Questions About Living At the Ocean -Bahia de Caraquez

Sure I'd love to know more. Cost of apartment rentals (fully furnished 2 BR). Cost of living. Can you live comfortably on $1,500 monthly? Temperatures compared to Salinas. Very much of an expat community? I don't go out much other than to eat so is there anything to do? Any American TV? Computer service. Is it safe?

Yes, I'd love to find out about Bahia de Caraquez. I'm coming to visit in September. I'd like to know what sights to see, about the expat community there. Are there hotels or B&Bs to stay at?  Any suggestions?  Culinary delights?  What do you do during a typical week?  Good medical facilities?  Great suggestion to fly from Guayaquil rather than take a bus or drive to save precious time. I know you can't answer everything at once, but I will look forward to hearing from you answer as your time allows and from others. Thanks for your willingness to share your experiences with us.

OK so furnished 2 bedrooms $400 downtown no view prox. Ocean front $600 to $1000 per month. Once you pay your upfront expenses yes you can live on $1500.  Don't need a car.  Friendly fun expat community here and many more on the way with several new large housing developments going in near here. Fresh foods from the market cheap downtown. Temperatures here 70'to 85' and with the breeze from the Humboldt Current here it stays cooler. Salinas runs warmer maybe 5'. Much drier in Salinas.  We like good soil and trees.  Better growing weather up here.  It is more desert like in Salinas, Cactuses growing there. There is English TV Channels on Direct TV and other TV available with many channels also. You mean internet service? Yes we have internet service here (I'm on it now). Safety good here.  We don't go out at night late just like any other City usually. We're from Seattle where we couldn't go in some areas after dark.  Feel safer here. My 10 year old can play at the park here safely on the Malecon, daytime of course.  Mostly thefts where people aren't being careful here.  In bigger Cities pickpockets and petty robberies ( usually not violent).  Take simple precautions to prevent these crimes.  Don't wave cash around, don't show fancy cameras, laptops etc.  They are likely worth 3 months wages to Ecuadorians.  We feel very safe here!
For Computer repairs there are techs here but may need to go to Manta or Portoviejo (both 1 and 1/2 hours away to the South.)......Charlie

Hello Kim, You'll love Ecuador.  Lots of great food here. Lobster usually inexpensive and fresh! All kinds of Seafood, Fish, Fruit, Vegetables and all fresh!  The meats are simply delicious!  All grass fed beef !00%, Chickens all free range, Menestra (beans with different veggies and different beans.  Shrimp are very delicious.  Lots of Shrimp Farms here (more like prawns).  All other kinds of Seafood and ceviches.  Fresh fruit drinks abound here.  Limes, oranges, Blackberries, watermelons, all freshly squeezed.  Sights to see all over the Country.  The Rain Forests, Galapagos Islands,The beautiful Pacific Coastline, Otavalo and Cotacochi handmade Crafts galore.  Saturdays Market in Otavalo is the largest open air market in the Andes. Cuenca the Colonial City. There are B and B's and Hotels here and in all major Cities. We play at the Ocean, Beachwalk, Walk the city and chat with locals and expats.  There are several expats here and in most major Cities.  We shop at the fresh market for all fresh foods in the mornings. Since we live at the Ocean we watch the Sunsets over the Water, very nice. There are several festivals, expat meetings,sports to play,parties, nice neighbors to visit with, we have TV, Movies are cheap to buy on CDs $1.50 each.  Shopping. Nice museum here. Much to go and explore in all directions. Water to the west of course. Medical Facilities here in Town a Small Hospital/Clinic.  Manta and Guayaquil bigger. Excellent care and very cheap. Doctor visits in home $20.00 .  Dentists the same very cheap. Laid back lifestyle here. Tranquility very important. All kinds of water Sports here!  Look us up when you come here for a drink or a meal . Bedtime more later. Charlie

Thanks Charlie, much appreciated.

It's so great to read how much you obviously love living in Ecuador. I can't wait. Eventually moving to Ecuador, and hopefully Bahia de Caraquez, is all about living a simple lifestyle and enjoying the simple pleasures of life. That is what I am looking for.

