# Another USA Future Expat



## sbd76 (Sep 9, 2009)

I have looked at Costa Rica, and Panama as possible retirement haven-in 2012. 

Mexico may be my best destination. I will rent. I want a cool summer town near the Pacific coast (maybe 30-60 min. driving time to beach town with services). Will need Satallite and DSL. 

Any ideas.


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## HolyMole (Jan 3, 2009)

*Where to live?*



sbd76 said:


> I have looked at Costa Rica, and Panama as possible retirement haven-in 2012.
> 
> Mexico may be my best destination. I will rent. I want a cool summer town near the Pacific coast (maybe 30-60 min. driving time to beach town with services). Will need Satallite and DSL.
> 
> Any ideas.


We too have thought about Costa Rica and Panama, but had to eliminate the latter because it uses the US dollar, and there's just too much fluctuation between the Canadian and US currency to plan anything.

We've also thought that, for several reasons, not the least of which is Mexico's current "wild west" reputation, we should check out CR before committing to Mexico, but it doesn't look like we'll get there.

We'd love to be on the coast, but have read so many reports of the brutal heat and humidity during the summer rainy season that we also are thinking of somewhere higher up in the mountains but close enough for a day trip. There aren't that many places that fill the bill. I supppose Lake Chapala and Guadalajara are the best bet, although it's a stretch to take day-trips from there to the coast.

We're thinking of Uruapan in Michoacan. Small enough to avoid big city problems, but large enough for all services. It's about a 2 1/2 hour drive to some great beaches, but high enough (5000 ft) that summers should be bearable. Not a lot of gringos there, though. 

Tepic in Nayarit is another possibility; much closer to the coast, but still, at 3000 ft., probably a tad cooler. It's a gritty-looking place, though, with few, if any gringos.


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## RVGRINGO (May 16, 2007)

Uruapan, if you are fairly fluent in Spanish, is a very nice town but with few English speakers. Tepic and Colima are also a bit hot and humid, and don't have many expats. For the climate you seek, Lake Chapala always wins out. Beach trips in the wintertime take four hours to the Jalisco and Nayarit shores with most expats spending a few days or a week on 'vacation'.


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## Hound Dog (Jan 18, 2009)

sbd76 said:


> I have looked at Costa Rica, and Panama as possible retirement haven-in 2012.
> 
> Mexico may be my best destination. I will rent. I want a cool summer town near the Pacific coast (maybe 30-60 min. driving time to beach town with services). Will need Satallite and DSL.
> 
> Any ideas.


Ideas (forget that 30-60 minute goal unless you take a puddle-jumper):

PACIFIC:
* Cuernavaca or villages/towns within a short drive of the city.
* Oaxaca City with your beach town goal being the Bahias de Huatulco to Puerto Escondido
* Tequila with the beach towns along the Nayarit or Jalisco coasts

GULF OF MEXICO
* Jalapa (Xalapa). Sophisticated Veracruz state capital a reasonably short drive from the Gulf. 
* The Orizaba-Cordoba urban corridor providing fairly quick access to the Gulf and also access to Puebla City and Mexico City which may be more important than you think at present.

CARIBBEAN/PACIFIC/GULF OF MEXICO
San Cristóbal de Las Casas or Comitan, Chiapas and surroundings. Cool, sophisticated mountain towns within reasonable drives to Caribbean beaches from the Belize border to Cancun and Gulf beaches from Isla Holbox to Puerto Progreso and splendid, isolated Paciific beaches with all the services you need from the Guatemala border to Puerto Excondido, Oaxaca. A finer, more advantageously located place among beautiful alpine forests and indigenous villages with access to three Mexican seas cannot be imagined. If you think you need the Sea of Cortez, perhaps someone else can help you there.


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## sbd76 (Sep 9, 2009)

*Costa Rica*

Thanks for your input. 

Costa Rica has gotten pricey and have increased income requirements for pension visa.


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## sbd76 (Sep 9, 2009)

OK. Everyone very helpful so far. Great. More questions....

As mentioned when I locate to Mexico I will be renting. Whats the deal with water. Are there and good water purufucation systems to use at a rental that will kill bacteria. I will drink bottled as I do in the states but would like an easy way to clean food etc. 

Also: Opinion of La Paz as an expat destination????

Thanks


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## RVGRINGO (May 16, 2007)

In my opinion, Americans seem overly worried about Mexican water when what is available in the USA can be less than desireable.
Here, in Chapala, we do filter our water, because of the sediment it carries, and pass it through an Ultraviolet light. That latter may actually be burned out for some time before we notice. We drink it, cook with it and make coffee and soup with it and we aren't bothered by frequent bouts of 'la tourista'. Note the name, "la tourista" and it should tell you something. Yes, there are different critters in the water when you travel from place to place, especially as a short term tourist. That fact may give you 'la tourista' for a day or two but you won't die of some horrible disease. You'll simply get used to the new water. Customarily, in Mexico, if you don't have a filtration/UV system in your home, or rental, you have two choices: Buy water in 'garafones' or simply add two drops per liter of Clorox, or any such bleach, and refrigerate for half an hour in an open container. That gives time for the chlorine gas to dissipate and the critters to croak; you probably won't taste it at all.


