At home, things are shifting.
My partner went back to college as a mature student three years ago. It was a decision that felt both bold and slightly unsettling at the time. Last week, he graduated. The finish line has reared its head, and with that comes the inevitable question of “what next?”
We’ve already built a life on the coast. We’re in Bucerías now, and before that we spent several years in Puerto Vallarta. So, were we to make a move, it wouldn’t be about dissatisfaction.
We may stay exactly where we are if the opportunities present themselves, but if going is what we do, we’d rather be prepared than blindsided. We want to fully understand our options before they become urgent, rather than scrambling when a decision could be made for us by an offer too promising to turn down.
We have a list of places that may fit the bill, and I’ll introduce you to them over the coming weeks. We visit each with a question hanging quietly in the background. Could we live here? To answer that question, we’re looking at cost of living, grocery prices, healthcare, infrastructure and accessibility to airports.
The case for Manzanillo
Manzanillo has been on our list for a while. Not in some dreamy, romantic way, but something a bit more practical than that. Work opportunities. A different pace. A city that, on paper, might make sense.
But neither of us has spent any real time there, and there’s only so much you can understand without walking the streets yourself. Without sitting somewhere long enough for the place to settle around you.
So that’s exactly what we did.
The walkability stood out immediately. The infrastructure, too. Those first impressions matter more than you think, especially when you’ve lived in places where you’ve had to work around them.
Sidewalks that actually exist and continue. Roads that are clearly marked and, more importantly, maintained. Crossings that don’t feel like a near-death gamble. Manzanillo felt like a city that functions in a way that quietly smooths day-to-day routines.
That makes an enormous difference when considering a place you visit as a place you can live.
The cost of living in Manzanillo
Affordability, for us anyway, isn’t something we discuss in a vague sense of can we afford a movie next Thursday, but more in a sit-down-and-do-the-maths kind of way.
Manzanillo isn’t the cheapest place we’ve visited in Mexico, largely because it’s a working port with consistent economic activity, but it hasn’t reached the price levels of more tourism-driven coastal cities. Especially when talking about the broader cost of living, like the accumulation of those small, everyday expenses that define how easy or difficult life feels over time.
Compared to Puerto Vallarta and Bucerias, there’s a noticeable shift. Eating out costs were more reasonable. Groceries felt manageable. Even imported items, the small things that quietly matter over time, came in at a lower cost than where we are now.
You won’t find everything you’ll find in a tourist town, but you’ll find enough. And that “enough” becomes important when you’re thinking long term.
When home is a blend of places (for us, Mexico, the U.S. and England), you don’t necessarily need full replication, but you do need touchpoints like familiar ingredients and the occasional comfort meal. It provides you with a sense that you haven’t completely stepped away from everything you knew before.
Manzanillo offers that, albeit in a quieter, less polished way.
Finding a house and home
But housing is where the conversation really shifted from hypothetical to real. Rents were in the double-digit percentages less expensive than here in the Bay of Banderas.
We aren’t looking for a condo. That part is non-negotiable. We have pets, and my mum comes to stay with us for a few months each year. We need space! Nothing excessive or luxurious, just enough to live without feeling like we’re constantly adjusting around the limits of a property and each other.
A three-bedroom house. A bit of outdoor space. Somewhere that feels like a home, not a temporary setup. And this is where Manzanillo became genuinely interesting.
Because those options exist. Not everywhere, and not always in the most obvious locations, but they’re there. Houses that are still within reach financially in places where we didn’t automatically feel pushed into vertical living because that’s all that’s left.
Compared to Puerto Vallarta and the wider Riviera Nayarit, where prices have climbed steadily and space often comes at a premium, Manzanillo still offered a bit of breathing room.
You might have to look a little harder. You might need to compromise on proximity to the beach or certain amenities. But the trade-off feels possible, not prohibitive.