A few more questions ... So much to learn. Are there any English speaking Protestant churches in Bahia?  Would you recommend a place to stay in Bahia?  Do you own or rent in Bahia?  Do you have a car or do you take taxis/buses?  Is Bahia laid out so you can walk most places during the day or is it too spread out? I am assuming Bahia is a smaller city. Maybe I should go to Wikipedia for stats.

Thanks for sharing your enthusiasm, Charlie.

What's not to love? Don't know of any English Speaking Churches here. Ecuador is 85% Catholic and there are many events and festivals here all the time.
Places to stay depend on what you want. There are Hostels, Hotels, Apartments, Condos. Houses for rent are hard to find. We live in a Condo., on the Malecon, renting for now.  We are building a house just north of here in Canoa (15 minutes north of here) on the Ocean next year.  As far as rentals , they change daily here.  Best to wait til you are here or almost here to rent Condos etc. For short term Hostels and Hotels are always available depending on your budget. There are taxis and pedicabs, as well as buses between towns.  We have a used car as we tend to travel up and down the Coast.  We checked the Ocean from Salinas to Rio Verde north of Esmereldas before we settled on Bahia and now Canoa.  Since we end up driving a lot we chose a car after renting for 3 months last year(pricey rental).  You won't need one here in town.  You can walk just about everywhere.  Or even between towns taxis and pedicabs are cheap. To Manta or Portoviejo buses are also cheap.  Bahia is a small town.  Several large developments going in though will add many to population. Many people here go out and walk around dusk each night or to shoppping daily.  Bahia is an Eco-City, no Motorized Pedicabs they are bikes with pedals.  The cabs are cars though LOL.
We escaped the rat race and I keep fighting to not have that Joker Smile on my face with the permanent smile lines.  Lifes Simple Pleasures yes Kim that describes this place perfectly.
Last night we went out for hamburgers with fries(papas) $2.50 per person $3.00 including our drinks.  Our Ice Cream (freshly made) across the street sundaes were $2.25 for 3 scoops each.  It is Sunny today should be about 85' or so. So nice here when we start with the Sun!  The Ocean and Breeze are so inviting and welcoming every day! You are welcome Kim . I am afraid the enthusiasm is catching though as we see it on most faces here, locals and expats!  Enjoy learning about Ecuador, we looked for a couple years before we settled on Ecuador.  Much to learn and see here! The reasons we settled here are many!  Climate, Friendliest people in South America,Food, prices, Land at the Ocean at reasonable prices compared to other Central and South American Countries, Easy to get Visas, Overall quality of Life.  International Living a well known and respected publication has rated Ecuador the Worlds #1 Retirement Destination for 6 years in a row! There are many reasons!  Come see, come enjoy, come relax.............Buenos Dias (Good day or good morning) and Greetings from Beautiful relaxing Bahia de Caraquez Ecuador........Charlie

Hi Charlie,

Really good detail on the good about Bahia de Caraquez.  We might have to check it out.  Salinas would be too much desert for us - don't like AZ - we live north of Seattle.

Hope this doesn't sound too cynical and please don't take it personally, but I have to ask if you have any interests or stand to gain $$ in any way from expats moving to BdC?  E.g.  own rentals, own property other than what you live in, have any relationship with others in the real estate business.

Sorry - I grew up in the time of "waterfront" properties sold in Florida that were in the middle of the Everglades (swamp water only and unbuildable).  Also, it seems that boosterism of areas to retire to seems to be a growth industry in Ecuador.

If not - thanks for the good info.  And, regardless, it sounds like a good place to consider.  You obviously are a huge fan.

Joe

Charlie you are a wealth of info. Thanks!   Since Bahia is so"green" do they recycle  old container from ships into houses? Is it just as expensive as building a regular home?

