Mexican Dating Culture: All You Should Know About Dating In Mexico
If you’re going to start dating a Mexican woman or a Mexican guy, read this guide first. Here, we’ll talk about Mexican culture, list some useful Mexican dating rules, and explain where to meet real Mexican girls or guys. If you don’t want to lose money on fake dating sites or screw up on the first date, continue reading this guide on Mexican relationship culture!
5 interesting facts about dating in Mexico
- Mexico isn’t the top country in the world regarding the penetration rate for dating apps. In short, the penetration rate is the percentage of people using dating websites, and according to digital market statistics, this rate is only 4.1% in 2023, which means only 1 out of 25 Mexicans use dating websites. To understand the problem, one needs to take a look at the US user penetration for dating apps: in the United States, the rate is 17.6% which is 4 times higher.
- What’s more, it doesn’t look like the online dating industry will grow dramatically. Thus, the user penetration rate is expected to hit 4.2% by 2027, which is certainly not the highest growth rate in the world. By the way, most neighboring countries have a much higher user penetration rate for dating apps. In fact, it’s only lower in Peru and Paraguay.
- Most Mexican men and women using dating apps are focused on serious relationships. Around 40% (39.6%, to be precise) of users are searching for a stable relationship online, while 27.8% of the users are interested in casual sexual encounters. It’s one of those major differences between Mexican dating traditions and American dating culture—your Mexican partner will most likely be more marriage-minded from the very beginning of your relationship.
- At the same time, Mexico is one of the top countries in the Americas regarding the number of social media users (98,210,000 users), so we can’t say that Mexicans are not interested or are unaware of online communication tools. It’s just the dating apps that are not that popular there.
- The majority of dating app users in Mexico are 18–24 years old (39.3% of the users fall into this age category). The second most active age category is 35–44 years old—32.1% of the dating app users are in their late 30s and early 40s.
Where to meet Mexican people?
💬 💑 Online dating in Mexico
Although dating apps are not as popular in Mexico as, say, in the United States, they are still the best option you have if you’re going to meet Mexican women. You can use apps like Tinder or, if you want to make it even more convenient and increase your chances of finding a real girl who would be interested in dating an American, you can use Mexican dating sites. International dating websites have tens of thousands of Mexican women, offer more messaging tools and extra features than social media apps/local dating apps, and are perfect for you if you have serious intentions. Of course, you can find a charming lady who would want to find an American husband on Facebook or Instagram, too, but international dating sites have tens of thousands of marriage-minded women.
If that sounds interesting, take a look at this table—these are the best, the most trusted, and the most popular dating platforms for those interested in family-oriented Mexican ladies.
| Rank | Site | Free Link | |
|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | LatiDate |
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| #2 | LaDate |
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| #3 | GoChatty |
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| #4 | ColombiaLady |
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| #5 | TheLuckyDate |
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🍸💑 Offline dating in Mexico
The advantages are clear: you’ll eat Mexican food, visit Mexico City and other big cities, enjoy all those landscapes, feel the vibe of the country, etc. Meeting in real life is also better for building a strong connection and understanding if there’s chemistry between you. However, the disadvantages are clear, too: the language barrier (maybe, you’ll need to find a Spanish teacher in advance), the cost (at least $1,300 for 2 weeks), and safety (Mexico isn’t the safest place in the world for gringo romance seekers).
Well, if you’re still going to meet Mexican singles offline, here are some great places for you. First, we’ll talk about Merida—it’s the safest city in Mexico, and it’s certainly worth visiting because of the architecture, climate, and beaches.
- Squares! A bright Zocalo, a beautiful Plaza Grande, a gorgeous Plaza de Santa Ana—all these places are ok if you’re good at approaching women on the streets.
- What about meeting the girls who love coffee? Cafeteria Pop is definitely worth visiting—the stream of people that comes through is quite large, and the coffee is pretty nice here.
- Malls like Gran Plaza Fashion Mall or La Isla Merida may work well, too. You can ask for suggestions to a good cafe nearby and say that you’re new there, and then, well, you know how it’s done.
- What about art galleries? A great Galerias Merida is certainly worth visiting if you’re into art.
- If you believe approaching women in bars and clubs is easier, then the Dzalbay, Luca Show bar, and Foxxys might be the best places for Mexico dating and marriage.
Of course, this is a minimal part of the places where you can meet Mexican singles, but this is enough to get used to and understand where to move next.
Differences in customs habits between Americans and Mexicans
When it comes to Mexican women, dating culture and etiquette are obviously different from the ones you are used to in the US. When it comes to comparing Mexican dating culture vs. American one, the main differences are gender roles, family influence, and “machismo.” In the following paragraphs, we’ll cover all those differences in more detail.