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## HolyMole (Jan 3, 2009)

sbd76 said:


> ....................Also: Opinion of La Paz as an expat destination????
> 
> Thanks


Based on our very short two day visit in February 12 or 14 years ago, we found La Paz to be an interesting, clean and attractive place, that has probably avoided the outrageous price escalations experienced in the Los Cabos area further south. 
The one comment I haven't forgotten is that, during the May-October period, La Paz can be "frying-pan hot".


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## makaloco (Mar 26, 2009)

sbd76 said:


> Also: Opinion of La Paz as an expat destination????


I live in La Paz and love it here. But we do not have "cool summers". It can be quite hot (100+ highs, 80+ lows) in August and September. You might try looking on the Pacific side of the Baja California peninsula if lower summer temps are important to you. Todos Santos, San Juanico, Bahia Asunción, etc.


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## dwilkes (Aug 17, 2009)

Hound Dog said:


> Ideas (forget that 30-60 minute goal unless you take a puddle-jumper):
> 
> PACIFIC:
> * Cuernavaca or villages/towns within a short drive of the city.
> ...


I'll say Cuernavaca as well. I love that place. It's not too hot, lots of universities, I remember a lot of English being spoken. Close to DF, not too far from Acapulco/Zihuatanejo..


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## El Toro Furioso (May 13, 2007)

Cuernavaca is lovely. It is therefore a favorite getaway of DFer's, making it crowded on weekends and holidays and expensive. Compare rental prices with some of your other possible choices before taking the leap.


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## JohnSoCal (Sep 2, 2007)

My wife is Mexican, have lived in Mexico, and am fluent in Spanish. Ensenada, BC is on the Pacific Coast with a moderate climate similar to San Diego. It is a nice city. La Paz is one of my favorite cities in Mexico but the summers are very hot. We considered moving back to Mexico when I retired a few years ago. All of my wife's family live in Mexico. After considering all the factors we decided against it.


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## sbd76 (Sep 9, 2009)

RVGRINGO said:


> In my opinion, Americans seem overly worried about Mexican water when what is available in the USA can be less than desireable.
> Here, in Chapala, we do filter our water, because of the sediment it carries, and pass it through an Ultraviolet light. That latter may actually be burned out for some time before we notice. We drink it, cook with it and make coffee and soup with it and we aren't bothered by frequent bouts of 'la tourista'. Note the name, "la tourista" and it should tell you something. Yes, there are different critters in the water when you travel from place to place, especially as a short term tourist. That fact may give you 'la tourista' for a day or two but you won't die of some horrible disease. You'll simply get used to the new water. Customarily, in Mexico, if you don't have a filtration/UV system in your home, or rental, you have two choices: Buy water in 'garafones' or simply add two drops per liter of Clorox, or any such bleach, and refrigerate for half an hour in an open container. That gives time for the chlorine gas to dissipate and the critters to croak; you probably won't taste it at all.


I agree-I have visited mexico 6-7 times since 1980. I have never gotten sick-but I was careful. I image once your system adjusts and you are no longer "la tourista" then A OK with modest precaution. 

What do you know about Morelia???

Thanks,


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## sbd76 (Sep 9, 2009)

El Toro Furioso said:


> Cuernavaca is lovely. It is therefore a favorite getaway of DFer's, making it crowded on weekends and holidays and expensive. Compare rental prices with some of your other possible choices before taking the leap.


Thanks-I will check out Cuernavaca.


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## sbd76 (Sep 9, 2009)

JohnSoCal said:


> My wife is Mexican, have lived in Mexico, and am fluent in Spanish. Ensenada, BC is on the Pacific Coast with a moderate climate similar to San Diego. It is a nice city. La Paz is one of my favorite cities in Mexico but the summers are very hot. We considered moving back to Mexico when I retired a few years ago. All of my wife's family live in Mexico. After considering all the factors we decided against it.


Thanks for you input. FYI: I have spent many years in Southern California.


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## sbd76 (Sep 9, 2009)

makaloco said:


> I live in La Paz and love it here. But we do not have "cool summers". It can be quite hot (100+ highs, 80+ lows) in August and September. You might try looking on the Pacific side of the Baja California peninsula if lower summer temps are important to you. Todos Santos, San Juanico, Bahia Asunción, etc.


Good suggestion. I will check out the Baja west coast side. Thanks.


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## RVGRINGO (May 16, 2007)

Morelia is a beautiful, clean city; capital of Michoacan. It is cooler than Lake Chapala in the winter and, as such, has fewer expats. Of course, tonight is the first anniversary of some 'bad guys' lobbing a grenade into the public celebration of 'El Grito'. We hope there will be no repeat of that sort of thing, anywhere, at tonight's celebrations.


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