BajaNomad

New! Intro... And My First Question!

BajaCanuck - 5-14-2016 at 08:37 PM

Hi everyone!

I've been lurking for a while, but just registered today to post a quick intro and my first question. :bounce:

My husband and I (early 30's) currently live in Ontario, Canada, and we'll be leaving after this upcoming Christmas. No kids, but we've got 3 dogs. We're very easygoing, love the sun, and after 5 years here we finally feel we've had enough of the dreary Ontario weather and terrible Toronto rat-race attitudes.

We've been considering a few options, most notably the island of Curacao, Spain, and BCS. There are pros and cons to each. BCS offers the right combination of climate and geography for us, a palatable cost of living, and the ability to cheaply fly to San Diego (through TJ), or relatively easily drive the peninsula if we're bringing the dogs.

We're what I would assume is a pretty standard combination of beach, city nightlife, and outdoors as far as our interests go. I'd like to find a home that is overlooking Los Cabos, and the ability to spend a day at the beach, shopping, dining, or hanging out for drinks. We'll enjoy touring the cities in BCS, including Todos Santos and La Paz. At the same time, I can see us hiking the mountain trails or taking in some desert peace and quiet.

I don't really know what else to say, but by all means just ask! :)

I do have one question, to start: I notice that a lot of the activities we would like to do are part of the many resorts. Do the resorts offer day-pass access, or other admission programs for locals? Or do we pretty much have to book an overnight stay if we'd like to lounge by the pool, and assume that the tennis courts aren't going to be something we can regularly enjoy like we'd enjoy a tennis club up here?

Thanks! And lovely to meet all of you!

Jenn

shari - 5-15-2016 at 07:00 AM

Hi there paisana (fellow canuck!) and welcome to the sandbox! I agree with your reasons for choosing BCS as your friends and family can come and visit you much easier than Spain! I am a village girl so cant speak for the resort and nightlife stuff but I'm sure others will chime in about life on the tip and east cape...hope to meet you one day as you pass by on your way up and down the peninsula!

DENNIS - 5-15-2016 at 07:14 AM



You need an extended driving exploratory.

durrelllrobert - 5-15-2016 at 08:38 AM

Welcome to BN BajaCanuck. My wife is also Canadian but from Alberta where they ignore all the Toronto rat-race attitudes. We live in Baja Norte,but travel to BCS and all the resorts there and on the mainland a lot. Just wondering why you would limit your move to BCS with all the really hot summers and huricane season.

As far as day passes at the resorts just beware of all the condo saesmen when you land at the airport. They will promise you anything but only treat you to a 3+ hour presentation/ salespitch and you will have to fight to get your drivers liscense and credit card back from them if you don't buy.

I think I would drive here rather than leave the dogs behind, even though it involes crossing two borders. That way you not only get to see the US but you can also checkout the Ensenada area, two hours soth of the border, on your way south.

danaeb - 5-15-2016 at 10:09 AM

If you're planning on living in Cabo full-time, spend 4 months there between June-Oct before you make the leap. If you're like many Baja Sur residents, you may find that summer will be your travel time to cooler climes. Many Baja Sur dreamers don't fully understand how brutal summer is if you're used to a more temperate climate.

rhintransit - 5-15-2016 at 10:10 AM

dunno re day passes in San Jose and Cabo but do know that when I stayed at the Grand Mayan there last year all non-guests were turned away, not even allowed a look at the pools and grounds. don't know that many on BajaNomads are the resort play types but looking forward to hearing what replies you get.
here in Loreto, the Villas del Palmar, our only timeshare thus far, has day passes, run about 70US/person for a limited (10am-5 or 6pm) day that include pool/beach use and food/some drink, but not any beach water sports equipment, etc. they have a sister company in the Cabo area, you can contact them directly for an answer. and do remember that a policy today can change tomorrow, and frequently does.


[Edited on 5-15-2016 by rhintransit]

mtgoat666 - 5-15-2016 at 10:22 AM

Sounds like you want tennis courts and pools. Just buy a condo in complex with such. Or join a country club with amenities you seek.

