View Full Version : Relocation Has anyone here ever lived in SE Asia? How does Tenerife compare?
I've been living in TH for a number of years, and starting to look around for an alternative. Basic requirements are a beach with not too cold water, warm weather year round, and a good to decent international school for the kids.
If anyone has lived in SE Asia ( particularly on a tourist island in Thailand) I'd be interested in hearing how the two different places compare, for better or worse! Thanks
I've been living in TH for a number of years, and starting to look around for an alternative. Basic requirements are a beach with not too cold water, warm weather year round, and a good to decent international school for the kids.
If anyone has lived in SE Asia ( particularly on a tourist island in Thailand) I'd be interested in hearing how the two different places compare, for better or worse! Thanks
Thai is more wild, I have been there 10 times or more: electric cables, motorbikes, curb stones protruding to stub your toes on, bus drivers who are suicidal, always being a falang, mosquitoes, whores in bars, tourists looking for whores in bars. Of course there is good stuff too but that is the bad.
I have a friend who has a house in Thai but works in Myanmar now and we were discussing the other week that, even though he loves the place, is not a place to spend all your days in, especially if you have kids.
Tenerife is basically Spain, good infrastructure, rules apply but not crazy strict like the USA where they fine you for farting, nice scenery, warm pretty much most of the year, flights to anywhere in Europe, 2 airports, good hospitals, a largish capital city, cheap petrol in comparison to Europe, good Schools( wingate) . If you have a day job that pays ok and you can work remotely definitely come for a look. I would move full time if but the boss lady will not let me. My Finnish friend in Asia is coming to look to buy, he can get 220k for his pokey flat in Helsinki and swap for something far larger on the Island.
Thanks Jabba43. Yes it is quite lawless in Thai, but sometimes that's a good thing. I've never seen one person written up for any moving infraction on Phuket in 15 years, but with that comes the really bad driving.
Since looking into Tenerife, I've discovered Mauritius and that also seems to tick a lot of boxes, with cyclones being the only negative that I can see. I'm guessing a visit to all the places on the shortlist are in order.
Thanks Jabba43. Yes it is quite lawless in Thai, but sometimes that's a good thing. I've never seen one person written up for any moving infraction on Phuket in 15 years, but with that comes the really bad driving.
Since looking into Tenerife, I've discovered Mauritius and that also seems to tick a lot of boxes, with cyclones being the only negative that I can see. I'm guessing a visit to all the places on the shortlist are in order.
I looked there too online for Seychelles and Mauritius, not physically. No doubt it is incredibly beautiful but I read a lot of people saying it is boring, full of honeymooning couples, pretty expensive and not good for shopping. If you are laid back might work. The plus side on Tenerife as you have kids is Loro Park, Siam park as season ticket for locals is 100 euro or something. Also shopping much better in Santa Cruz, ikea, toyrus, shopping malls etc.
Another factor for me was the reasonably short flight, most places in Europe in 4 or so hours as I am not a full timer it is important not to do long hall. I used to go to Florida but the 10-11 hours killed me. Mauritius is 12 hours from the UK.
One good thing about Mauritius is the low taxation at only 15% What are expats paying in Spain for taxes all in, with VAT and tax on money brought into the country?
BTW, I'm from North America, so no matter where I am, it's a long way to travel and the Mrs. is from SE Asia, so Tenerife is a pretty long journey compared to Mauritius.
How are the water sports in Tenerife? I enjoy spending time in the ocean and don't really like cool water, but anything over 24 is Ok for various water sports. Kitesurfing and SUP are common activites.
taxes are a pain and you need to declare assets over 50k. I would not like to be tax resident in Spain :) I think the water is 22?
