Wow! What a wonderful, impressive website. I dove right into reading forum threads and blogs. Thanks everyone for sharing experiences. You've opened my eyes wide to what a treasure the island of Puerto Rico is.
Our story in brief (hopefully). We are a married couple from Long Island, NY. The great suburban life. I retired from teaching in public schools a year ago with a pension and soon-to-come Social Security. My husband, John, is still working and anticipates retiring at the end of 2015. We have owned a timeshare on St. Thomas since the 90s, and our dream was to retire there. However, circumstances have changed and St. Thomas is not our best tropical paradise for retirement. We need to be near medical specialists that are not on St. Thomas. A highly regarded expert in her field has set up in Bayamon, and will visit from Florida once a month. So, we are now seeking a coastal retirement location on the east side of the island that will have us within a decent drive to Bayamon, somewhat like our current commute from central Long Island to Manhattan (hopefully with a lot less traffic than is seen on the Long Island Expressway). .
We've been looking at long term renting in Fajardo or Humacao. Our first instinct is to look for a condo. We are just tired of all the maintenance required with home ownership. Additionally, leaving all family and friends behind, we feel this would be the best way to meet people close to our age and begin a new social life. We are there hopefully for the long haul and look to have a network of friends through our golden years. Palmas del Mar has some beautiful rentals right on the beach, with so many built in amenities. Our thoughts are that having lots of things to do will significantly help any and all efforts to get our kids and other family and friends to visit. I do worry about the financial stability of that huge complex, though. Then again, Fajardo has such an appeal in a community type way in addition to the ability to easily travel to Vieques and Culebra by ferry. Fajardo is also central to other attractions such as the beaches along the northeast shore of the island, the Luquillo kiosks, el Yunque, and a quick trip to points south, like Humacao. We plan to do lots of discovering all over the island. Of course, any decision will depend on what's available to rent in our price range when we are ready to move in.
I can speak and read Spanish effectively, although my vocabulary can use a major boost, which will come. I have difficulty understanding native speakers, as they speak so fast. John has found an on-line website that is teaching him. He's doing rather well, so I'm not worried. I told him to just go find a local coffee shop, and each morning go chat with some local folks over a cafe con leche. He'll get it soon enough.
I'm looking forward to hearing from the wonderful folks who participate in this forum, both on island now and hoping to be soon.
Gerie