Where to retire?

[PatW]

Roatan or Utila are possibilities. The crime is low there unlike the rest of the country. You don't see many fish because of the over fishing, but the corals are great especially on Utila. Utila is very much an "out island". Roatan has much more of an infrastructure. The costs are pretty reasonable too. And you are just on the fringes of the hurricane zone.

The Caymans are good. Grand Cayman is expensive but has pretty much everything one would need. Little Cayman is very much an out island. There is almost nothing there. Cayman Brac has very good diving. It has shore diving. The infrastructure is not great. It was a big deal when they got a pizza joint on the island. But they have far more than Little Cayman.

You could also look at the Turks and Caicos. I would think Grand Turk or Provo. I don't think either one has shore diving though.

You could also live on Cozumel. Condos can be had there and the diving is well known in quality and it has a decent infrastructure.

 

[oldschoolto]

I think for me, Shore diving is a must... First off the cost of diving goes up when you add the boat and your diving on some else schedule...

Jim...

 

[drrich2]

More Cowbells just posted a trip report on Overall Impressions First Trip to St. Croix.

If shore diving is a big deal, and you're thinking Caribbean region, you've got a short list. Here're some options to consider:

1.) Make a list - such as island size (area), winter water temp.s (fine for Curacao & Bonaire; more an issue with northern islands, if you don't like wearing a wetsuit), and check round trip airfare from to/from wherever in the U.S. you'll usually fly. That's going to impact others' willingness to visit often; are there 'grand kid issues' to think about?

2.) Take an extended vacation, aiming for a 'back to back' few days on some islands. For example, St. Croix's topography and vegetation are much different from Bonaire. The swim out is longer. The sandy beaches of Curacao offer a much different shore view from much of Bonaire.

3.) Pick a small home, inland so it's cheaper, with a modest yard, and price it on each. Get a sense of cost to build.

4.) How important is it that there be fine medical care on the island? If you're hitting retirement age, that's going to become progressively more important over time.

5.) Make a list of what you like to do, not just everyday, but once in awhile. Do you 'need' brand name department stores (e.g.: Sears), a shopping mall, etc...? Have you come to grips with being unable to get Amazon Prime merchandise shipped to you in 2 business days?

6.) Do you have a climate preference? Bonaire is arid, brightly sunny with some clouds, pretty steady trade winds, not much rain most of the year. Sounds nice, but all the time? Does summer all year appeal to you? I don't anticipate snowball fights anywhere in the Caribbean, but would you like it to cool off?

Richard.

 

[diver0008]

Apologies in advance if this is the incorrect forum, but somehow Grumpy Old Divers seems apropos. . .

I'd like to retire in about 5 years and go someplace with warm water diving. My lovely wife would like to go somewhere where she can sit by the ocean and read. A non-US location is what we're looking for.

Southeast Asia seems just a bit too far (and the health care system is questionable), we haven't done a lot of travel to the Caribbean but Curacao seems very attractive (and that 10% income tax looks really good).

A place where English is commonly spoken would also be high on our list, as would a low crime rate (no thank you Roatan).

Where else should we consider?

Grand Cayman

 

[JamesBon92007]

Another thing that just occurred to me tonight is cuisine. While making tostadas tonight I realized that I have to live someplace that has Mexican food I'm going to Hawai'i next month so I'll have to check out what's available on the Big Island. I wasn't thinking about it when I went to Maui. In any case they have lots of avocados so I should be good.

 

[StefinSB]

I assume when you say SoCal you refer to LA/OC. I live in Santa Barbara and have several beach diving spots within 5-20min drive that are free. CA is big and differs quite a bit regionally.

 

[TMHeimer]

I'm going to reply ideally. Assuming good health, retire in the Canadian High Arctic. Experience clean air, ice flows, great fishing and being in a unique place 99% of the world can only dream of visiting. BUT, own a house/condo in a tropical place, preferably Oceania, the birthplace of molluscs. With free reign on scuba--collecting of any shells you wanted for your home collection in say, Grise Fiord (google it), NU -- anyone know what NU stands for?

 

[scubadada]

....If I were aiming for dive destination to live, I'd seriously consider south Florida, toward the Atlantic side. Between Jupiter & the Florida Keys, with West Palm Beach and Boynton Beach in between, and an occasional trip to Blue Heron Bridge, you'd have a variety of diving environments that could be hard to match elsewhere. Mostly boat diving, but something to think about.

This is an interesting thread. As a 62 year old, nearly ready to return to the US from Switzerland for retirement, I've looked into many of the possibilities mentioned above over the last 15 years or so. We visited Grand Cayman, Little Cayman, Bonaire, Curacao, Providenciales T&C, Puerto Rico, Cozumel, Costa Rica, Panama, Maui, Kauai, and Oahu. At least casually, we looked into the possibility of investing and perhaps even retiring in each of these locations. We even bought an inexpensive time share on Grand Cayman in 1997, nice place called Indies Suites. Cayman turned out to be not quite as civilized as we thought and we lost the time share after Ivan in 2004, underinsured, government supported the owner over those who had invested. We got more than our money's worth, others did not fare as well. We've been back to Grand Cayman, fond of the East End.

During that same period, we explored SE Florida and the northern Keys. To make a long story short, we ended up buying a nice townhouse just north of Boynton Beach a little over 4 years ago, at the nadir of the housing market. So, I'm 3 miles from Boynton Harbor Marina, 15 miles from the Blue Heron Bridge and West Palm, 30 miles from Jupiter, and within striking distance of Key Largo when I really want to dive the Spiegel Grove, the Duane, and the Bibb. Future medical care and all the conveniences of being in the US certainly played a role in the decision. And....I can still go on vacation for more variety, next up, 2 weeks of liveaboard on the Red Sea

 

[JamesBon92007]

And it keeps getting more interesting

Would you be so kind as to tell us some of the things that influenced your decision to not move to any of the fabulous-sounding places that you investigated?

 

[scubadada]

--collecting of any shells you wanted for your home collection in say, Grise Fiord (google it), NU -- anyone know what NU stands for?

Thanks, interesting place, northern most community in Canada, Grise Fiord, Nunavut (previously Northwest Territories). 24 hours of sun and gets up all the way to 5 degrees C April to August. Does have quite a Winter with temps to -50 degrees C and frozen seas 10 months the year. Looks absolutely gorgeous for a summer visit