After traveling around Mexico and Belize for the past 11+ years Doug and I have finally found our piece of paradise in Mahahual (Majahual), Costa Maya.  This small town reminds of what Playa Del Carmen was like in the late 80’s or early 90’s.  There is the shimmering Caribbean Sea, sugary white sand beaches and rustling palm trees.  Did you know that the sand never gets hot here in the Caribbean?  I Goggled it to find out why….The sand in the Mexican Caribbean is made from finely ground particles of coral and calcareous algae (a type of seaweed). This algae, dies and breaks down into a fine white organic powder, about 30% of the beach sand is composed of this powder which keeps our feet cool even in the midday sun.

The average temperature here is around 85 degrees and there is always a cooling breeze coming off the Caribbean.  Today it is 31 Celsius or 87 Fahrenheit at high noon. I’m feeling a bit bad for my friends back home that are having the worst winter in years. 

What is this not to love about the turquoise water and white sand?

Then there are the people……..the locals are friendly and laid back.  They are always there with a quick smile and an offer to help.  As an example, when we moved into our rental we bought a new refrigerator and had it delivered. The gentleman that delivered it wasn’t able to move it by himself and Doug has a bad back, hmmmm, what to do?  Before we had time to thoroughly digest the problem a young man walking by stopped and offered to help.  We offered him money, a coke, a beer, he wouldn’t accept anything, just said “welcome to the neighborhood” and kept on walking.

This is the most laidback area on the Mexican Caribbean, there is a small community called “the casitas” 3 minutes from town and beach that offers inexpensive housing options with all services.  Then there are beautiful beach homes, both North and South of town which are off grid.  Because of the space between the homes and the town privacy abounds here.

You can have a home in the only gated beachfront community for $549,000

A beach bar for $360,000

Or a home in “the casitas” from $60,000 with renos needed or $105,000 for a 2 bedroom, 2 bath that has been renovated.

And then there is the food…….if you like fresh seafood you will be in heaven.  We watch the fisherman bring in fresh fish and lobster everyday.  Our favorite restaurant is Nohoch Kay, which means Big Fish in Mayan.  They offer anything from shrimp tacos, fish fillet, lobster, burgers, burritos and more. If it's not on the menu, ask, they will fix it for you! 

 

 

We love anything to do with the water, fishing, boating, swimming, snorkeling or diving and you can do it all here.

But one of the most important things for us is the mind set, Mahahual is a small town that still maintains its Caribbean roots. We have learned to live with less stress and worries, the cost of living is MUCH cheaper and we just “seize the day.” We are healthier, happier and still amazed that we live in such a paradise.

Balmy breezes and frosty drinks coming at ya, from Mahahual......

WELCOME TO MAHAHUAL - OUR NEW HOME!

Never in our wildest dreams did we think that we would ever leave Chelem, however, I guess we are gypsies at heart and have just sold our home and are in the process of moving to the Costa Maya, Mahahual to be exact.  Here is a little blurb, telling you more about our new town:

Mahahual sometimes written as Majahual is located in an area called the Costa Maya. It is located a couple of hours south of Tulum and an hour and half north of Belize.  15-20 years ago it was just a small village of about 30 families depending on fishing for a living, but, to quote Bob Dylan, “The Times They Are A- Changing.” Now the area is set to take off.  Known as the last frontier in the Mexican Caribbean, Mahahual has been become a popular area for those who want to escape from the hustle-bustle of Cancun and Playa Del Carmen.  The area is known for fishing, diving, crystal clear turquoise water, Mayan Ruins and so much more. 

The Costa Maya consists of 2 small villages, Mahahual and Xcalak both of which are positioned minutes from the second largest barrier reef in the world. It is not unusual to see people coming in off their boats with a bag full of fresh Caribbean lobster and a cooler full of fish for dinner. Wake up in the morning to the sound of brightly colored tropical birds serenading you while you enjoy your first cup of coffee.  This is an area of rare beauty with an abundance of wildlife and tropical foliage.  If you are a nature lover looking for a secluded place to relax and unwind, the Costa Maya is the place to be.

The Mexican government is investing millions of dollars to install all services and build new roads and highways. A new malecon (oceanfront walkway) has been built, allowing for leisurely strolls along palm tree strewn beaches.  There are plans made to expand it further south, and with these plans property values are only going one way, UP! To both the north and south of the main village there are beautiful beach front homes and lots. The sugary white sand, softly rolling Caribbean and swaying palms suggest the stuff that dreams are made of.  The majority of these homes are off grid, and beautifully designed with wide terraces and large windows to fully enjoy the buena vista.

 

The Costa Maya is reminiscent of Playa Del Carmen, 20 years ago, beautiful beaches, friendly local people and a small influx of fulltime residents from all walks of life.  There is a beautiful mixing of cultures here, Mexican, Italian, Dutch, English, American, Canadian and more.  But the one thing we all have in common is that we love the vibe that is Mahahual.  There is something magical here that words can’t express, it is a something we feel and our souls respond to.  While many of us have expressed concerns about the growth of the village, it is a low impact zone and will never turn into a huge city with skyscrapers and shopping malls.  Properties are limited, though there are beautiful places to stay, wonderful restaurants and an array of activities, mostly centered around the sun and the Caribbean.  Urban growth is happening, but in an orderly and ecologically sound way. The new influx of growth is bringing attention to Mahahual, but, it is in a way that doesn’t forgo its Caribbean roots.