Joe, Thats no way to treat an ex-Seattleite, LOL.  In truth it seems that there is almost no one here that isn't trying to make a living somehow, unless they have great retirement money already coming in. Yes we are involved with Property Development here in Ecuador.  If anyone is interested we will send you the information about what we are involved with.  Many of our friends are building developments here as well.  It's hard not to be involved with tourism, property, or somehow helping the flood of Baby Boomers coming here.  We started off just trying to  find a location we could buy or build at here.  We found that when we returned in February, the prices here were already inflating from a year ago. There aren't too many locations that were affordable for the average person who lost their home equity, businesses , jobs, pensions, etc. and need a lower priced home here and to live as inexpensively as possible.  And since I am not at retirement age quite yet, we needed an income here. We Teach a Super Thinking/Super Spanish Class (3 days). This gets communication started in Espanol.  We also found very affordable Oceanfront Land in Canoa and yes we decided for many reasons to get involved in developing it.  Our number one goal is still and will be to help people find affordable housing.  Also a nice comfortable relaxing and inexpensive place to retire and or for Families to live. So if anyone wants the details click on my name and send me a private Email. I'll send you the information on our Project. I really do enjoy just helping people and whether anyone does any business with us or not we are having a great time just meeting and helping fellow Boomers down here!  It's a lot of fun! And the people and place bring out such a fun atmosphere here. So Joe, yes we do have business interests here and yet I really enjoy helping and sharing with you here.  So you will love Ecuador and probably will like it up north here better if you are from the Pacific NW. Trees are nice as is good soil.  Charlie

Marion, It seems they mostly recycle tired North Americans here.  LOL.  Not sure about old Ships, Manta is where they build ships around here, but the Captains may find a good nest here.  Well have a great day.  You are more than welcome Marion...... Buenos Dias (good day) Charlie

Charles,
My husband is an avid fisherman and a custom rod maker. Will he be able to feed his fishing monkey in Bahia de Caraquez? We currently live on  the southern coast of Georgia. Also, I am a CNA ( nursing assistant). What is employment like in the area? Look forward to hearing from you.
Carol Rae

Hello Carol Rae, Fishing is plentiful here. Ecuador is for Entrepreneurs (spelling?). Custom rods might work here to expats and higher wage locals.  Wages for nurses assts. here very low compared to US.  Many opportunities fro business here though. Charlie

ok not fro for   lol  Charlie

Thank you for the quick response. I'm sure I'll be bugging you a lot more shortly.
Carol Rae

Hi Charlie,
Thanks for the info on your business interests.  It always helps me to make informed decisions for further research and follow through.  I hope a real estate bubble doesn't get started there where real estate inflation feeds on itself as investors come in and others feel like they have to get on the gravy train and prosper.  Nothing wrong in doing so - so long as everyone knows what is happening.  It does tend to raise prices based on speculation rather than on "real" market forces.  The US is still trying to dig out of the last real estate bubble here. 

You are right in that we would prefer the more temperate weather in Cuenca, or Loja, or Bahia de Caraquez.  Rain and clouds are OK with us so long as the temperature is moderate (like here) and it doesn't pour rain much of the time.  B de C sounds like the weather is lovely.
Thanks for your info.  Joe

Finally I found a forum where I hope I can get help with my questions that will help me make descions! I am so curios of Ecuador! But some things need to be clear for me before I can make final desicions. Visa.. I am a freelance writer and I have to rely on tourist visa for a while so I wonder about that. I have read that you can enter and stay for 3 months, then you can pay and get another 3 months, but then you have to leave the country. That is no problem, but after that. Can I enter the country again and repeate the same again? I read that in Bolivia I think it was, you can just stay in the country for six months during a period of one year, which makes it very hard if you like to live there.
My second question, I first had some ideas of going to Palawan in the Philippines but when doing some research it seems like some people going there get very bothered by roosters and packs of dogs roaming around everywhere and make it hard for people to sleep..and motorbikes..and I am very sound sensitive...so that scares me. So I wonder about noise in Equador? What I remember from Nicarauga there were not many motorbikes at all. Not too bad with roosters either. This has likely to do as well if it is densely or more scarcely populated. And sure, even in Sweden it can be very noisy in some areas, so what I am asking for is noise in general..if it is possible to get away from the hussle and bussel. I would like to live more in nature if possible, but if that is not possible to start with, at least in the outskirts of some smaller place.
Seems to be many nice people in this forum!
Cheers Anna

