Another expat in Cancun

Well, I finally made the move. We have now relocated to Cancun. I can share some information that a lot of people ask.

The move was from Florida (East Coast). We used Hyde Shipping. The go directly from Port Everglades (Fort Lauderdale) to Puerto Morelos. They have 2 container sizes. A 20 foot and 40 foot. The 20 foot is $1,800 and the 40 foot is $3,600. In addition there is a $1,500 charge for a Mexican Customs Broker. We also shipped a car. This is a seperate charge. It was only $700 through Hyde (another company called 1 world auto movers quoted us $1,200). Hyde was very professional and made the move easy. The customs broker also helped us find a moving company to bring the contents of the container from the port to our new house. If you need to do this, get a written quote beforehand as they tried to ask us for more money upon delivery. They delivered all of our contents only 3 hours after we arrived in the house from the airport. They came with 5 guys to help unload the container, so it did not take long.

Regarding customs. They opened all of our boxes. There were only a few small items that we noticed that were missing. Some perfumes, sun glasses and cd's. We even found a strangers dirty t-shirt mixed in with our stuff, so maybe they took one of our clean ones. There were also a number of broken items. Obviously, the manhandle the contents that you send. Many of the boxes were crushed, damaged and dirty. This could have also been from the ship that took the items from Florida or the moving company. Anyway, there is no way to tell where the damage happened and we expected that some of the items would not make it here in one piece.


Anyway, we are in the process of getting the house in order as there are boxes and furniture everywhere. I will update info on the move in the near future as well as the trials and tribulations of finding a job.

I look forward to meeting the others from the blog around town.

 

Welcome

Welcome, and thanks for all the good detail about your move! The level of damage sounds pretty typical for surface shipping, around the world, in our experience.

You shipped to Puerto Morelos, is that where you're going to be living?

V.

 

No. That is where the ship comes in, although, it looked like a great place to stay. It still has a "fishing village" charm (a little to small for my wife taste). We rented a house in Puerto Juarez. A little off of the beaten path, but we got a good deal and the area seems to be very secure (24 hour security - 2 guards for each shift) plus is is a home owner association type development so the neighbors seem to look out for their interests in safety too. There are some nice homes and some that need improvements. I see a lot of cars with license plates from other countries (US, Canada, Belize, Panama). Beach is in walking distance as is fresh fish a great view of the hotel zone and Isla Mujeres. Only drawback is the loud radios at night from the people at the beach (who are there all night) and the barking dogs (some residents here have multiple dogs).

I it is a lot of fun to walk around Playa Blanca at dusk as there are a lot of vendors selling different items (corn on the cob, esquites, tacos, shaved ice, roses, candy, etc). One guy was even selling Kibbeh which I would have never thought I would see here as it is a middle eastern treat that is even hard to find in the US.

One thing I would mention as a "newbie" is the guesswork in determining if I am being charged too much for different things. I guess it takes time to figure this out. I am sure that the price is higher when they see a "Non-local" coming thier way. I think there is a 3 price tier here. One for locals, another for visiting mexicans or ones that are new to the area and a third for tourists. It seems that most prices are negotiable. The trick is to know how far down to go. Some things seem cheap enough because I still think in "dollars." For example, a guy washed my car for 50 pesos which I think is really cheap, but the nieghbor told me that the same guy washes his car for 30 pesos. 20 peso difference, but less then $2 US. Anyway, I used to pay $20 in Florida (others pay $50), so i am not complaining. We also had a handyman help us with a lot of work in the house. He was here for 4 days and only charged us $150 for all of the work. We paid another guy $200 pesos to install 4 ceiling fans. He installed 2 then said he need to get some more screws. He never came back. Anyway, It looks like we are paying a low (in my opinion) price for services rendered.

 

I do have one question. Where is a fun place to take children (3 years old) to play. We went to Parque de las Palapas last night. That was fun for them. There was a play ground, merry-go-round, remote controlled cars and a show from a local school of dance. We ate tacos de pastor, quesadillas and papusas and drank agua de jamaica and horchata.

I need to find an "indoor" place to take them during the day as it is very hot outside right now. Any suggestions? How about some other "outdoor" places to go a night to walk around and "play."

 

Welcome to Cancun.. sorry you didn't have the smoothest of moves.. if you want to point figures my bet would be on the moving guys that delivered your thing to the house, as they had the whole trip up to see what was in the boxes. Course' it could have been people in customs although they have cameras watching their every move, or for that matter it could have been someone at the dock before your things ever left the US... hopefully its not anything important, and I'm sure you were smart enough not to ship your jewelry or anything with them. Yes, you can expect the "gringo-rate" for almost everything you pay for here, something you have to learn and fight over is that you never pay for a service up front, or at most you pay only half (if its a small amount) otherwise they'll always need to go get something and wont ever come back or they'll demand more to finish, its just the way people are here. As for your 3 year-old the BurgerKing in Plaza Avanedas on Yachillan has a huge play thing that you can unleash them on while you have a meal and there are of' course other things that you'll find as you live here. Once you get them into a preschool, you'll probably find all sorts of activities for them to get involved with, and they'll adjust to the heat quicker than you will for sure.

 

Welcome to town!

In terms of things to do with kids, Parque las Palapas is my five year old's favourite spot, been twice already this weekend. Reino Sadai is great as Steve said. My son also likes the play area at Paseo Cancun beside the movie theater and the "arcade" in Plaza las Americas. Day time walks in Parque Kabah are good for burning off some preschool energy. There's also a play area in Plaza Kukulkan called "Kukulkids". Other than that, it's McDonald's and Burger King play areas!

For more organized activities, check out Spirit2 gym, they've got swimming lessons and other classes. There are a couple of places for gymnastics, CAR is fantastic, Allianz is good. There is also a Gymboree on Nichupte. "Cursos de veranos" (summer courses) are starting next week at a lot of places, might be a fun way to start!

 

I would suggest El Timon on Chichen Itza, west of Kabah, where you can eat and relax while the kids have at it.

A great place, but not free, is Planet Kids in Plaza Peninsula on Bonampak. It's a little south of Plaza Las Americas, the plaza with the Starbucks. Parking is better underground. A/C is a wonderful thing and they have a tiny snack bar.

Eventually the kids will find the game rooms at Plaza las Americas and Gran Plaza.

Good luck; have fun.

 

Thanks for all of the advise. We took my son to the place in front of the movies in Paseo Cancun. Good place to spend an hour.
We also enrolled him in a summer camp at Le Petite Monde. It is a small school on Ave Nader. They offer alot of activities (even cooking classes). Classes are from 8 - 1 and cost $500 per week and includes a meal (in case anyone is interesed.)
Been here 3 weeks already and we are still unpacking and organizing. Great thing about all of this activity and the Cancun heat is that I already lost 10 pounds.