 The malecon or pedestrian walkway:

Don’t be one of the people that looked at Playa Del Carmen years ago and wished that had invested.  Property values in this hidden jewel of a village are rising as we speak.

More on Magical Mahahual to come, until then balmy breezes and cold drinks are waiting for you here.

ONE OF A KIND HOME FOR SALE IN CHELEM, YUCATAN

Well, folks.....even though I never thought we would do it, we are putting our personal home up for sale.  We have put a lot of love and work into this home, so this is a bit  bittersweet for both Doug and I. After our summer of traveling and new experiences, we have decided that we have one more dream left in us, we want to move to the Caribbean.  We have found a beautiful small village on the Costa Maya, Mahahual and are going to buy a home here. While it is a bit scary to leave our home and friends we know that soon we will have a new home and new friends here. Also, it is close enough that all of our friends can come and visit us.  So........here are pictures and information about our house:

The front of our home with a new Spanish tiled carport and roof:

View from under the carport, hardwood support beams and solar lights, new, matching storage building to the right

A custom designed, hand-carved front door

View as you walk into the living room which offers vaulted ceilings and an upstairs catwalk with 2 bedrooms

Kitchen with custom concrete counter tops which have sliced conch shell that I found embedded in the concrete

Living room

View of steps and door 

Downstairs bathroom

Downstairs bedroom being used as an office and TV room - this opens up to large landscaped backyard and pool area

New custom bamboo closet

Covered backyard terrace and entertainment area

 

 Landscaped backyard with large filtered pool

Custom designed turtle inlay in the pool deck area

Large pool with new pump and filtration system

View from pool towards the back of the home

Heading upstairs

Looking from the upstairs to the downstairs

Guest room

View from guest room window

Master bedroom

Twilight view in the backyard. The entire home is walled and gated for total privacy and has lighting on the walls for midnight swims

So, there are the pictures of our home, if you want more pictures and total information, please click here.

Thanks for looking and "warm breezes and cold beers coming at ya" from Chelem.

A SUMMER OF TRAVELING AND REFLECTIONS

During our busy season I dream of summer when then pace is slower and I imagine that I will slowly savor our life in paradise. Then when our slower season of summer arrives I find that we stay busy catching up on things we didn’t have time for earlier.  This year, a friend of mine had posted about a book called “The Happiness Project” by Gretchen Rubin, and I started reading it, a few pages every morning before I started my day.  There was a line in the book that really caught my attention and I will loosely quote it here, “the days are long, but the years are short.”  It wouldn’t leave my mind…..so I decided that this summer I wouldn’t worry about catching up on all my little projects, I would truly experience the paradise that we live in, we would travel the Yucatan, going places that were a few hours away and do things that we had either never done or hadn’t done in a while.  I didn’t want to be one of those people that live their last years in regret of things that they didn’t do, simply because they “couldn’t” take the time.

We started our summer of experience by taking a free vacation that we had won to Playa Del Carmen.  Those who know us will remember that we lived in Playa for 3 ½ years, but once again we were working and did little else.  This time I wanted to do and try things that I had only seen as a spectator, this time I wanted to be a participant.

We began with taking a Discover Dive course at our hotel, Doug had been diving before and totally loved it, however, I had always been happy to lie on the beach or go snorkeling. It took me 2 days to work up the courage to and “take the dive.”  Of course it was an amazing experience that introduced me to another aspect of living and playing in paradise.

The next day we went para sailing, another thing that Doug had always wanted us to do, but my fear of heights had held us both back.  Taking a few deep breathes I stepped on board, strapped up and gently floated up towards the heavens, fantastic!

The next morning while we lazily sipped coffee on our terrace we noticed a band of coatimundis underneath us. They were making chirping noises and playing together, much like kittens.  These friendly little creatures were very tame, eating grapes out of our hands.

Soon the coatis were joined by some Yucatan Jays one of my favorite birds here in the Yucatan.  What a lovely way to start the morning.

Next we were off to Mahahual (sometimes spelled Majahual) about 2 hours south of Playa, heading towards Chetumal.  We were going there to visit a friend of ours from Playa that had moved there a few years back.  We hadn’t been to Mahahual since 2004 and were eager to see the changes as well as catch up with our friend, Jaime.  Jaime is well known in Playa, he had owned and managed many of the top restaurants there and I couldn’t wait to have some of his shrimp tacos and secret sauce again from his new restaurant Nohoch Kay.  There through out the course of the days spent there we stuffed ourselves with his great food including, burgers, burritos, ceviche and a couple of sweet, freshly caught lobster.

Mahahual was even better than anticipated, a small Caribbean village with a cool, funky vibe. The town had been devastated by Hurricane Dean in 2007 and recently been rebuilt and improved. There was a beautiful new pedestrian only Malecon (beachfront walkway), palm trees on the beaches and an assortment of great restaurants with local seafood, burgers and fantastic Italian food.  We had one of the best pizzas we have had in 10 years from Pizza Papi. There is a large influx of Italians in the area so it was easy to get homemade pasta with an array of delectable sauces.  It was an enjoyable experience spending time in a slower more laid back atmosphere after leaving the hustle bustle of Playa, Mahahual is the Caribbean at its unspoiled best.

Nohach Kay

 Sitting at Jaimes' restaurant, looking out over the Caribbean

 In front of another fabulous restaurant Luna de Plata

 View from hotel

 Dos Amigos- Doug and Don Pedro

What a great trip and all within driving distance of our little piece of paradise here in Chelem !