Ajijic – An Expat Destination with Training Wheels

We wanted to finish up our time in Mexico by revisiting a favorite destination for us: Puerto Vallarta. Ann had visited multiple times only for a day on cruises, but Ian had spent a week there back in the 1990’s. Since we both liked it so much, it seemed a perfect fit for our trip. And to add to the allure, Southwest Airlines flies out of Puerto Vallarta, and since Ann flies free for the rest of 2018, it was a no brainer. The only issue was that the bus trip from Guanajuato to Puerto Vallarta is twelve hours overnight. Conveniently Guadalajara, the jumping off point for Ajijic and the other Lake Chapala towns, is about half way from Guanajuato to Puerto Vallarta, so we added it in as a stop.

Arrival & Departure
Sorting Out Guadalajara Bus Stations

Guadalajara has three bus stations: the downtown station which is where the local buses from the Lake Chapala area go; a huge station called Nueva Central de Autobus in the suburb of Tonela, from which most of the long distance buses arrive and depart; the third in the suburb of Zapopan on the west side. We have no idea why the local bus doesn’t stop by the station in Tonela since it’s almost on the way, but again, it’s Latin America. Our buses from Guanajuato to Guadalajara and from Guadalajara to Puerto Vallarta arrived and departed from Tonela. Once we arrived, we discovered that Uber was in Guadalajara, and we could arrange a ride to Ajijic without a problem for 292 pesos*. Getting back to the bus station was another story, as pulling up the Uber app, no cars appeared in Ajijic so we needed to arrange another means of return. Our Airbnb host knew a driver, but the cost was 600 pesos. Our other option would have been to take the local bus, then an Uber to the correct bus station, or get off along the highway. Neither appealed, since we didn’t want to risk a repeat of missing the bus, as we did with the plane in Guatemala.

Lake Chapala

Part of the appeal of the Lake Chapala area is its convenience of travel to and from the USA. Twenty hours driving through Mexican states deemed as safe, or Guadalajara is a two to three hour flight from most of the southwestern US. It’s also rated as having one of the best climates in the world, similar to Southern California, with the seasons reversed.

Most expats are going to be primarily interested in the north eastern side of the lake. This area is where six towns are located, from east to west: Jocotepec, San Juan Cosala, Ajijic, San Antonio Tlayacapan, Chapala, and Santa Cruz de la Soledad. Local buses connect all of these towns. Our original plan was to explore all of the towns around the lake, but, as is often the case, plans change.

We wanted to stay between Ajijic and Chapala since Ajijic is ground zero for expat activity and that is what we were here to explore. When we started researching Airbnb’s around the lake, we were a little taken aback by the cost to value ratio.  We were seeing prices higher than in the beach communities. If we wanted to save money, we were going to be going rustic. So we decided to reduce our number of days from 7 to 4. We also opted to stay in a private room rather than a whole apartment to cut down costs. The private room worked out to be great!

Our host, Mary, is a retiree from the Bay Area who has lived in Ajijic for a little less than a year (after having visited previously) and has already developed a large number of friends. The final straw against our exploring agenda was that Ian came down with a digestive issue our second day which meant he was out of commission (a 15 minute walk totally exhausted him) for about 36 hours. So we resolved ourselves to just exploring Ajijic.

Ajijic

Ajijic was first discovered by European artists and intellectuals in 1925 and since then has continued to become more popular, most recently by retirees from north of the border. Ajijic is a small town and has been pushed extensively by the big expat publications. As a result, currently the population, which swells between January and April with snowbirds, is about 60% Mexican and 40% US and Canadian.

Most of the restaurants have English menus and English speaking staff. The upside is that there’s a large selection of international food available. One night we had Thai and another day for lunch had great pasta. We saw a Chinese restaurant but didn’t get a chance to sample, After 8 months away from Southern California, we were definitely missing Asian cuisine. In addition, a Walmart and a large grocery store stock many American staples. Ajijic also has a large selection of doctors and dentists. We both took the opportunity to get our teeth cleaned for $15 each.

Housing in Ajijic

In the last year, rents have gone up and supply has gone down. We window-shopped at a property manager’s office and saw rents listed from $1100 – $1800 per month furnished in the off season. At the Lake Chapala Society, we saw one ad at $795 per month April through November and mid December through mid January. Some of the listings had a three month minimum. Expect even higher prices for the season January to April. A long-term (yearly) rental was listed at $700 a month. For house prices, we saw condos from $135K and most houses seemed to be mid $200’s to 300’s.

Wandering Around Ajijic

Ajijic is very small, easy to walk all the way across in 30-45 minutes. Very peaceful if staying off of the main street (the carretera).

Most streets are cobblestone which while lending character to the town makes walking a bit of a challenge.

The center of town is mixed Mexican and gringos, further west is a predominately Mexican neighborhood. To the east is an upscale neighborhood which reminds us of Palm Springs, but with more trees and no rocks.

One can also stroll along the pleasant concrete paved lakefront malecon.

Wednesday is market day from 10 am -1:30 pm. We had a fun time wandering around the several blocks of local food, produce, clothing, local handicrafts, and other sundries.

Of course, Ajijic has the requisite central plaza and main church.

Lake Chapala Society

One of the unique aspects of Ajijic is the Lake Chapala Society, housed amongst beautiful grounds. This group, in existence since the 1940’s, provides a meeting place with classes and activities for expats, an outreach to the local community, and low cost expat group health insurance. We and our Airbnb host believe that it’s been instrumental in educating foreigners about Mexican culture. The result is an integrated expat community (well, except for perhaps Spanish) that treats their Mexican neighbors with respect.

Restaurant Prices

Restaurant prices are higher than what we saw in Guanajuato. For example, at a local chain called Pollo Feliz (think El Pollo Loco), in Guanajuato a whole chicken costs 65 pesos, whereas in Ajijic, it was 102 pesos. But prices are certainly lower than in the US and perhaps on par with the beach communities we’ve visited. Our meals at both Alex’s Pasta Bar and the Thai restaurant averaged about 130 pesos an entrée.

Conclusions

For us, Ajijic doesn’t provide enough of a foreign experience, one of our key criteria in an expat destination. If we were to return to the area, we would try a town with a more Mexican feel. But for a person who hasn’t traveled extensively or is a little leery of the expat lifestyle, Ajijic does indeed provide an expat experience with training wheels.

*The exchange rate at time of writing was 18.5 Mexican pesos to the US dollar.

Next Up: Puerto Vallarta