Hello Anna, Welcome to the Expat Forum.  Where we live there are Roosters living behind us.  And there aren't wild dogs, but our neighbors have dogs that seem intent on barking quite a lot of the time.  As far as other noises, we do have the Ocean Waves coming in , but we find them quite comforting and soothing.  Since we have chosen to live at the Ocean. And oh yes the Motorbikes and Scooters yes we have them.  There are areas where you will not have the dogs and roosters.  Mostly the gated communities will not allow dogs , roosters and motorbikes to bother the Home Occupants.  We live on the Malecon now and there are motorbikes at night.
  We are building a new home north of Canoa where none of these activities will be allowed, including no animals in the neighborhoods.  All animals will be in barns, and or the farming areas.  In these types of developments there will be homes for rent by the owners who are either investing to rent or only here part of the year.  There will be no loud noises allowed after a certain hour.  Travel will be limited to keep the noise down after a certain hour.  There are some areas where you can be away from the noises you refer to.  It may depend on how close you want to be to town etc.
Visas are available here for work, or if you have a College Degree a professional visa,  pension, and investment visas.  Only $25,000.00 is needed for the investment visa, but it must be permanently invested.  Upon attaining Citizenship , after 3 years of being a resident you can withdraw your investment.  Please keep in mind that the rules can change at any time.  And they do frequently.  Once you have your Pensioners visa for example you can only be out of the Country for 3 months per year for 2 years.
So it depends on what you are looking for.  For a temporary visit , yes 3 months , plus 3 months extension.  I recommend looking at the Ecuador Government site to look at all the rules for the visas.  It is in Spanish.  There are various scenarios for each type of visa and visit to Ecuador.  Each person's needs are different so good luck.  We personally have found the positives here far outweigh any negatives.  Hope I helped you.  Feel free to contact me if we can be of further assistance.  Charlie

Hi Charlie,
thanks for your very quick and informative reply. Very much appreciated! It seems like I can escape the noise..and the waves are no noise for me! No birds, not thunder, not the ocean, not the rain, these natural sounds are just wonderful. I know roosters are natural..but something went wrong with the creation for roosters :-) and dogs as well...but not with frustrations in packs roaming around. Otherwise I love dogs and like to have a few myself, but mine will not bark :-)
I think the visa is the tricky issue for me for the moment, there doesn't seem to be any good option right now, I can't afford the investment visa until later on.. so I have to wait. Maybe live in another Latin American country until my situation has changed.
Wish you all the best.
Anna

Anna , If you have a degree from a College, you should look at the Professional Visa.  No investment required.  How long are you looking to stay here?  The 6 months isn't enough?  Also the work visa if you are coming here to work. They are good for a year.  Are you thinking permanent here? Happy to help if I can.  Charlie

You are very nice Charlie!!!
I have a bachelor degree from the university. Well, if I like to live long term and rent a place it doesn't work so well with only 6 months. If I just had to cross the border, or be away three days as in some other countries, that wouldn't be any problem, but not for longer. As a freelance writer you never get a working visa, I have to hang around on tourist visa usually. In Indonesia I had what they call a social visa which was ok.
Cheers Anna

Anna , Thank you for that. Try the professional visa, which you qualify for with your degree.  Check the details, I saw you have the website.  It is different from the work visa.  Charlie

In order to get the Professional Visa you first have to find out if your degree can be convalidated here in Ecuador.

The Senescyt is the goverment's office in charge of this.Once they tell you it can be convalidated and make it valid in Ecuador you can apply for a Professional Visa. You have to demonstrate you can earn enough income to live in the country.

Vinny

NatureAnna wrote:

I think the visa is the tricky issue for me for the moment, there doesn't seem to be any good option right now, I can't afford the investment visa until later on.. so I have to wait. Maybe live in another Latin American country until my situation has changed.

you might want to consider Guatemala (if you're prepared to deal with the violence issue). I've checked out Quetzaltenango (Xela) and others here recommend Antigua and Lake Atitlan.

