Settling in Cancun:Basic Needs

Newbie to this forum, I'm addressing myself to the permanent resident expats living in Cancun.

1. Social Life. How does one create a small group of English speaking friends? Do informal groups exist? and if so are they mixed or mostly retirees?

2. Renting non-touristic apt. How does one go about this?Shortage of good, safe,clean accomodation or what is the situation? Not looking for luxury touristy type, nor a typical casa mexicana either.

3. What is the current situation in terms of safety (day time)? In 09 I'd hear of muggins on Coba Str daylight. I never go out at night anyway. Daytime situation is what I want to know.

I'm a young retired female on her own, fluent in Spanish. Have spent 1 month in downtown Cancun in 2009,terribly bored I should add. But I do enjoy the sea colors when going to Isla, and day trips to Tulum and Morellos. So, basically I'd here to find out if I can carve out a lifestyle and pleasant existence in Cancun.

The main problem I see is meeting other expats. Do retirees meet somewhere?

How do you guys socialize?

Look forward to your muchos comments and replies!

 

You've touched on one of the main challenges, all right. It's hard to fill all the hours, unless you have a job or a serious engagement in social service, or a serious hobby, perhaps. Part of the problem is that, although there are some retirees living here, there is no "community of retirees", who find things of interest to do collectively, as they might back in the states. Instead, it's up to the individual to identify things they can throw themselves into here. One example is to participate in the many running events that are staged every year in the area. There is even a competitive category for those 60 YOA and above, and they are awarded trophies and other prizes by category. There are also open water swimming events, such as the annual Punta Cancun-Punta Sur swim across the bay to Isla Mujeres. The climate is conducive to good health, so that's one direction some have chosen to go, looking for things to get passionate about.

Informal gatherings tend to be mixed ages and sexes: one such is La Taberna on Friday nights where those who take part in chatting, eating, drinking and whiling away the evening are from the late twenties to late sixties.

There are also cultural events that one can attend, many of them taking place at the Universidad del Caribe. See, "Red Social Universidad del Caribe" on Facebook for full details.

Safety, and housing are not much of any issue, the streets being safe, for the most part, and lots of rentals available for the not too picky.

There's lots more to say, but I'd like to hear some of what you have to say, and let others comment, as well.

 

1. I started with a girlfriend and 3 people I knew from coming here as a tourist. Now I have a jillion friends, some great and some casual. I guess I would say that one friend leads to another. Steve's IWC thing was a great suggestion.

I go to an English speaking Christian church and have made lots of friends there, even though we are a small church.

If you like baseball, we have a wonderful pro team, Los Tigres de Quintana Roo, who won the "Mexican World Series" last year. Some of us go regulary and we have had groups of more than a dozen from time to time. Tickets start at $25 pesos but we sit in great seats that are $95, discounted to $50 if you have been around 60 years. You say you are "young retired" so maybe you have to pay retail. LOL. But I know lots of young retireds who are more than 60 and can keep up with the 30 something crowd; and do it often.

2. I would not think this would be a problem. First you would find an area that you like and then just start looking. If you don't have, or plan on getting, a car, being a short walk to a bus stop is huge. $6 per ride in town and $8.5 if a HZ route. Exchange rate is about $13 Mxn to $1 US at the moment. Most taxi rides in town are $25, although technically they can be $23 or $24. Longer distances in town can go up but not drastically. But you can pretty much get anywhere on the bus. I live in SM 32, pretty much at the intersection of Kabah & Chichen Itza. There are many English speaking ppl in my hood that I have become friends with. I can walk (but I don't) to Walmart, Costco, the middle of downtown, a mall with a 14 screen cinema, Soriana, Mega, Chedraui and God knows how many restaurants in less than 20 minutes.

I have friends from my church who rent a large motel room on Isla Mujeres. They keep in year around but are only here about half the time. They pay something around $300 US per month and they are perfectly happy. Many English speaking people live there and there is now a new Chedraui grocery, the first big supermarket on the island. I love it there but I am too social and it is too small for me. But that's just my take.

3. There is a crime risk wherever you wrote your post from. Same goes for here. But I don't give it a thought, nor do I go to stupid areas at 2 am.

4. Well, you stopped numbering so here is my take on the other ?s.

There is a Cancun Expats & Friends Facebook group but it is a "closed" group so you need not only a FB acct, but someone to invite you to join the group. Easy enough. I could invite you myself. I have met ppl that way but that was not my intent when joining. It's only been around a few months and has 200 or more members, but not all of them/us are regular posters.

As V more or less said, you sort of make your own life here. He and his wife are good friends of mine and we met as a result of this forum. Steve and his wife are friends of mine. We don't hang out but often see each other around town, usually where beer and food are involved as far as Steve and I are concerned. I guess my best source of new friends has been other friends.

On this forum you can also send Private Messages if you want to ask a specific question to a specific person. You can also search older posts and not only get info on a subject, but maybe think the poster is an interesting guy or gal and hook up a Starbucks meet. In the last few months I have made about 10 new friends that I met after running into an old friend at Starbuck at Plaza Las Americas. Now we show up as often as we want but there are always 3-6 Mon-Fri from about 12:30 pm - after 2 pm. We sit outside, normally at one or more tables at the far right side. Feel free to stop by anytime you are around.

In closing, many of my good friends are Mexican and most speak from some to perfect English, although a handful can barely say 10 words. One guy has only spoken two words in English to me and I see him every week or so. "My friend" and that's it. So don't close the door on making new friends who are not ex pats.

 

As Steve and T.J. mentioned, the IWC does arrange outings/events for its members, from time to time: I've been on one of them, a day trip to Valledolid, which was enjoyable.

Another nice experience here is Roots Jazz Club, Fridays or Saturdays nights late, near the Parque de las Palapas.

The easiest way to do this is to walk around a neighborhood you think would be a good one for you, all things considered, and make notes of addresses and phone numbers of the appealing ones with for rent signs on them. A few owners will insist that you have an FM2 or FM3 before they will rent to you.

Your knowing Spanish will put you at a big advantage in getting set up here, as compared to those who don't.

For some regular exercise, you can do Pilates at the Center for Culture and Arts, very near the offices of Novedades, on Av Tulum. Meets weekdays, at 8 PM, fifteen pesos per session, as I recall. You can participate on a casual basis, just paying when you show up, as I understand it.

 

Gracias!

Want to thank you for your informative suggestions.

I plan to re-read them then ask more questions. lol

I particularly enjoyed the leads to accomodation, which will be the first priority. And -being world travelled- I'm not one of those obsessed with safety issues (though my local newspaper reading often gets me too familiar with the negative local issues).

I know Cancun's expat pop is nothing like Merida (they're highly organized), but I think that -even in a small community-it's possible to find an activity that everyone enjoys and brings people together. One that facilitates people stricking more individualized contacts. Meeting in a bar with loud noise is not conducive to that. And excludes people who dislike bars or night outings. Once I'll meet a few people I won't mind organizing.

I'm someone who generally never gets bored. What I meant was human contact. Living alone means that I need to chat and laugh a little bit. To interact with other expats, irrespective of age and background. So I'm not asking about activities I can do alone. For example, ectasy for me is to cross to the Isla just to stare at those shifting aquatic stripes.

I'll surely have more questions, just needed to say Gracias.