Quote: Originally posted by BajaCanuck  
Hi everyone!

I've been lurking for a while, but just registered today to post a quick intro and my first question. :bounce:

My husband and I (early 30's) currently live in Ontario, Canada, and we'll be leaving after this upcoming Christmas. No kids, but we've got 3 dogs. We're very easygoing, love the sun, and after 5 years here we finally feel we've had enough of the dreary Ontario weather and terrible Toronto rat-race attitudes.

We've been considering a few options, most notably the island of Curacao, Spain, and BCS. There are pros and cons to each. BCS offers the right combination of climate and geography for us, a palatable cost of living, and the ability to cheaply fly to San Diego (through TJ), or relatively easily drive the peninsula if we're bringing the dogs.

We're what I would assume is a pretty standard combination of beach, city nightlife, and outdoors as far as our interests go. I'd like to find a home that is overlooking Los Cabos, and the ability to spend a day at the beach, shopping, dining, or hanging out for drinks. We'll enjoy touring the cities in BCS, including Todos Santos and La Paz. At the same time, I can see us hiking the mountain trails or taking in some desert peace and quiet.

I don't really know what else to say, but by all means just ask! :)

I do have one question, to start: I notice that a lot of the activities we would like to do are part of the many resorts. Do the resorts offer day-pass access, or other admission programs for locals? Or do we pretty much have to book an overnight stay if we'd like to lounge by the pool, and assume that the tennis courts aren't going to be something we can regularly enjoy like we'd enjoy a tennis club up here?

Thanks! And lovely to meet all of you!

Jenn

BajaBlanca - 5-15-2016 at 10:39 AM

welcome to bajanomad!

After you see Shari in Asuncion, take the coastal route down to La Bocana and say hi to us!


I will see if I can find out some information on the daytime resort visits. Have you spent any time in Cabo already?

BajaCanuck - 5-15-2016 at 12:43 PM

Hi guys!

Wow, thanks for all the replies thus far!

Shari and Blanca: Absolutely we'll get in touch with you folks. One of the reasons I joined BajaNomads is because I felt it was important to get a feel for the community, and have a somewhat familiar "place to land" when we make the move. So, thanks for the warm welcome and the invites!

Blanca: Yes, I'd love to know more - or, as my husband suggested, if there's the opportunity to join some nature of health/recreational club with the pools, tennis courts, etc. In other words, where do the locals go to experience those aspects of Los Cabos that were presumably at least partially reasons they made the move down in the first place? :-)

Bob: You know, actually this whole thing started with looking at TJ, Ensenada, and other parts of Baja Norte, but we're just not sure that the large border city lifestyle would be what we are looking for. We have not eliminated Baja Norte (the drier the climate, always the better for us... But we've been willing to compromise on that for the right lifestyle feel) and when we do the "scouting trip" we'll be checking out Baja Norte as well. But, from what we can tell without being there in person, so far the Los Cabos & La Paz idea feels better to us.

One concern about Baja Norte was that the impression we got was it wasn't exactly safe for a couple to be out hiking, camping, etc. on that half of the Peninsula. Rather, when driving down to Cabo, one should attempt to reach as far south as possible, as fast as possible. Since hiking and camping are at least as important to us as tennis (hehe) we weren't sure we wanted to be somewhere that we couldn't enjoy hiking safely. We just got the impression that BCS was better in that regard.

Soulpatch: While budget is always a consideration (we have no interest in those multimillion-dollar estates in Cabo San Lucas) from what we've seen, any area of the entire Peninsula offers SOMETHING affordable for us. Budget won't be the primary consideration for us over lifestyle and amenities. Canada is one of the most expensive countries in the world for EVERYTHING, so pretty well anything we'd be interested in living in down there impacts our budget positively, from what we see on the MLS. You guys also pay much less for food and entertainment, house cleaning and gardening services, pet boarding, etc.