The visa is only 90 days (I think) but can be endlessly renewed with border runs. From Xela it's only a few hours by bus to the Mex border -- you cross the bridge, maybe do some shopping, then walk back across (or so I'm told).

You mentioned Palawan earlier. I currently live in the Philippines (Cebu City). Yes, it's noisy here, in general, but it's not that difficult to find quieter areas. My sleep is never disturbed by roosters, dogs, or motorcycles, although I live in the center of the city. I'm sure you could find a quiet part of Palawan, which is much less densely-populated than here. My neighbor recommends Palawan highly. Are you thinking of Puerto Princesa?

Thank once again Charlie, I will look into this.

Thanks Vinny for the complementary information!
Now I know how it works and what opportunites there are.
Great forum with you nice people who are so open and willing to help out.
Wish you both Charlie and Vinny a wonderful day!

Still living and loving it here in Bahia.  We currently have a delightful Canadian friend here visiting us. She is from Vancouver BC area.  Hard to beat the relaxing peace of mind , kind people and Ocean comforts we have here.  Looking forward to all the great visitors coming here to the Coast this Summer from North America!! Amazing what Sunshine, Ocean, A breeze, Destressing, fresh foods , kind people and a fun easy lifestyle will do for you!!! Charlie

Dear Kim K,

There i an English protestant church in Bahia.

That's so good to know.  Thank you.  I will make a point of visiting when we go on our scouting trip.  Thanks again!

wanderingbears wrote:

Doctor visits in home $20.00. Dentists the same very cheap.

Really? Dentists who make house calls? This I gotta see!
(Sorry, couldn't resist !)

What's the humidity like? Was it difficult getting used to a higher humidity than Seattle?

If you've ever been to FL, how does it compare?
I would love to find a warm coastal community that doesn't feel like a steambath!

Do you sweat in the shade?
Mold in your closets?
I've heard that in coastal areas (not just in Ecuador), the salt in the air will rust your vehicles, and eat up your electronic components in about 2 years. Any experiences like that? (You may have to ask your neighbors, in case you haven't been there that long yet.) Those wouldn't dissuade me from coming, but I'd like to know what others do to help prevent that.

And I have to ask, since you've mentioned all the new developments being built and the "flood" of ex-pats; aren't you concerned about your quality of life there? It would worry me greatly if I moved to a nice, quiet town to suddenly see development all around me, no matter where in the world I lived.

The more ex-pats there are, the higher the prices go, and so much development in such a short time span stresses the infrastructure  (services, traffic, etc), especially in Latin America, where developers are not required to help build up/improve the infrastructure their building has pushed to the breaking point.

It's kind-of an open secret that Latin American communities heavy on ex-pats are often a more negative experience--when there are so many it's hard to avoid those complainers who want to compare everything to the way it was "back home", are patronizing to the locals, and have no need to learn Spanish.

Don't get me wrong, I'd love to find a place where none of this was true. It's just that about half of what you've presented here about Bahia de Caraquez, thinking they were positives, sound like big negatives to me.

Hi Charlie, all very good material & thanks.
I noted in one of the comments that a car was leased ( too pricey) & then one was purchased to aid in your coastal searching.
Curious as to costs to buy a solid later model used car. Small to mid sized 4 or 6 cylinder, lastly did you convert or apply for your Ecuadorian license??

Ok so no the dentists don't make house calls.  But Doctors do.  The humidity is not higher here than Seattle.
We have been to Florida and Miami is unbearable (sorry for the pun), Absolutely no comparison.  Have had tough nights in Guayaquil and Portoviejo, hot and sweaty.... yuck.  When it gets hot here I sweat from the heat , not used to it.  Humidity is fine.  The breeze is very cooling and soothing and blows all the time.
Any Ocean environment will have rust and corrosion from salt air.  I must say that the Humboldt Current which supplies our breeze is a low salination current.  We do not have the usual salty smell in the air for example.  The new developments are north and south of town about 20 to 30 minutes each way.  Bahia is so small that we can easily add more residents without changing our laid back life here. 
Our President here in Ecuador had the foresight to build up all the infrastructure here before the developments came.  Roads, Electrical Grid, Schools, Hospitals, Fiber Optic Cables, Etc have all been upgraded tremendously.  The Road in front of the whole Coast is almost new.  Just finishing now.  There are articles on this I can forward to you if you are interested. 
As far as the patronizing stuff we haven't seen it here.  The only places I have heard that are in other larger Cities. 
I noticed you are interested in moving to Mexico,  have you changed your thinking to Ecuador?
I heard they raised the minimum to $1800 per month or $195,000 for visas there.

