If you could live in Mexico for a few months...

[GirlonFire]

You can rent a 3 bedroom house with a pool in Corpus Christi for 1000/mth, considering the economy, you might be able to get ocean front condo for that......

Join one of those Facebook groups and post looking for a local apartment - you'll have 20 people within the first hour with listings suggestions. If you're here, I'll drive you around and show you some - stay away from the AirBnB stuff, they just want your tourist money sorry to say.

That $300 a month one Laura moved into, fully furnished, she brought kitchen cooking stuff

Thanks for the links.
Of course, the cheaper the better!

 

[horn34]

Thanks for the links.
Of course, the cheaper the better!

Check Facebook Marketplace. I found my current rental there, a 2000sq ft 3/2 with garage and patios on Salas for $12000/month

 

[Zack-Bloom]

If you can stomach having a car, Playa is a great choice. As previously mentioned, Hertz is a scam here, but there are better smaller providers like Jetvan. Full coverage is expensive only because it’s not uncommon for people to have claims.

Having dove in the ocean and in the cenotes here, I would personally just spend the whole time getting my full cave cert and diving in the caves!

 

[halocline]

Merida is a really nice city, not close to diving, but much more culturally interesting than Playa or Cozumel. There are some smaller communities on the mainland between Tulum and Playa that would have some very reasonable beach (or nice jungle) rentals. The best diving there would be cenotes, I'm not sure if that interests you. If what you mainly want to do is get up and dive in the ocean, Cozumel is the best choice by far, and it's a pleasant place to be outside of diving, but it's not a 'real' Mexican environment.

I would second the idea of moving around a bit, if you are staying on the Yucatan peninsula, the distances are not that far.

One other idea if you wanted to visit a part of Mexico and take a break from diving, you can fly from Cancun to Chiapas pretty inexpensively and visiting Chiapas is really worth doing.

 

[flyboy08]

Cozumel, La Paz, Merida and Mexico City are topping the list right now.

You'll end up in Coz. Its got everything you required...im looking into the same for the 3 winter months...

 

[Lorenzoid]

You'll end up in Coz. Its got everything you required...im looking into the same for the 3 winter months...

Agree. As I called it, the “Easy Button.” Planting yourself where things are set up to cater to foreigners staying a few weeks or months is easier. Less time spent navigating how to live means more time to just relax and live.

 

[Norwegian Cave Diver]

Slightly off topic - but perhaps important... met a gal who had broken her lower leg or ankle - needed surgery to fix and put in rods and pins. She told us she got a quote for the surgery in Cancun 80,000 pesos. Also got a quote from a hospital in Merida and the price was 25,000 pesos she chose to ride the bus to Merida for the surgery. She said she didn’t have health insurance. Was from the USA.

 

[ontdiver]

We rented a house in Progreso several years ago. It is relatively close to Merida; Mayan sites were a short drive away. But, you really need a car....