I want to hear from Full time residence

Mark

New Member
I was born and raised in California and went to Baja many times, mainly Rosarito for surfing and fun. I have been in Ohio for the past 14 years but we are looking at semi or full retirement in the very near future. I have always wanted to retire on a beach in Mexico where there was golf available as well. Rocky Point looks very affordable and being close to Phoenix looks like a plus as well. If you are permanent resident or live there more than 6 months a year can you give honest feedback on living there. I have read a lot of the blogs and have concerns about water shortage, hassle from the cops and stuff like that. Like I said I have been to Mexico several times before in my younger days.
Thanks in advance.
 

Estella

Active Member
I can only give opinion on life in Phoenix vs life in Penasco. I live in Penasco off and on for the past 20 years. I speak Spanish so that makes a huge difference. I will only say what I don't like about it.

1. Food cost is about the same but slightly lower quality.
2.I avoid eating in restaurants and especially buying tacos in the street do to questionable sanitary conditions, you are guaranteed to get nasty diarrhea for first few months.
3.Penasco used to be cheap but not anymore, in fact it is the most expensive place in state of Sonora.
4.Sand gets everywhere, your car, you clean up your house and within few days sands gets in
5.When not using AC unit, you must wash it and cover it up or it gets eaten by the salty dew.
6.Petty theft is common, can't leave anything outside, even the old broom will get stolen
7.Service and sales people tend to be aggressive in sales, slap it together take the money is common practice
8.I did not have problems with cops but it is common for them to harass and claim you missed a stop sign.
9.Pay everything in Pesos or you will be taken advantage in paying in Dollars.
10.People there love noise. My neighbor would rent marching band to play all night, so you get umpa umpa all night
 

brokenwave

Well Known Member
I Don't live there full time but will spend 3-6 months a year there shortly. I've had a house there for 20+ years.
Yes on many of the things Estella posted.
Electricity costs can be pretty high, more you use, the more you pay. $300-500 for 2 months during the summer if you like to
sleep comfortably. If your use goes into the top tiers you pay that rate for the next 12 months. But without June-mid-Oct use
the costs are reasonable. Live like a poor local and pay less, live like a Gringo and pay a lot.
Gasoline is $4.00ish a gallon.
Groceries are 30-40% less than in Phx, quality is good to only OK. Quality of food is better in larger places Ensenada, Puerto Valarta etc.
Some stuff is priced more, computers, top end cell phones, HDTV's are 25-50% more here vs the states.

Look at Yelp and Trip Advisor for restaurant reviews they are semi accurate. I agree with 5-6 out of the top 10 and are safe to eat at.
Summer months more problems arise because bacteria thrive in the RP weather May-Oct. Lomotil is a must to have around.
But after 6 months your body tolerates the different bacteria in food in RP, go elsewhere and there's different bacteria again.
Still many different places you can go and not get sick, just don't eat out every day.

Not really inexpensive anymore, but cheaper than Phx. The further you go into Mexico the less it costs generally.
Home owner insurance costs are OK, car insurance is cheaper than the States.

Service costs are much less than in the states, ex. A/C, appliance, auto repairs, cleaning, home repair, painting.
Lot's of scammers but there are a lot of good workers, when you find a good one stick with them. Ask your neighbors for recommendations,
Home repairs are usually done to be OK for 1-3 years , seemingly so it can get done again by the same people. Prep work is poor.
Water service is usually good but 3-4 times a year it becomes problematic unless you live at the resorts or Santo Tomas.
Unless you live in the Condos, get a back-up tank (tanks) with a pump for shortages that will happen.

Internet and phone cost's $30ish, Internet speed isn't very fast 600kbits to 1.5mbs speeds, streaming Nexflix iffy at best.
During busy times it really gets slow.
Cell phone service is decent to pretty good, Tel-Cel seems the fastest. Cost is 200-300 peso's a month without a ton of data.
Will get bogged down on busy weekends, US phone's work well, but you can't use them full time per your contract.

There is a lot to like and some not to like about RP, I suggest renting for 2-3 weeks to get your feet wet and then decide.
 
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