Danaeb: Great advice! However, we're just planning to wing it as far as the heat goes. We've given it a lot of thought, and we've decided we'd rather be complaning about the heat than shoveling snow. There aren't a lot of options for Canadians who want to live in a non-Polar climate, so we've got to take what we can get. For what it's worth, we've never been bothered by the heat in Arizona, or the heat AND humidity in Florida. My husband was also born in the Caribbean, raised in Dubai (you want to talk about HOT and HUMID summers?!) so he's probably a bit more prepared than I am! :-) I know I won't love the summers... But I don't think it's possible to hate it as much as the winters here, or the gloomy grey spring and fall that sandwich said terrible winters. We definitely do still plan to travel as well, so if we find we need to get out of Baja during July-September, we can always schedule our more temperate climate travel plans around that. But otherwise, yes, we would plan to live full-time and make Baja our home base from which we travel.

Rhintransit: Thank you for sharing your experience. It's important for us to plan based on what's definitely going to be available to us - not what MIGHT be. My husband was assuming it would be more like the resorts he has experienced in Curacao and Dubai, with reasonable day use rates for locals. You may also enjoy the restaurants, spas, etc at all the resorts in those places in his experience as well.

Mtgoat666: We're not sure whether we'll go the condo route or a villa/house. It'll mostly depend on dog-friendliness of the commumities since while our dogs are seniors, they've still got hopefully many happy years ahead of them. What we are finding is that dogs (especially large ones) are much less welcome at the resort-type properties, so we may not have the opportunity to choose our home based on the amenities offered on-site, at this point. The country club idea sounds great... I guess that's what I'm asking - where do the locals join and go to partake of a gym, raquet sports, or do things OTHER than golf. Golf seems to have a very typical membership structure like we're used to seeing here in Canada, so we've got golf covered. :-)

Anyway, I think I responded to everyone. Thanks again! :-)

mtgoat666 - 5-15-2016 at 01:46 PM

Rent before you buy. You may not like it, may want to go home. Living abroad sounds awesome until you do it. Sometimes life is better near family and friends. Also, your only fellow countrymen living in cabo will be gray hairs.

willardguy - 5-15-2016 at 02:02 PM

about the only thing I can think of better than being early 30's is being early 30's and living in Los Cabo's! :P SALUD!!!!!!!!!!!!!

karenintx - 5-15-2016 at 02:24 PM


Hi Jenn,

I would suggest contacting Mark Suen. He is a really nice guy and he too is Canadian. He can help you with a long term rental, answer your questions on resort day passes, yes there are several that do this plus Mark is very knowledgeable of the Los Cabos area.

http://marksuen.point2agent.com/

Also there is The Caboalics. They get together to party, play, hike, and do charity work around town.

http://www.caboholics.com/

I agree you should rent first, get to know the lay of the land. You will find there are several different types of people/groups in the Los Cabos area. There are so many things to keep you busy...from charity groups to tennis groups. Also there are many age groups...not everyone has gray hair.

Good luck with your search.

dtbushpilot - 5-15-2016 at 02:29 PM

Quote: Originally posted by mtgoat666  
Rent before you buy. You may not like it, may want to go home. Living abroad sounds awesome until you do it. Sometimes life is better near family and friends. Also, your only fellow countrymen living in cabo will be gray hairs.


X2. It's easy to fall in love with many areas in Baja or mainland Mexico but it isn't for everyone. There isn't any rush to buy, there will always be great deals to be had. Rent a place, maybe stay a while in several places before you buy, you may be glad you did. Welcome to Nomads BajaCanuck!

BajaCanuck - 5-15-2016 at 03:04 PM

Thanks guys!

Karenintx: this is awesome! Just what I was hoping for!

And yes, the plan is definitely to rent for at least a year where we think we will be happiest (and look around from that as a home base) before we buy, assuming we can work it out with a landlord to accept the dogs. Hoping that, with all the durable, paw-friendly tile flooring, it'll be a non-issue.

[Edited on 5-15-2016 by BajaCanuck]

bledito - 5-15-2016 at 04:03 PM

while staying at sunset and the sister resorts blanca and the other one if forget the name there were people there that were not guests they grabbed a beach towel and carried it around paid cash or credit for drinks and food. they said they do it all the time. and who would know the difference if you have the towel it's like a wrist band there no one asks any questions.