Retire in Lake Chapala

Mexican pesos & Mexican debit card One of the most asked questions on web boards and Facebook Groups is, “What does it cost to live in Lake Chapala?” Obviously the answer can vary greatly. I know couples who live on as little as a $1200 per month including rent and it goes up from there. Suffice to say, depending on your lifestyle, and whether you own or rent, the true cost of living Lakeside can vary. Most notably, restaurant prices have increased significantly in the past

Ajijic offers the single woman the second best climate to live in Ajijic, Jalisco could be one of the safest and best places in the world for a single woman to retire. With it's large and well established expat community and almost infinite number of things to do, Ajijic is a safe and fun haven for retiring women of any age. Not only is it a great place to retire but with it's low cost of living it invites people of all back rounds and income levels to stay and play. Life f

Ajijic Malecon, Lake Chapala, Mexico Since starting the web page “Retire In Lake Chapala”, I have received countless emails about topics related to visiting Lake Chapala for the first time. Here are just a sampling of some of the questions and the answers I gave. Q. What do I need to bring on my trip to Lake Chapala? A. Starting as early as October you might need a very light jacket, although this is completely dependent on the person. Comfortable, walking footwear is mos

Basket street vendor Lake Chapala, Mexico “Peeescaaadooo!' The call is loud and booming. It is the local fish vendor coming up the street with his wheelbarrow full of tilapia and carp caught from Lake Chapala. He comes complete with knife, plastic bags and heavily stained plywood in order to fillet the fresh catch of the day. “Whiiistttlle!” The distinctive ,sharp, rising and falling sound of a whistle blows out across the street as the local knife sharpener walks up the st

Ajijic street mural, Lake Chapala, Mexico Thinking of expatriating to Lake Chapala? Are you aware of and considered the difficulties you might face on your expatriating journey? Do you have the right stuff? Changing countries is not for everyone. Leaving behind all your friends, all the things you know, all the conveniences. Can you adapt? Are you up to the challenge? You will find in Mexico that in order to enjoy yourself, you will have to adapt to the ancient rhythm of li

San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato This is a frequently asked question by potential expats looking to move to Mexico. So which is better? Recently I took a one week vacation to San Miguel to find out for myself. After having lived in Ajijc for the past 8 years and having heard and read lots about San Miguel, I had already formed some opinions, but what did I find out? Did San Miguel live up to all the hipe? First Impressions My first impression was that San Miguel is big!

Visiting Lake Chapala but want to explore a little further afield? There are several great trips that can (and should) be done so that you get a true feel for all that this area of Mexico has to offer. So make sure your visit is long enough to include some or all of these attractions. Tequila Let's start right off with the good stuff. The trip to Tequila is now only 1.5 hours with the opening of the Guadalajara Macro Ring Road. There are an astonishing number of tequila fac

Are you looking at retiring to Lake Chapala? Are you wondering if there is enough for you to do? Wonder no more. Here is a (scratch the surface) list of activities you could take part in. Play Tennis or Pickleball - The Lake Chapala area is graced with numerous tennis courts, both hard and clay surface, plus three major pickleball facilities . Read my blog on the evolution of Pickleball in Ajijic. Go Dancing – Many of the restaurants and clubs have dancing nightly. No

Restaurant on the shores of Lake Chapala, Mexico Unless you have a serious aversion to Mexico, Ajijic, on the shores of Mexico's largest lake, Lake Chapala, is one of the finest places on the planet that you could consider retiring to. True, it's not the commercial advertisement of a hot bikini clad body sipping a margarita on the beach, but it has enough development, a large expat community and a perfect year around climate to make settling here easy and stress free. After

Heart Of Ajijic Sign, Ajijic, Mexico You can retire anywhere in the world right? Maybe even retire right in your own home town? So why even contemplate a retirement move to Lake Chapala, Mexico? Great question! Answer = Because there is so much that the Lake Chapala area has to offer and all at half the cost ( see my cost of living blog for 2022 ) and all within close and easy proximity to your home in the U.S. or Canada should you wish to or need to return. Read on to find

Lake Chapala Farmers Market, Ajijic, Mexico Questions, questions! I get lots of great questions from all of you wonderful people exploring the possibility if living in Lake Chapala is right for you. So what are some people asking and are they questions that you were wondering about too? Let's find out. Q. Where are the markets and when do they take place? A. There are markets on Monday through Thursday. The Monday market is a small one with many prepared food vendors loc

Expats in Lake Chapala Mexico People come from all over the world to retire in Lake Chapala, Mexico. Why? What motivated them to make the transition to a different county and more specifically to Lake Chapala? In this blog I sit down with three recent expats and ask them a series of questions to help us understand their reasons for leaving their home country and moving here to beautiful Lake Chapala, Mexico. Interview No. 1: Bruce Dugdale Thank you for taking the time to

I truly feel that the move to Ajijic 11 years ago has changed my life! For the better! What a wonderful, fantastic opportunity this has been for me. And to top it all off, I met the love of my life in Ajijic. In this incredibly small town, in a different country, here of all places it magically came to pass. So what, you might ask, has been so significant that I want to put it all down on paper and tell the world? Read on and find out how living in Ajijic has changed my life.

Coffee Vendor on the streets of Ajijic Every day street vendors set up their merchandise along the side of the carretera (highway) in Ajijic. Indeed, part of the color and flair of living in Ajijic (or Mexico in general) are the the street vendors. Day in, day out, you'll find these hard working entrepreneurs working to sell their wares from their 'street front' store. They all have their spots and are found in the exact same place day after day. As the seasons come and go y

I think it's safe to say that the months of April and May are the least favorite months for most of the expats living in Lake Chapala. Even though our climate here is touted as having the second best climate in the world, it does tend to get hot for a brief 2 months at the end of the dry season. The good news is that during this time the humidity is very low, around 15-40%, making it more bearable than if it was the same temperature along the ocean. But still, temperatures ca

Donkey on the streets of Lake Chapala How different is life in Ajijic compared to where you are from in the U.S or Canada? Is it possible for you to adapt to the unusual bureaucracy, driving, language, food and general overall lifestyle of the Mexican people? Depending on where you come from you might find that living in Ajijic is a little like living in the wild west. Laws are often only a suggestion and people do what they want to do. That's part of the reason why many lik

Looking for something to do in Ajijic, Mexico? It shouldn't be hard. With one of the largest and oldest expat communities in the world,...

# 1. Stroll on the Malacon - The Ajijic Malacon is the the jewel of Ajijic. Take a leisurely stroll down the path along the lake past...

She was gone. I still couldn't believe it. It had all happened so fast. It ended with me reading the last line of a 3 page printed...

(that the other blogs are not telling you about) (updated May 17, 2024) There are so many blogs about retiring in Lake Chapala all saying...