1. Traditional gender roles
Lots of women in this country still expect men to pay for everything, protect them, and be “manly.” In turn, you can expect your Mexican girlfriend to be feminine, caring, and “womanly.” The traditional gender roles promote Mexican ladies to be passive and to be at home caring for children instead of building a career or getting an education.
Of course, gender roles vary by region and socioeconomic class—a young and educated lady from Mexico City would most likely be more progressive and Westernized in terms of her views on a career and family. But even though Mexican women’s views on family and gender roles are slowly changing, it doesn’t look like they’re going to change drastically in the near future.
2. Family is a bigger deal in Mexico
We can’t say that family is not a big deal in the United States, of course. It’s just that the family is much more important here when it comes to dating—you can’t date a girl for years without having dinner with her parents in Mexico.
You’ll need the approval of both the mother and the father to marry a Mexican woman, and, what’s more important, you’ll need to meet the parents and family even before the proposal. The thing is, if you have serious intentions, you’ll have to ask your girlfriend about actually being your “official” girlfriend. Then, when it’s done, you’ll most likely have to meet the parents. But, don’t worry, they are usually ok with international/interracial dating.
3. They can adapt
That’s what we’d like to say at the end of this paragraph: yes, these women are very different from American and Western women in general, and yes, some of their values would likely clash with yours at first. But the good news here is that your Mexican girlfriend or wife will certainly adapt to you over the years. That’s how it always worked, and that’s how it will work for you—you’ll adapt to each other, and sooner or later, all those cultural differences will be resolved in such a way that it contributes to the happiness of your family life.
How to succeed in the Mexican dating scene as a newcomer?
If you want to meet Mexican women, you need to understand the Mexican dating culture better. Here, you’ll find some Mexican dating rules that will help you succeed with the ladies from this country.
Have serious intentions and show respect
If you’re going to date local women, you need to be serious about it. Most of them are searching for serious relationships, not for a one-night stand—this applies to both young people and to older ones, to the girls from rural areas and to the ladies from the capital of the country. So be serious and respectful—this will help you stand out from the crowd of Mexican men.
Be a gentleman but take the initiative
Some ex-pats say that, in general, the dating culture in Mexico is pretty old-fashioned and pretty much like the dating culture in the USA but 60 years ago—more family values, more respect for the elders, more conservatism, etc. Being a gentleman looks like a perfect way to succeed in this environment. This can be applied to both your IRL first dates (look classic, be a good listener, and get her coat) and to the online dating part (be patient, have a good profile, and take the lead in a conversation).
Help her build trust
The thing is, an average Mexican man believes he is responsible for taking care of his family, paying the bills, and protecting the family members. There’s nothing bad about traditional gender roles, but the biggest difference between traditional gender roles and machismo is that the latter always goes hand in hand with some other beliefs. The point is, machismo is often a system that puts women underneath men—this behavior pattern includes dominance, aggression, sexism, and other negative aspects of masculinity. Cheating and affairs are other aspects. What’s more, it’s often considered ok for Latino men to cheat on their partners!
It logically follows that it’s often very difficult for Latina women to build trust in a new relationship because of the “machismo” culture. They see a lot of unfaithful men in everyday life in their home country, so you’ll need to help them build it. Be honest with her, don’t play games, don’t keep secrets, answer her texts, don’t be late, and prioritize your relationship over all else. It’s not that difficult, actually.
Our Editors’ conclusion
Oliver Duncan
Latin Countries Expert
“The dating and marriage culture in Mexico differs from the one we are used to in the United States. Mexican guys date their ladies differently: their dates involve having dinner with the parents of a Mexican girl, the family’s opinion (especially the opinion of the girl’s father) is much more important here, etc. However, if you follow all those basic rules and pay attention to the dating/relationship etiquette in Latin America, dating a Mexican woman would not be that difficult for you. Be respectful, be a gentleman, be responsible and confident, and you’ll succeed with Latin women in general and Mexican women in particular.”
Our Editorial Team
Written byPhilippe Berry, Contributing Editor and Travel Expert
I've been to 33 countries, and I'm going to expand this list; I was pleased to date more than 100 ladies from other countries while traveling (not bragging; maybe just a little), and I'm pretty experienced in both building relationships and understanding cultures different from my own. I love having fun, exploring new places and cultures, and helping people who are as interested in international relationships as I am.
Edited byOliver Duncan, Author
Oliver Duncan (36 years old) is a dating and relationship expert from New York. Oliver has a Master's degree in Psychology - he graduated from the New York University in 2009. He knows everything about online dating and dating apps - his experience in this field is around 10 years. Oliver met his wife, Marianna, on one of these apps (she is from Colombia). His senior thesis was concerned with the psychology of long-distance/international relationships - he knows how to date Latin women, how to solve relationship problems, and what issues/barriers to expect when dating a woman from South America.
