Where to retire?

[JohnN]

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?

 

[drrich2]

You mentioned Curacao; is cheap shore diving important? If so, that may reduce your options quickly. In the Caribbean, right on down to Bonaire (probably too small to live on long term for some), Curacao (sounds good from what I hear to visit; don't know about living there), Grand Cayman (expensive) and St. Croix. There may be others, but they don't leap to mind.

What else do you guys do? Does she need a big shopping mall? What are your hobbies?

Richard.

 

[oldschoolto]

I picked Bonaire... Starting to shut down the working part and starting on the retire part... I figure 2 years to do it fulltime...

Jim...

 

[vincent54]

Bocas del Toro, Panama

 

[knotical]

For many years we planned to retire to the Cayman – English speaking, low taxes, low crime, good medical care, short trip to the US – but then my wife got a job in Hawaiʻi ...
Our second choice was Belize.

 

[JamesBon92007]

I'm going to Costa Rica in August to check that out. Belize is also on my list of possible places--I'll probably go there this year too. Everyone talks about how expensive it is to live in Hawai'i but when I was there a few years ago (Maui) everything diving-related was cheaper than in Southern California. In Costa Rica "Pensionados" are simply required to have an income (pension, social security, etc.) of $600/mo or more and that gets you lots of discounts and perks, and, from what I have read, near-citizen status. Of course I have to check out the diving there first

 

[JamesBon92007]

Just want to add that Costa Rica has a reputation for an excellent health care system.

 

[drrich2]

"A non-US location is what we're looking for."

Why? Might be useful to know.

Will there be anyone or anything 'back home' (or wherever) you need to visit from time to time? Adult children, grand children, etc...?

We still need to know whether you're mainly about shore or boat diving, and whether you plan to dive occasionally, or want to dive 'on the spur of the moment' off & on but often.

For example, consider 2 recommended options; Curacao vs. Belize. The former has shore diving, and should have pretty easy spontaneous access. Go grab yourself a couple of rental tanks & head to a shore site, or see about booking a boat dive the day before. Belize is a country, not just an island. You got rainforest, Mayan ruins, road access to drive to Mexico, etc... Sounds sweet. But the best diving is not off the mainland.

Are there many U.S. ex-pat.s living in Belize where scuba diving is a big part of their activity? Anybody know how they go about it?

Put another way, if you need to fly out to one of the islands (Keys) or book a live-aboard trip to do the diving you'd want to do, is living there going to be as big an advantage as you're looking for? I don't know how a 'dive retirement in Belize' looks, but I'd like to find out.

Richard.

 

[RJP]

I've got my sights set on Tortola in the BVI's.

 

[Kharon]

I'm retired now but a long trip including Tuamotu, somewhere in Fiji and a long stay in New Zealand to see if I want to move there (kiwiland). It ranks 4th in a list of least corrupt government (USA ranked 16th), it's green, has none of the deadly buggers that Oz has, and (I've heard) has really good diving.