coast and the crystal clear Lake Bacalar seemed appealing but we found the inland areas of the Yucatan and Quintana Roo to have very oppressive climates and Mérida, outside of its limited charming historical center, to be almost invariably hot and humid all year around, mostly treeless, filled with depressing concrete plazas for the most part of little note outside of Centro ad not a fine place in which to settle. So we bought in the historical colonial center in nearby San Cristóbal de Las Casas, Chiapas at 7,000 feet and, since we love to visit the Yucatan Peninsula and Oaxaca State, we just motor on down to where we like to visit but not to perpetually suffer from excessive heat and humidity. I will agree that the food in the Yucatan is great and Mérida is very charming but - all the time -I think not.

One other thing. While we purchased the home in San Cristóbal, we never sold our place on Lake Chapala as we had originally intended to do back in 2006 for several reasons not the least of which is the proximity to Lake Chapala of some of the best medical care in the world in Guadalajara which, as we age, becomes more and more important. Keep that in mind as you explore places to retire. Time passes as will you and while cities such as Mérida may offer great medical facilicities, think about being in places such as Xcalac, maybe three hours or more from Chetumal, and needing emergency medical care . Been there (in San Cristóbal) done that.


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## DNP

Hound Dog said:


> We retired to Mexico in 2001 moving from San Francisco to the Lake Chapala area. In 2004, anxious, we thought at the time, to leave the Lake Chapala area, we considered buying a home on the Yucatan Peninsula among the towns of Mérida, the Northern Gulf between Progreso and Isla Holbox, Playa Del Carmen, Xcalac and Bacalar among other places. we were especially fond, we thought, of Central Mérida or perhaps the Gulf Coast and the crystal clear Lake Bacalar seemed appealing but we found the inland areas of the Yucatan and Quintana Roo to have very oppressive climates and Mérida, outside of its limited charming historical center, to be almost invariably hot and humid all year around, mostly treeless, filled with depressing concrete plazas for the most part of little note outside of Centro ad not a fine place in which to settle. So we bought in the historical colonial center in nearby San Cristóbal de Las Casas, Chiapas at 7,000 feet and, since we love to visit the Yucatan Peninsula and Oaxaca State, we just motor on down to where we like to visit but not to perpetually suffer from excessive heat and humidity. I will agree that the food in the Yucatan is great and Mérida is very charming but - all the time -I think not.
> 
> One other thing. While we purchased the home in San Cristóbal, we never sold our place on Lake Chapala as we had originally intended to do back in 2006 for several reasons not the least of which is the proximity to Lake Chapala of some of the best medical care in the world in Guadalajara which, as we age, becomes more and more important. Keep that in mind as you explore places to retire. Time passes as will you and while cities such as Mérida may offer great medical facilicities, think about being in places such as Xcalac, maybe three hours or more from Chetumal, and needing emergency medical care . Been there (in San Cristóbal) done that.


Great, informative post. Thanks

Sent from my iPod touch using ExpatForum


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## Jontom

You do not have to be in Merida to find unreliable workers. I find that un reliability seems to be a global illness.


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## citlali

Maya does not have dialects per say There were city states so not one form of Maya is the correct Maya, they are alll correct and vary from village to village, somethimes just a little bit sometimes to the point of not being understood.


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