If it wasn't for my wife (and whores in bars) i would go back in a flash its is crazy here, people rip you off including your own,weather isn't warm all year around ,sea is cold, people are not as friendly, police are a pain in the ****, rent here is nothing like TH to so workout your cash, i.e living here is far more expensive so your money will not go as far as in TH to . but maybe we were spoiled in TH.Jabba43 you have put all the plus sides of TH as for Seychelles and Mauritius yes beautiful but not s lot to do, we lived on an island called Koh Samui and it was brill, and, Cambodia, Vietnam, Indonesia, Bali.The paperwork here though i know most of it now to is a pain, Now the good points 4 1/2 hours to the UK the end ;) P.s i have met some nice people here but its hard work, working out who is nice to just your face here, as you can see lived all over and make no secret to say i have never known an English community like it here. So this my opinion to your pm and i know its not a good one but i just tell it how it is,mosquitoes are to not just the flying kind,and more sharks on the island than in the sea.Water sport are ok here but again see isnt that warm as TH i did diving in thailand without a wet suit for £10 a dive, you will need a wetsuit here or dry suit for sure and the fish and other animals is worth diving to see in TH.
Hope this helps
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If it wasn't for my wife (and whores in bars) i would go back in a flash its is crazy here, people rip you off including your own,weather isn't warm all year around ,sea is cold, people are not as friendly, police are a pain in the ****, rent here is nothing like TH to so workout your cash, i.e living here is far more expensive so your money will not go as far as in TH to . but maybe we were spoiled in TH.Jabba43 you have put all the plus sides of TH as for Seychelles and Mauritius yes beautiful but not s lot to do, we lived on an island called Koh Samui and it was brill, and, Cambodia, Vietnam, Indonesia, Bali.The paperwork here though i know most of it now to is a pain, Now the good points 4 1/2 hours to the UK the end ;) P.s i have met some nice people here but its hard work, working out who is nice to just your face here, as you can see lived all over and make no secret to say i have never known an English community like it here. So this my opinion to your pm and i know its not a good one but i just tell it how it is,mosquitoes are here to and not just the flying kind,and more sharks on the island than in the sea.Water sport are ok here but again see isnt that warm as TH i did diving in thailand without a wet suit for £10 a dive, you will need a wetsuit here or dry suit for sure and the fish and other animals is worth diving to see in TH.
Hope this helps
We will go to Thai again when my youngest is 3. We used to do an Asian trip once a year before we had kids, until then I have to pretend when I go to the local Thai restaurant :) My wife actually thought Phuket was pants, I just asked her why and she says it was too commercial, for some reason she did not like their attempt at pizza and the jelly fish in the sea. Also out hotel was full of Finnish pensioners as far as I can remember :)
I still have my memories of the late eighties and early nineties, like you doingok I went to Koh Samui and Koh Phangan. I have bragging rights of going to the first full moon parties when it consisted of about 200 people.
If I was divorced and wanted to drink myself to death with a Chang beer welded to my arm, followed up by Mekhong whiskey maybe I would consider going back but I think I would be chasing my youth :)
Anyway, back to the sea. Yes, it is the Atlantic and it is 22, it only gets to 24 in the summer but as the OP is into kite surfing he is in luck, Medano beach is the best place for wind blasting in from the Atlantic. Something on it here http://www.amazingtenerife.com/el-medano.html
Thanks for the input so far. Here's a few follow up questions and comments.
1) I keep reading about the immigrant problem that is plaguing Europe. How is the immigrant situation in Tenerife?
2) In regards to taxes, if I wire in money from overseas will I be subject to the dreadfully high Spanish tax rate?
3) What exactly do expats do to pass the time as opposed to say Mauritius or the Seychelles? The Seychelles are small, yet Mauritius is about the same size as Tenerife. What does Tenerife offer in the way of activities as opposed to Mauritius or even Phuket, where I currently reside? BTW, Phuket is much smaller than Tenerife, yet I still manage to find something to do.
In regards to cost of living, Phuket is very expensive compared to the rest of Thailand, and especially if you like nice things. 300% tax on foreign made vehicles, tax on electronics etc. Our current annual budget for a family of 3 is 50K Euros, so Phuket is hardly the cheap bargain that many remember of old Thailand from 20+ years ago ( I also remember those cheap and fun youth filled days!). When I go back to North America I'm amazed at how so many things are cheaper than Phuket. Labour is about the only thing that isn't cheaper.
