Best Places In The World To Retire

Cancun is one of the main cities of Yucatan. It’s the one that everybody knows that’s been here for a long time. It’s been a top tourist destination for a long time. And as you start heading south from Cancun you’ll come to Puerto Morelos, which is more of a fishing village. It’s grown a little bit now but not much. They’ve got a lot of protected land there so there’s not a lot of growth that can happen. And those who live there don’t...

Cancun is one of the main cities of Yucatan. It’s the one that everybody knows that’s been here for a long time. It’s been a top tourist destination for a long time. And as you start heading south from Cancun you’ll come to Puerto Morelos, which is more of a fishing village. It’s grown a little bit now but not much. They’ve got a lot of protected land there so there’s not a lot of growth that can happen. And those who live there don’t want growth. So it’s a pretty quiet place and it’s between Cancun and Playa Del Carmen. 

 

Playa Del Carmen is your next stop. That’s the main hub these days for everything. Most of the people are coming to Playa Del Carmen for vacation and then you can branch out from there. It’s only a 40-minute drive from the airport so it doesn’t take long to get here. There are more than 200,000 people in Playa Del Carmen now and it’s the place where everybody wants to be these days.

 

Then as you head farther south than that, there is a small, gated community called Puerto Adventuras, which is the marina community. So for people who come here and want to have a boat, that’s where they would be. You can buy a house and dock your boat on the canal right behind your house or you can have a condo in the marina and put your boat in the marina. It’s just a small area, not too big at all.

 

And then after that you’ve got Akumal. Akumal is another small area. It’s known for is snorkeling. They have a huge concentration of sea turtles there. Every year the sea turtles come there to lay their eggs on the beach and then all the Akumal residents go out there and protect the eggs.  They figure out where the eggs were laid and when they will hatch.  When they do hatch, all the people go out there to help the turtles get to the ocean and not get eaten by the birds. It’s a really big deal out there. If you do a 5 minute snorkel you’re going to be able to see a giant sea turtle in the wild. It’s another quiet place.  There is one road and pretty everything is on the beach there.

 

As you head far south from there, there is Tulum, which is the site of archeological ruins. It’s the only one in this area that’s on the water; everything else is inland. So it’s pretty popular for that reason. And there’s also a small city town there with a really nice stretch of beach. The beaches in Tulum are some of the nicest beaches you’ll find in the world. It’s just beautiful. If we’re going to the beach, a lot of times we’ll drive to Tulum to just spend the day. It’s about a 45-minute drive from Playa del Carmen but it’s worth the drive there. 

 

Quite a way further south you’d come to Chetumal, a larger city which is the capital of the state of Quintana Roo. It’s not touristy and not known as a big expat community. There’s a small expat community there but not huge. Chetumal is very close to Belize. After Chetumal, if you continue going south, you hit Belize. That’s the end in that direction.

 

Over on the gulf side, you’ve got Merida, which is a large city with over a million people. It’s inland about half an hour to 40 minutes from the beach, and there’s a beach town there called Progreso. If you go live in Merida, you either come to the Riviera Maya to go to the beach or, if it’s for a couple of days or just a day or two, they’ll go to Progreso to go to the beach. Merida is about a 3 to 4 and a half hour drive from Playa Del Carmen and the Riviera Maya area.  

 

(The beach at  Puerto Adventuras, Mexico, pictured.)

There are shopping malls in Nicaragua, but they are not very big shopping malls like the ones in the US. You will only find big malls in Managua. In Managua, we have four big malls, which have movie theaters, and restaurants. Then in other places like in Granada, or San Juan Del Sur, there are small stores where you can go and find things that you might like. They have supermarkets, but you will not find any movie theaters there.

 

If you lived in San Juan...

There are shopping malls in Nicaragua, but they are not very big shopping malls like the ones in the US. You will only find big malls in Managua. In Managua, we have four big malls, which have movie theaters, and restaurants. Then in other places like in Granada, or San Juan Del Sur, there are small stores where you can go and find things that you might like. They have supermarkets, but you will not find any movie theaters there.

 

If you lived in San Juan Del Sur and Granada and you wanted to go to a big mall, you have to come to Managua. Managua from San Juan Del Sur is 2 hours and from Granada it is 45 minutes.

 

Malls in Nicaragua are different from the malls in the US because they are without air-conditioning, but when you walk it is an open mall. The only air-conditioning that you will find is in the stores. Normally, malls here have one or two floors. It is not like in the US where you find malls with three or four floors. There is a food court and the cinemas, which are similar to the malls in the US, but the stores are not as many as the stores you will find in an American mall. If you need anything, however, you will still find it here.

 

We also have the same brands. You might not find the very famous brands, but you will find the more common brands like Tommy Hilfiger, Polo, Nike, Benetton, Zara, etc.

 

 (Mall in Managua, Nicaragua with theater, pictured.)

I am not an expert on this but my perception is that illegal drug trafficking is not a big problem in Portugal because Portugal doesn’t appear to be a major drug distribution network for drug smugglers. I do believe that there are some issues around drugs in some high schools and so this is something that they are trying to combat but it really isn’t a big issue in Portugal as a whole.

 

(Spanish and Portuguese trade routes in the 17th...

I am not an expert on this but my perception is that illegal drug trafficking is not a big problem in Portugal because Portugal doesn’t appear to be a major drug distribution network for drug smugglers. I do believe that there are some issues around drugs in some high schools and so this is something that they are trying to combat but it really isn’t a big issue in Portugal as a whole.

 

(Spanish and Portuguese trade routes in the 17th century, pictured.)

The crime rate against Americans in Boquete is no different than it is against any other nationality, including the local Panamanians. 

The crime rate against Americans in Boquete is no different than it is against any other nationality, including the local Panamanians.