¡Hola! And Welcome to Expats in Vallarta

Wayfinder anchored off Potluck Island in the Swimming Pool of the San Blas Islands in Panama

The motivation for Expats in Vallarta came from Sara and Mike Wise’s experiences searching for the perfect place to spend the next chapter of their lives.  After 35+ years in northern Minnesota, they were tired of the harsh winters and wanted to live in a tropical paradise.  They cruised for four years on their boat throughout Central America, South Florida, all the islands of the Caribbean and northern South America searching for the best combination of the following attributes:

  • A significant expat population to be a source of new friends and local information
  • A growing location with a reasonable cost of living
  • A developed and improving infrastructure
  • Accessible and reasonably priced top-quality healthcare
  • A professional real estate environment

Wine & Appetizer at Potluck Island, in the San Blas Islands, Panama

They initially thought Panama was going to work for them and they nearly bought a home in Panama City.  In the process they found and joined the expat group in Panama and discovered it offered the same idea of camaraderie and assistance on land that they had been enjoying in the cruising community on the oceans.  However, for other reasons, Panama did not work out but they never forgot the special feelings they had for the expat group there.

Sara and Mike were cruising from Panama to Alaska to spend the summer of 2008 when they stopped in Vallarta for what they thought would be a short provisioning stop.  They quickly realized Vallarta was something special. After looking into Vallarta (they were pretty good at it by this time because of all the previous countries), it had everything they were looking for including a large expat community, but was lacking an organized expat group. Several months later, after they bought a home and got settled, Sara started ExPats in Vallarta modeled after the expat group in Panama.  A local expat group would have made the process of getting settled easier for them, and they knew the new ExPats in Vallarta  could make things easier for people who came later.

Floating Wine & Appetizer on Wayfinder in the San Blas Islands

Expats in Vallarta was started by Sara and her new expat friend Tish Holloway with a Happy Hour at Cheeky Monkey on the Malecon in July of 2009.  About 65 people attended that first event despite it being the quiet summer season and extremely difficult parking and construction due to a Gloria Estefan concert.

Perhaps something magical happened that first night.  Up until then, an expat moving to Vallarta had to go through the orientation process alone unless they had family or friends in the area.  Regular people had a hard time finding answers to basic questions like “How much does it cost to live here?” and “Where can I find a good doctor?” That night a small group of people from around the world with the same interests and language was formed and bonds were created.

Floating Wine & Appetizer Parking Lot

Over the years, the group has grown dramatically and regularly meets for Happy Hours at local restaurants and for Wine & Appetizer evenings at members’ homes.  Many times close to 200 people have attended the Happy Hours and 40 – 50 have attended the Wine & Appetizer evenings.

Besides the very successful social events (maybe because of them) Expats in Vallarta has received more and more questions from people wanting to tap into the group as a resource as they research moving to Vallarta.  It was suggested that they take what they have created on the ground and build an Online Community to serve even more people interested in Vallarta.  An Online Community could also offer more resources to expats already living in Vallarta.

Wayfinder in the Panama Canal on the way to Vallarta

As the scope of the project has increased, Mike is now helping Sara and they have also recruited the technical expertise of their son, Doug from Connecticut, to help expand Expats in Vallarta to support two groups:

  • People living in the Vallarta area who have been through the process of setting up a life here.
  • People thinking of moving to Vallarta, but not knowing anyone to help them understand the area and answer all the questions they have as they contemplate moving to a new country, many for the first time.

Tish Holloway & Sara Wise

The site is designed to be a place where people with an interest in Vallarta can come together and share information.  It is a tool for people to make new friendships.  We will post articles by local experts in their areas, but for the site to be truly successful and for it to become a true community, it needs input from all the members as everyone has experiences to share.  Look over the Members Profiles and the articles.  If you have questions, post them in the forums.  Our hope is that the veterans will contribute their insights to help the new people realize just why we all believe Vallarta is the best place in the world to live.

Doug, Mike & Sara Wise

Welcome and thanks for visiting!  We’d love to hear from you and your story.

ExPats in Vallarta