Some non-housing related things:

(1) Car insurance: I know I will need to get it, but anyone have recs for companies to work with?

(2) iPhone: I'm going to have to pay out of my contract Can I bring my iPhone 4 to a cell place and just have service with them? Any recs in general regarding getting a cell phone down there?

(3) Health insurance? No clue where to even start

Speaking of food,if you want some bomb pizza D'Angelos is the best I've had. I havn't really found a good mexican restaurant yet.(Prob because I know now I prefer "tex mex").

Also, either Burger King has gotten really good recently, or mexican burger kings are the best ever.

Does D'Angelos deliver?

TY!

1. there's a million car insurance companies. max is like 200/yr for liability, i think full full full coverage is like 500.

2. you can't cancel your contract without paying a fee, if that's what ur asking?
u can't just bring an iphone and put a sim card in it and it works
u CAN get it unlocked
really leave your iphone 4 at your house. That's one thing that mexicans don't have, is iphone 4's. damn I only have iphone 3, i'll rob you if nobody else wants to. It does you almost no good down here anyways, as data plans are unfeasibly expensive. burner phones are 20 bucks.

3. I know nothing about politics, but isn't it free healthcare all over the world besides america?

ok.....few tips for you guys

best pizza in tj is called tony's new york pizza...its in tijuana....trust me its worth driving there for it..

meat: don't buy it at grocery stores..find a couple local carnicera's (meat shops) in your neighborhood....take a look around..pick the one out of the two or three you see that has the best quality..you'll be fine.

on the occasions that you are in san diego, you can also shoot to von's and pick up w/e

JD

I found a PPO plan on ehealthinsurance.com - Anthem/Blue Cross, $750 deductible and $35 copay for $64ish/month. I know there is public healthcare in Mexico but since I don't know the ins and outs yet I'm just going to get coverage.

You can use your unlocked Iphone4 with TelCel. 10gb of data is like $60/month.

Definitely thinking hard about it. Proximity to San Diego is nice because I can rent a car for the weekend in SD and drive home to see friends and family.

Awesome, thanks. I'll definitely be eating out, just like to cook my own a lot.

Sure I'll start something soon and it'll be a community effort from there on out that hopefully gets utilized/progresses into something.

To anyone interested a bunch of us have been meeting up a lot lately and we are all going down to Le Cousteau (SP?) a very nice French restaurant this Thursday night. I think there's about eight of us in so far. Its probably some of the highest quality food that exists in Rosarito and will cost ~$15-35/p depending on how crazy you get. One cool thing is they accept credit cards here too. Just PM me if you are interested.

this was the dealmaker for me also.

US car insurance doesn't cover you in Mexico I guess? I assume then you need two policies, one for US and one for Mexico?

The government only recognizes insurance companies authorized to conduct business in Mexico and it's a felony to have anything less than liability coverage.

It's a felony in Mexico? What do people do who drive down for a day or weekend?

There is a bunch of car insurance places on the way to Mexico that offer short term policies for 50 bucks ish for a visit.

a good friend of mine runs a mexican car insurance place... i'm not getting any kickbacks (i promise) and if you are interested I can get anyone in touch with him.

Just got down here a few days ago and have gotten everything setup. For those of you sweating the insurance? There are quite a few places down here to setup insurance and most of them will speak English and make the process very easy. I set mine up today in 30minutes..once you get down here shoot me a pm and I can give you directions to the place I used. Really enjoying everything so far and now just waiting on Stars! Send me a PM if you have any questions and Ill try and help. GL to everyone making the move.

We were also told that Some US insurance companies still provide the insurance if you are within 50 miles of US border, which we are...so maybe check on that as well. I have state farm and don't think it applies, but not positive. Another guy that had traveler's is covered though.

random link for mexi car insurance: http://www.bordermex.net/admin/quali...portal/qq.aspx

I think we got what would equate to 'full territory'...which may not have been the best idea but I'm sure I'll drive to ensenada sometimes. Similar prices to what we paid here at a local company.

Those of you without cars, especially those not living walking distance to downtown, how do you find it there? Easy enough to grab taxis to get places? Do you really miss it?

Yes it's a felony in Mexico. Not sure what they do, maybe this explains all the stories of American drivers being heckled by police?

If you don't have a car, Id suggest getting a place near downtown. But cabs are everywhere, I think they make up like 30% of the cars on the road. Not to mention theres a ton of buses that go up and down the streets too.

How is the asphalt in Rosarito and are there any roads with steepish grade? Longboarding is my main hobby and I'd like to continue when I leave. I've seen some promising pictures but would like first hand knowledge.

keep me posted on this, its been awhile, but i can see dusting off the longboard for sure.

Someone mentioned credit cards. I assume you can use them in in most places correct? Grocery, utilities, department stores, restaurants, cell phones etc..????

Also what is the least you can open a bank account for? can you withdraw some out once opened and approved with stars?

For cruising around town...ehhh nothing is really smooth...depending on where you live you might have a cobblestone and torn up asphalt free section where you can skate to the corner store or something, but in general streets anywhere in latin america are unsuitable for skating

The cool thing is cops don't give a ****. Bombing hills in LA keeps you on your toes for cops...but here if you find a good hill u can bomb it all day and won't be bothered.

I know there's a 50k bike race from here to ensenada....that'd be sick to do on a cruiser!

are USA credit cards in play down there?