I strongly suggest rather than rely on other peoples opinions of an area like mine you check it out for yourself.  I am trying to give people a glimpse of life here and what our impressions of life here are.  You really need to see for yourself.  We love it here and have no reason to try to  make claims that aren't true in our opinions. 
Life is easy here and you can breathe here.  It is beautiful and relaxing here.  Come see for yourself!
Still Living It and Loving It here in Bahia, Ecuador
Charlie

TF Pob, Thanks for the compliments!!
Used Cars down here about $20 to $30 thousand depending on what you want,model year etc.  One of my last tasks is the Ecuadorian License.  I have an international license which lasts for one year.  Will be getting Ecuadorian one soon though.  Checking on it just this week.
Full insurance cost me $900 for a year, for 2006 Nissan Xtrail.
Happy to help.
Living It And Loving It here in Bahia, Ecuador.
Charlie

Hi Charlie,

We are a few years away from retirement just yet (I think; things could change) and can't afford to globetrot at the moment. So I'm doing all the research I can--excavating, digging, and collecting--on our possibles so that we can apply our travel dollars more wisely.

Right now the possibles are Mexico, Colombia, and Ecuador. (The Mexican retirement visa requirement is higher, BTW; $2500 per person or $3000 per couple.)

I'm presently leaning more toward Colombia and Ecuador.
That could change at any moment

You sure make Bahia sound wonderful. Thanks for the info and yes, please, PM me the articles (or post the links if they are online.)

One can never have too much information.

Tks Chs, you're veritable fountain of data.

If you are thinking of Ecuador, the Coast for a possible destination I thought I would share my morning's experience with you.  While waiting for my wife to go to the fresh food market this morning, suddenly a lady appeared with my wife here in our Condo.  She was carrying Fresh Fish and Fresh Crab.  She was carrying  knives and a scale to weigh it.  My wife told me she saw her selling fresh seafood and brought her home to sell us some!  It was Wahoo and she fileted several steaks for us and it was $4.00 per lb. So we bought $20.00 worth or so and several fresh steaks to eat.  Then the Blue Crab already packaged in a plastic container, cleaned ,and ready to eat(Also cooked)  It amounted to 12 crabs total, just the meat for $10.00.  So about $.80 per Crab!!
We love seafood and fresh can't be beat!! The variety of Fresh Seafood here is incredible!!  There are 5 varieties of Crab here.
Blew me away when she walked in with a scale and knives to filet it and weigh it for us.  Wow I am in Seafood Heaven here.  Just wanted to share with you all here on the Expat Forum.  What a rough life gees!!!
Living It and Loving It here in Bahia de Caraquez (The Bay of Caraquez .)
Enjoy your day everyone !!1 Charlie

Hi,

Ive read what you have said and it sounds great... I am wondering what the job situation for a english speaking person is there. I do some handyman work, pro painter, however I really want to make sure I care for kiddos in some way at least part time. Ive worked with foster care (group home) and would love to do that however mostly I do after school care and or live-in nanny... You say there is no need for a car.. I love to ride a bike is it safe around there and the beaches? Ive also worked in some of the food industry cooking.. What type of work can I find? Is it difficult? Are there other english speaking expats that are hiring? Is there short term rentals like 3 month on up? (just in case it does not work out lol)... How is the networking there?

Thank you so much for the thread its so cool!
Ron

wanderingbears wrote:

Temperatures here 70'to 85' and with the breeze from the Humboldt Current here it stays cooler.

What is the temperature range at night?

65 at night now.  Usually runs about 70 at night. Enjoy!
Living It and Loving It in Bahia Ecuador.
Charlie