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Trip to Merida

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Beginnings
  9/24/2019 02:35 EST

I was wondering, as a retired educator who is considering living in Merida, if there might be a few people willing to share some basic information with me.
I will be flying in on October 10th and although I have done my basic homework, still have many questions that are too numerous to list.
I would greatly appreciate hearing from some ex-pats who have already made this transition.
Thank you,
Bill

Eidel
  9/24/2019 15:00 EST

There are sooooo many FB pages devoted to Merida and "expats." Join these to start: Merida Amigos, Expats Living in Merida, Merida Mexico Expat Community...and more form everyday.

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Eidel
  9/24/2019 15:04 EST

There are soooooo many FB groups devoted to expats and Merida. Start with Merida Amigos, Expats Living in Merida, and Merida Mexico Expat Community. There are more, but these will get you started.

davidL
  9/24/2019 15:42 EST

Hi, Bill. I have not lived in Mérida but have spent almost two weeks there over two visits this year. I love the city. The people are really friendly. Even police officers spontaneously wish you a good day.

The city has a lot of offer. It is an incredible mixture of Spanish colonial arquitecture and the very contemporary. It has restaurants specializing in Yucateca cuisine but also has many international restaurants. The shopping malls have every store you can imagine.

Mérida is within two hours of Chichén Itzá, three hours Cancún, and a half hour of beautiful Gulf of Mexico beaches. It is not a super-big city, around 750,000 in the city itself and maybe two million in the Metro area. Although it is growing rapidly and gaining more industry and residents from other parts of Mexico as well as from the US and Canada (and actually from Europe and other Latin American countries), it continues to have a relatively low cost of living. I think it is the 16th most expensive city in Mexico.

It is probably the safest city in Mexico, but everybody says to live on the north side or in the northern suburbs.

The only negative of which I am aware is that for much of the year the temperatures are insufferably hot with high humidity. I fell in love with the city in January but when we returned in May thinking we wanted to buy a house and move there (from Mexico City) the temperatures in the high nineties by day and upper seventies at night convinced me that I would feel like a prisoner in the air-conditioned areas of my house if I lived there. But lots of people live there and love it. The beaches are nearby and there are many cenotes in which you can swim. Also many people go to the malls not so much to shop as to enjoy an ice coffee in air-conditioned comfort.

I recommend that you visit Merida in the hot season before you make a decision about living there.

Best of luck to you!!

davidL
  9/24/2019 15:46 EST

Bill, David again. According to Google the average high and low temperatures in October are 33° / 21° celsius, with rain on 7 days (but that does not mean the whole day will be lost to rain.)

barquentine
  9/24/2019 19:30 EST

I've been wondering what the climate in Merida is REALLY like. I have lived in Tampico and I escaped pretty damn quickly because of the horrible humidity. How does Merida compare? If it's anything like Tampico I'm not visiting, ever!

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davidL
  9/24/2019 20:04 EST

David here again. One other thing I want to mention is that when my wife and I were in Mérida the second time we met with Adriana of Yucatan Expat Services, and I learned a great deal. https://www.yucatanexpatriateservices.com/ is the link and for something like $900 MXN, about $47 US depending on the days conversion rate, I felt it was money well spent.

davidL
  9/24/2019 20:08 EST

Barquentine, I have not been to Tampico. Is that on the Gulf of Mexico at the southern tip of Tamaulipas? My recommendation is to google monthly maximum temperatures Tampico and maximum monthly temperatures Merida (or even climate Tampico and climate Merida) for a slew of information.

barquentine
  9/24/2019 20:19 EST

Yes that's right, it's pretty much due East of Merida across the Gulf.
I just compared the humidity charts. Tampico is worse, it's 80% ALL the time.
But by the look of it Merida is almost as bad: June to January is all over 70% and as high as 75% for three months.
So, no thanks. I still recall the water pouring off roofs at 6pm daily as the temperature passed through the dew point, and everything leather just rotting away in months.

barquentine
  9/24/2019 20:19 EST

Yes that's right, it's pretty much due East of Merida across the Gulf.
I just compared the humidity charts. Tampico is worse, it's 80% ALL the time.
But by the look of it Merida is almost as bad: June to January is all over 70% and as high as 75% for three months.
So, no thanks. I still recall the water pouring off roofs at 6pm daily as the temperature passed through the dew point, and everything leather just rotting away in months.

hrlee7804
  9/25/2019 07:30 EST

Barquentine...Sounds a bit extreme to me. I live on the Gulf of California/Sea of Cortez in Sonora State. There is literally thousands of boats here in the marinas sitting 24/7 and I don't see anyone complaining about things rotting and how horrible it is. I survived my first summer here but most people left. I agree you have to be a bit tougher than the average bear to live here in the summer but I actually took up jog/walking this summer and the 2nd run of the day starts about 4pm when it is the hottest. Like anything, you have to want to do it not not want to do it.
I have friends on the gulf just North of Merida and they seem to survive just fine. My God the locals are out doing manual labor in it 10 hrs a day. As a society Americans have gotten awfully soft. I think if most wanted to they could survive a trip from the air conditioned car to the grocery store.....just saying. I use weatherbase.com to get climate conditions around the world.

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Welcome Home Mexico occupies a niche in the market as a successful relocation and real estate firm helping expats moving to Mexico! As seen on CBS news, PBS, in the L.A. Times and more, we are one of the leading companies in this field. Welcome Home Mexico offers a wide range of services, multi-lingual knowledgeable brokers with experience, efficient and professional service.

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Welcome Home Mexico occupies a niche in the market as a successful relocation and real estate firm helping expats moving to Mexico! As seen on CBS news, PBS, in the L.A. Times and more, we are one of the leading companies in this field. Welcome Home Mexico offers a wide range of services, multi-lingual knowledgeable brokers with experience, efficient and professional service.
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Cozumeldeb
  9/25/2019 08:14 EST

Have you ever taken a look at Guanajuato (city)? It is in the mountains in central MX. Near perfect climate year around. Beautiful city, 3 major universities, wonderful restaurants etc..About an 1 hour from Leon, about 1.5 hours from San Miguel Allende..Guadalajara not to far either.
Check it out, we live in Cozumel and travel to other states too. Guanajuato is my absolute face. Thought as a retired educator it might appeal to you.
We've been to Merida a lot and have friends there..it is miserably hot..A close friend ran a B+B there for 15 yrs in Centro..As she got older (63) the heat/humidity made her sell out and moved to San Miguel Allende happily.

barquentine
  9/25/2019 11:47 EST

Guanajuato looks nice but has a drawback: It's at 2,000 m altitude. With increasing age it becomes impossible to live in the high places. I went to Copper Canyon and stayed in a lodge at 2,300m and got altitude sickness and had to descend into the canyon.

kikipt
  9/29/2019 00:23 EST

I am also a retired educator (as well as a musician) and I have lived in Mérida for three years. I would be happy to answer any of your questions if I can.
You can E-mail me off-site at [email protected].

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