Any Suggestions for living in MAZATLAN?

Question

I am thinking of moving to Mazatlan Mexico. I will be going in 3 months and not coming back, Does any really know about the area and the reality of living there? I know they are friendly to Americans. Is is it safe to live there now? Can I live there as a tourist? Can I live there on 1000 a month? Do I need any special immo shots?

Answer 1

I've driven down through Mazatlan a number of times, got off of highway 200 and drove into the city, pretty good size..   I had no problems, found the people I dealt with to be friendly, it helps if you have some command of Spanish but not essential.   If your going to live there you'll pick up what you need as time goes bye.  

   Your going to have to budget your money to make $1000.00 cover a month but it's not impossible, but you'll have to do your own cooking so a place with a kitchen is essential.   Housing and partying make living anywhere in Mexico cost more so, bear that in mind.   I would assume that you have something to do besides sit on the beach?   You'll be arriving at the end of the rainy season when everything will be full of color and the produce is the best.  

No shots required but the weather is a bit cooler at night than say Puerto Vallarta which is a few hundred miles south on Highway 200.

  Have fun, bus travel is cheap but can be long and rather boring but if your interested I suggest you try it and travel down about 24 hours by bus to Zihuatanejo, that's where I spend most of my time, sun is always shinning, great beach at LaRopa, markets and produce are cheap as is housing.  

Well, have fun, drop me a note if you need any further info.

Answer 2

I've been there and I can say by my personal experience that the locals there were not friendly at all to Americans. I have stories where cops tried to get our friends (girls) to get in a taxi cab and when they refused the cops were going to arrest them. And no we were NOT drunk.... I had the worst experience there. I was just there to have a good time but they knew we were Americans, so they started trouble with us. I'm not trying to scare you, I just telling you what happened to me and my friends. I'm sure there are nice people out there, but I didn't meet any of them. If you decide to go... be careful and just remember that a place like Mazatlan has a bunch of tourists, so the cost of everything out there is much more than you probably expect.... Good luck! Be careful!

Answer 3

It will probably be kinda tough, if you're there on a tourist card (FM-T), you'll have to go back over the border every 180 day and come back with a new FM-T.  To get an FM-3 visa, you now have to show and income of $1300 per month (or half that if you already have a house or condo).  If you don't already have a house or condo, rent is going to be the biggest part of your budget, so the cheapest thing you can get will help the budget most.

An alternative to big city Matzatlan is little village of Sayulita (30 minutes north of the Puerto Vallarta airport). Click the link below.

Answer 4

My experience in Mazatlan was that the people in the old downtown area were delightful but the people around the "Gold Coast" were unfriendly and hostile.

Can you live on $1000 a month? Depends on how you are used to living or are willing to live. With a car? probably not. Taxis and buses are cheap. Eating out several nights a week in fancy restaurants? Nope. Food, especially fresh produce is slightly less than in the US, but not a great deal less. In a beautiful beach front condo? Nope. In a small, simple one bedroom or studio apartment in an older building? That's what you can get for $250 - 300 a month. Do you speak Spanish? You will need it to interact with neighbors and shopkeepers.

You can get a Tourist Visa (FM-T) for 180 days. After that you need to cross a boarder to renew it. To get a long term Visa (FM-3) you need to apply and show sufficient income. This varies widely from city and region but seems to average $1000 to $1500.  

I would suggest finding the local ex-pat community and finding out what infrastructure exists. They will be able to better answer local questions. Check Yahoo! Groups and Google for Community Boards.

Mexico Connect has a wealth of information and is well worth the small subscription fee.

http://www.mexconnect.com/

http://mazatlan.en.craigslist.com.mx/