Looking at neighborhoods and health care
We spent time exploring neighbourhoods with that in mind. Not just where looks nice for a few days but where would work on a Tuesday morning. Where we’d walk the dogs. Where my mum would feel comfortable staying for three months, not just visiting for a week.
Healthcare was one of those practical checks we made early on. Manzanillo has a mix of public and private clinics, a few hospitals with emergency services, and several well-stocked pharmacies. More than enough to cover routine care, prescriptions and most urgent needs.
For specialist care or advanced procedures, larger hospitals and more specialist clinics in bigger cities are reachable by road, which is important for us to factor in. Overall, the medical options felt credible and accessible rather than sparse.
Travel and accessibility
When it comes to airports and travel links, Manzanillo surprised us with convenience. The city is served by a local airport close to town with flights that connect to major hubs. For wider international options, it’s straightforward to reach larger airports a few hours’ drive away. That accessibility matters to us, and it made the idea of living there feel less isolated than I’d initially assumed.
When it comes to things to do, Manzanillo is quieter, and that’s something we had to be honest about. There are beaches, cinemas, shopping centers, golf courses and everyday conveniences. But it’s not at all built around constant entertainment.
This isn’t a city trying to impress you at every turn. It’s not curated in the way some coastal destinations are. But there’s variety and enough local spots and international options to keep things interesting.
You’re not overwhelmed with choice, but you’re not lacking either. And in terms of daily life, that balance can be more sustainable. That’s a shift from somewhere like Puerto Vallarta, where it’s easy to step into an existing rhythm of social scenes, events and a steady flow of activity.
A sense of place
Manzanillo felt more grounded; more local. The pace was different. Slower in some ways, and more consistent in others. And whether that works depends entirely on what you want.
We found ourselves talking about that, often without realizing it. Not in structured conversations, but in passing comments. While walking. Sitting somewhere. Driving between neighborhoods.
Could we build a life here that feels full, even in the quieter months? Would we miss the energy of where we are now, or would we settle into something calmer without noticing the difference?
Somewhere in the middle of all of that, I realized something I hadn’t expected.
I felt alive there. And I genuinely don’t think it had anything to do with adrenaline. It was more in a quieter sense. A kind of steady, comfortable awareness.
The allure of the ‘new’
I wasn’t pushing against the place or adjusting myself to fit into it. I was just … there. Moving through the day without friction, noticing things without effort, and feeling present in a way that can be surprisingly rare.
Maybe it was because it was new. That’s always possible. New places can sharpen your senses, make everything feel a little more vivid.
Or maybe it was something else. Because alongside that aliveness, there was also a sense of ease that didn’t feel temporary. And that combination of feeling both settled and awake at the same time isn’t something I’ve felt everywhere, even after years of living in Mexico.
For a moment, it felt like home. Not definitively, and not in a way that answers every question yet. But enough to recognize the feeling when it appeared. And that’s stayed with me.
Is this going to be our new home?
Manzanillo didn’t try to sell itself to us. It didn’t lean into charm or try to distract from its more industrial side. It simply presented itself as it is. A working city that functions well, offers a reasonable cost of living, and still allows for a kind of space (both physical and mental) that’s becoming harder to find in more established destinations.
By the end of our time there, the question hadn’t been answered completely. But it had changed. It was no longer “could we live here?” in an abstract sense. It became: “Could we choose this kind of life?”
And I think that’s a much more useful place to be.
We didn’t leave with a decision. That’s still tied to so many other factors like work opportunities, timing, the moving parts that come with change and factoring in the pros and cons of everywhere on our list.
But we left with clarity, and with the understanding that if Manzanillo becomes the next step, it won’t be a reaction or a compromise. It’ll be something we’ve considered properly. Something we’ve walked through, quite literally, one street at a time.
Charlotte Smith is a writer and journalist based in Mexico. Her work focuses on travel, politics, and community. You can follow along with her travel stories at www.salsaandserendipity.com.
