# Chelem Mexico



## Chelem Bound

So I am wondering about peoples impressions of the Chelem beach area? Like is it an area with a large expat population, or am I likely to be it? Either way is Cool with me as I am not moving to Mexico to hang-out solely with Gringos, but it would be nice to not feel completely alone!


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## Longford

You probably should have started the discussion with a little background, such as you provided in the section/thread for newbies:



> My lovely wife and I are infatuated with Mexico! We have been twice, the first time in Cancun, the second to Isla Mujares. This trip we are heading to the Yucatan, primarily to the village of Chelem where we are looking forward to meeting and working with Doug Wiley and his wife to find our dream home on the peninsula!! I have 5 more years to go and am not going to let the opportunity to buy ger out of reach...like I did with Costa Rica. The Mexican Culture, the importance of Family and honestly the adventure of it all!! I look forward to reading and learning here on the forum!


My intitial reaction/opinion is that you're in no way prepared to make a relocation decision. Not so far as Mexico is concerned. 

You've been to Mexico two times in your life. You seem determined to purchase property in Chelem (near Progreso, Yucatan), an area you seem to no nothing (or maybe just very little) about. You speak of the culture of Mexico, yet seemingly (to me), from your brief introduction, you probably know very little about it.

If I were considering such a move I'd most likely spend time over the next 5 years exploring different parts of Mexico to see which regions meet my needs and wants. Which climates agreed with me and where the support services/community I'd want are located. It would be extremely rare to know these things after just two vacation visits to Mexico in my lifetime. We don't really learn whether someplace is suitable for us until after we live there full-time, IMO.

My suggestion is rather than consider purchasing property you rent for a year or two and spend as much time in the area as practical/affordable. At different times of the year so that you can experience the climatic conditions. All too often, expats move to Mexico and soon afterwards decide that either they wish they'd moved to a different neighborhood, different town or different state. And at times, they wish they'd not moved to Mexico.

Renting a place and spending extended periods of time there will also give you the opportunity to network with people you meet to determine which properties are for sale and at what price. It's likely that many properties for sale aren't listed with a real estate agent and are available for less than an agent is representing on behalf of a particular seller. Word of mouth is golden in Mexico. There are other expats in Chelem and nearby, and many in Merida which is about an hour away from there. I don't doubt that many of these expats will offer valuable advice to you, once you arrive there.

Have you reviewed the immigration requirements for expat residents in Mexico to make certain that you and your wife qualify? 

There is a wealth of information archived in prior discussions here on this forum and if you haven't already taken the time to read through the material I suggest you do, because, although much of what's been written isn't specific to Chelem or the Yucatan ... it does apply, generally, to expats making the transition you're contemplating and there are few other places on the www where you'll find such helpful information.

While some of what I'm saying might come-off as negative my words are meant to be helpful and cautionary to a newbie in Mexico. Step back, take some time ... and when you move forward do so at a slower pace. 

Best wishes for a happy ending to your dream!


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## RVGRINGO

I suspect that the summer months might come as a shock to someone from NYS, who may have only visited in the tourist season....winter, and has not yet explored the main parts of Mexico, inland and at an elevation that offers more climatic comforts all year, yet with access to beaches in a matter of hours.


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## Chelem Bound

I think this trip will help us to get a better grasp of things. I wish I could spend "...extended periods of time"however that is not the case as 3 weeks a year is it. Some good advise provided and caution will be the word. Gotta manage my impulsivity...
Thanks!!
Corey


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## Hound Dog

We are very fond of the beaches along the Gulf east of Puerto Progreso and visit that área often. Soft sugar White sands and an aquamarine Gulf all the way to Isla Holbox where the Gulf meets the Caribbean. Between Progreso and Dzilam de Bravo you will find many small and somewhat primitive fishing villages mixed, at places, with resort communities that we find fascinating. But, in the final analysis, we chose the Chiapas Highlands at 7,000 feet over the Gulf as a place to establish residence because as ex residents of the Alabama Gulf Coast directly north of the Mexican coast you seek to inhabit, we know there are uncertainties with coastal living along the hurricane coast that may escape those who have not lived there for some length of time. That does not diminish the beauty of one of the most splendid coastal regions on earth but it does mean you are taking certain risks.

1. The extensión of the Progreso Pier has brought about serious coastal beach erosion west of the pier causing some beachfront residences to suffer from the loss of once extensive beach lands because the newly extended Progreso Pier, simply because it was there, created coastal currents unanticipated by those designing and constructing the pier for commercial purposes. You may be buying a coastal home that is subject to beach erosion that could eventually become quite serious but then, maybe not. However, take this potential problem seriously. Uncertainty is a fact of life along these coasts.

2. This coast is subject to iuncredibly destructive hurricanes that could wipe your coastal paradise off the face of the earth. We are not naive about this. My French wife and I were married in Mobile in 1971 and our honeymoon home was fronting Mobile Bay at the mouth of the Fowl River, a more beautiful environment is not imaginable. I mean, we were young and poor and the house was a shack in paradise but what a charming three acre property immediately on the bay some 12 miles inland from the Gulf and then we left there and moved to San Francisco in 1972 and that was a good thing because, in 1979, Hurricane Frederick passed through the Mobile área and that shack disappeared off of the face of the earth. We returned to Mobile in the 1980s and there was nothing there and I mean nothing. Even the cockroaches had moved to Ohio.

