Introduction

Hi Jeremy and welcome to Expat.com
I see you're an American; what brought you to Mexico? Are you working there? How long have you been there?
Do share your experience with the lot of us!
Cheers
Arlette

When I was a kid my mom had a natural medicine clinic in San Blas, Nayarit so I came down often for the surfing. I now live in Tepic and have a school there. I may be expannding to the Puerto Vallarta or Mazatlan areas shortly.
Tepic is a very beautiful city surrounded by mountains and is very lush. It is a city but still small enough to where you run into people you know everywhere you go. There are not alot of foreigners there with the exception of the occasional passerby on their way to somewhere else. Tepic has always been known to be super "trankilo".
Unfortunately, I would not recommend travelers to come at this point and time to Tepic due to the increase in violence. There have been 44 executions in the month of July and its not over yet. Number 40 was my dear friend who lost his life needlessy this past sunday. I am giving this warning because gunfights erupt at all times of day and everywhere. I myself have also gotten stuck in a narco-soldier fight where grenades were being thrown. Right now I would advise to avoid Tepic until things cool down.
With that said there are many other beautiful, SAFE, and spectacular places to see in Nayarit. The beaches and surfing are great. The shrimp is amazing here.Places like bucerias, sayulita, chacala, guayabitos, etc.... A beach for everyone. I am more than willing to give a helping hand to anyone that wants information or where some 'secret' beaches are or tropical waterfalls to swim in.

Hi Jeremy, thanks for the information.  I am strongly considering retiring to Tepic in the next couple of years.  Am still in my 50's and want to move where I can have many adventures,hiking, kayaking, etc. and frankly am not as afraid of the narco problems as people here in Texas think I should be.  Alternatives would be to move to Ajijic or likewise, but I'd rather live around Mexicans, not in a gated community of Americans and Canadians. 

Tepic is appealing to me because it seems there is a culture aside from tourists, yes? and also with the altitude, not so hot as Sayulita or Puerto Vallarta.  Could you please tell me how long it takes to drive to the closest major airport, which I am learning is PV?  Apparently Tepic airport has no US connections at all.

Thanks much for your help.  LT

In all reality you can fly into Guadalajara or Vallarta. Both are easy access to Tepic and gives you an option for a cheaper flight depending on where your coming from. By bus from vallarta remember it will be an extra 160-190 pesos. If you fly into vallarta you will see a bridge in front of the airport. Cross the bridge and take a taxi or bus as it is quite a bit cheaper than from the airport to the bus station. Guadalajara is another short taxi ride to the bus station. The bus ticket will be a little more from Guadalajara.
The narcos dont usually mess with Americans. The problem is the gunfights will happen in major shopping centers, driving around town, parks, etc... 13 people were killed not long ago in front of soriana where everyone shops in the middle of the day. Currently its happening almost everyday with multiple deaths everyday. Your chance of being caught in one right now are pretty high. I have been caught in one and have had too many to count happen around me. If you dont scare easily and do decide to come to here I will be more than happy to pass my email. I myself am thinking about renting a place in vallarta for a couple months until it cools down some in tepic and i have been coming here since I was a kid.

Have you thought about San Blas? its not far from tepic and right on the beach. also check out Chacala, Guayabitos, Compostela, Ixtlan Del rio, Bella vista, las varas, santa maria del oro, acaponeta, santiago, mexcaltitlan. All are near tepic with many outdoor activities, not alot of tourism, a little smaller, and you wont have to worry about a gunfight breaking out going to soriana.