Another negative to Phuket now, is the invasion of the Russians. It seems the quality European tourists have moved on due to the influx of a huge number of Russians, Chinese, Indian and Korean visitors, Not too mention the locals ( actually Thais from other provinces) are as surly as you will find anywhere in the world. Combine that with the heavy corruption that allows these thugs to operate with immunity, and there is a lot of animosity brewing here.
Grass is always greener and all of that, so any insight as to how actual day to day life is is always welcome.
/Added, there is an active Phuket forum and if you browse it, you will see that we have our problems here just like anywhere else, maybe even more so compared to other tourist destinations.
As far as Tenerife goes it get about 5 to 6 million tourists a year, 1.6 million of those being brits, then Germans, Scandinavians, Dutch etc. The Russians are also coming now but for some reason you do not notice them, you hear them but that is about it. I noticed them far more when I was in Egypt.
Another thing about Tenerife is the vast majority of Tourists spend all their time in the south west corner of the Island. I live a 10 minute drive from there and maybe go to the beach at Los Cristianos 2 or 3 times a week with the kids. So basically when we got there we are in tourist land and in general people are happy because they are on their holidays. It is very very European, almost everyone you walk past is from Northern Europe.
There are several beaches joined together and you can walk along the promenade to all of them. Los Cristianos being the best for our kids as there is a port that stops the waves, so no troubles for kids to play in the sea, Las Vistas is the main beach where most hang out, then there is a choppy rocky bit where surfers go and finally you end up in Adeje where there are mainly 5 star hotels.
There whole strip is lined with places to eat with basically restaurants owned by locals and Northern Europeans. You get great views to the volcano which is snow capped in the winter months and is the highest mountain in Spain. The volcano is a really nice day trip out and is actually the #1 thing people do when they are not at the beach.
Further north and south there are less busy beaches, San Juan and medano as I mentioned above. Another thing about tenerife is the micro climate. IN the North it is more green and tropical but it rains all the time, in the south you get very little rain. The North has the big city of Santa Cruz, it has a population of over 500k people and is basically the cultural capital. There is a fantastic beach up there too, probably my favourite http://*******.com/qb9vlr5
There is a motorway from the south to North, it is an hours drive to get there, we usually go once or twice a month, basically for the shopping malls.
As for stuff to do maybe tripadvisor is better to see http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attractions-g187479-Activities-Tenerife_Canary_Islands.html, there is tons to do.
Now expenses. Diesel is just over 1 euro a liter, by far the cheapest place in western Europe, 1 euros beers and cheap cigarettes. Food probably the same as western europe, accommodation can be as cheap or as expensive as you like, but you get what you pay for. You can look below
http://www.idealista.com/en/alquiler-viviendas/santa-cruz-de-tenerife/tenerife/
Electronics are cheap, I usually go here http://www.worten.es/store/ or order stuff from Amazon in the UK.
Thanks. How's the immigrant situation in Tenerife? Are there a number of NA immigrants, or are they going to Italy and France?
here is my local province 80 Americans versus 6500 brits :) but you can see it is really diverse.
http://www.advartis.com/en/content/58-arona-demographics-nationalities.html
Diverse indeed for those registered. Interesante.
Miss Moneypenny
15-08-2014, 11:36
I don't have time to reply at the moment but I lived in Tenerife for 19 years and have now been in Phuket for the past 7.
I am in Bangkok in the morning till Wednesday so will reply after that.
I've been living in TH for a number of years, and starting to look around for an alternative. Basic requirements are a beach with not too cold water, warm weather year round, and a good to decent international school for the kids.
If anyone has lived in SE Asia ( particularly on a tourist island in Thailand) I'd be interested in hearing how the two different places compare, for better or worse! Thanks
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