3. The climate in these places will curl your hair, shorts and library bookcovers. 100 Degrees and 100% humidity. That climate will eat your house from the foundation up if, as it turns out, you find later in life that you even have a foundation. The climate in these places is so hot and humid most of the time that, once you take a shower, you have to dry yourself twice, once of shower wáter and once of sweat. This sort os climate is not anathema to all creatures. Snakes, cockroaches and spiders love these áreas but they tend to mind their own business up to a point.

Good luck in your final decisión.


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## Hound Dog

_


Chelem Bound said:



I think this trip will help us to get a better grasp of things. I wish I could spend "...extended periods of time"however that is not the case as 3 weeks a year is it. Some good advise provided and caution will be the word. Gotta manage my impulsivity...
Thanks!!
Corey

Click to expand...

_We spent three weeks in San Cristóbal in the Chiapas Highlands in mid Winter in 2005 in a period when the sun shown constantly, the mountain air at 7,000 feet was crystal clear and the normal high temperatures were in the high 70s Fahrenheit. A splendid place where you could walk the old colonial streets of the town or the pre hispanic indigenous communities in the surrounding mountains and become enamored of the place but then there is living there. We bought there in the old colonial center and do not regret that decisión but the crystal mountain air in the high mountain valley is accompanied by intermittent rains best described as inundations and often cold and unpleasant weather. God has a sense of humor. It happens that we are at an age where these things do not bother us but when those incessant cold rains beat down day after day interminably, you had best have a strong backbone or, as in our case, another home on splendid Lake Chapala with its incessant sunshine where you can escape at will.


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## terrybahena

Take it from someone who was "just in love with Mexico" (remains true), visited a couple of times and bought a house by the beach. Rent first! Take trips first- even 3 weeks. We bought an amazing house at the beach in a tiny fishing village, yeah the stuff movies are made from. Then I learned what "the tropics" meant. Climate is a huge concern, maybe the biggest. Humid and sweaty 24/7 365 days...after 6 months I wanted to kill myself ha ha...ok also because it was SO remote and my Spanish was limited...

Then we went north and tried the desert for a year- ha ha found out I don't like the desert for long periods either. I did know I wanted to be near the beach. So now we are in Baja, below Ensenada, and so far so goo (only finishing month 3 so time will tell) But the big thing here is the climate- I recognize it and enjoy it. Not super hot or cold, many times the fog rolls in but being from just above San Francisco I recognize this as well.

I love Mexico and it sounds like it's your dream- that's very cool. Maybe you can benefit from some of us here, and my advice is rent for a year, pick a few places, read up on them and check them out. I went to the Yucatan and was looking at houses for sale as soon as I got home, but my good buddy who grew up there cautioned me about some of what's been said above...but we made a mistake buying on the other coast without being there more than 10 days at a time. Now we stuck trying to sell while we rent up here. Anyway good luck and welcome!


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## citlali

I would say listen to terrybeahena, she has been there and done it. Her house is on a beautiful beach in an area that is more interesting in my opinion as Chelem area but it is isolated and if you think you would like being away from other foreigners, unless you speak the language and have done it, experience it first before buying. 
There are lots more foreigners in the Chelem area than on the Costa Chica but I would still rent especialy if you are not going to be there full time .
Managing a property and people from far away not speaking the language or knowing the culture leaves a lot to be desired. Also houses near or on the ocean require a lot of maintenance, the salt air eats everything very quickly so leave that problem to the owner...


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## Hound Dog

I enjoyed the above comment by Citlali regarding coastal house maintenance as she and I lived for several years right on the Pacific coast just south of San Francisco and the constant and wild surf there was a pleasure but the surf meant that we were also constantly bombarded by salt spray from the ocean. The resulting home maintenance expenses were always a serious problem. That spray actually ate the insides of our big screen televisión set we had foolishly placed in front of a window overlooking the sea. The undersides of our two cars were eaten away within a couple of years. Nice environment but there is a downside.


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## Chelem Bound

Well maybe all of this information explains why the homes in Chelem look to be affordable! Because it is essentially unbearable to live there, what with the heat, humidity, scorpions, problems with erosion from the pier and the destructive effects of the salty air. Sounds like the negatives are endless...so what in the hell are y'all doing there? Staying hammered on tequila? Or....maybe you just want to keep it all for yourselves? Well maybe I will run into you folks at the taco stand in Chelem and get it figured out...
I certainly do appreciate the time and effort everyone put into their responses to my thoughts...
Corey


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## Isla Verde

Chelem Bound said:


> Well maybe all of this information explains why the homes in Chelem look to be affordable! Because it is essentially unbearable to live there, what with the heat, humidity, scorpions, problems with erosion from the pier and the destructive effects of the salty air. Sounds like the negatives are endless...so what in the hell are y'all doing there? Staying hammered on tequila? Or....maybe you just want to keep it all for yourselves? Well maybe I will run into you folks at the taco stand in Chelem and get it figured out...
> I certainly do appreciate the time and effort everyone put into their responses to my thoughts...
> Corey


I don't believe any forum members live in Chelem, though perhaps a few have vacationed there.


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## RVGRINGO

We, virtually all of us, are not there; we are here, inland, up several thousand feet above the hot and humid coasts. Of course, we may visit the coast for a few days or a winter vacation in the appropriate season, but we live where we need neither heat nor AC in our homes. Those features are rare in any Mexican homes anyway, due to the very high cost of energy; electric or propane. We enjoy lots of sunshine without the oppressiveness of the coasts, and use it to heat our hot water as well as our bodies without sweating. Nice. 
You will figure it out, but will you do it before or after you buy?


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