Need Help: Selecting A Retirement Location For A Coz-Aholic

[sinistar]

Hi Everyone,

My wife and I started discussing where to retire in the US. We want someplace warmer (we are in Minnesota). And I want someplace where I can easily escape to Mexico several times over the winter - ideally nearer to a larger airport with non-stops into Cozumel. We would rather reside in the US and then travel.

We have spent winter vacations in Tucson and Phoenix and enjoyed it. We have done the same in Florida (Ft.Meyer's area) and really liked the weather but just weren't as interested as we were in the southwest.

One of the first things that comes to mind is finding a place in Texas and somewhat near Houston (say 2hrs max drive time). We don't feel any need to be near the gulf. So being inland is fine with us.

So, for all you Cozumel lovers who live down in the southern US where its warm in the winter - where would you recommend?

 

[JulieM]

We were in the same situation two years ago. We received an offer for our home in Bismarck, ND and moved to St. George, Utah in August of 2014. We have shuttle service to the Las Vegas airport 14 times a day which was important to us. St. George is about 15 degrees cooler than Phoenix which is nice. If you like to ski, Brian Head is about an hour away. We do not get snow in St. George. Property taxes are 1/3 of ND, house insurance is about half. Housing prices are also lower than ND. People are so friendly and there are also numerous activities for retirees including the Huntsman World Senior Games in October plus numerous course offerings at Dixie State University for seniors. Red Mountain is in our backyard and Zion National Park is 40 minutes away. If you have questions, please email us.

 

[Karloss]

Don't know if this will help you or not or even if it's relevant HOWEVER, we live in Ga about 45 min's from Atlanta and can fly to Cozumel in around 3 hours. The vast majority of people we have met while visiting the island seem to be from Texas.

 

[Insta-Gator]

If travel is a top priority, possibly places other than Coz, Atlanta is a great location. I'm not a fan of big cities, so we live out in the boonies, but it's only 45 minutes to the airport and then mostly direct flights to anywhere we want to go. (Did some backpacking Utah a couple of times. Loved it. But then we have the Appalachian trail.)

 

[diversteve]

I live in Phoenix and we can't get to Cozumel non-stop from here. And connections are long - 10+ to 20 hrs. usually thru Denver. Tucson is worse - my sister lives there and drives up here to fly often.

I did some quick checking and currently Houston or Dallas/Ft. Worth seem to be about the only southwestern cities with direct flights to Cozumel.

Try plugging other city otions in here - this is a feed from the database most airlines and travel portals use. It's also the Google Flights database. Matrix - ITA Software by Google On the first screen you can specify non-stop only.

 

[mmmbelows]

If your top criteria is non-stop flight then you really only have 5 choices that I know of right now unless an airline suddenly decides to start offering another non-stop route.

Atlanta
Dallas
Houston
Montreal
Mineappolis

 

[mstevens]

If your top criteria is non-stop flight then you really only have 5 choices that I know of right now unless an airline suddenly decides to start offering another non-stop route.

Atlanta
Dallas
Houston
Montreal
Mineappolis

Not Chicago and Miami?

Edit: Or Charlotte?

Edit edit: Or, seasonally, Denver, Toronto, Minneapolis, Calgary, or Milwaukee?

 

[Insta-Gator]

Not Chicago and Miami?

Not according to ITA Matrix

 

[ggunn]

Not according to ITA Matrix

I'm pretty sure Miami has direct flights to Cozumel.

 

[mstevens]

Not according to ITA Matrix

That is not correct.

ITA Matrix shows nonstop flights from ORD to CZM on the next four Saturdays, which is as far out as I looked.

It shows non-stop flights from MIA to CZM every Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday in January, which is as far out as I looked.