Last year my mom my son and I started to dream of going to Tulum after seeing a few episodes of Mexico Life on t.v. It just looked so amazing with its Caribbean turquoise water, wonderful people, pristine jungle and proximation to many different historical Mayan ruins. So in April of 2017 we planned our trip. We flew from San Diego to Miami on a red eye then from MIA to Cancun. After a 90 minute bus ride south we were happy to be in paradise! As excited as we were we had no idea that we would end up with so much more than we bargained for.
I have always wanted to own a vacation home in any sort of tropical environment as that is where my heart is and has always been ever since my first visit to the Caribbean just a few short years ago. I knew that one day I would find a place to plant myself some way some how. I just didn't know it would be sooner than I could ever have expected!! After an unexpected run in with a fantastic human being named Kyle Stozek, an American citizen who has been living in Playa Del Carmen and working as a real estate agent for Investment Properties Mexico for a few years now, our vacation turned into an investment and lifestyle opportunity almost immediately. Kyle being in his late 30's and extremely charismatic overheard our conversation at lunch about how much we would absolutely love to have a place of our own to come back to whenever we wanted and had no trouble at all introducing himself as simply a person with a wealth of knowledge on the topic of home ownership in Mexico. After all this is his job and lifestyle and he's good at it! Well spoken in both English and Spanish, he and I hit it off immediately. We began to speak very openly about what it's like to live, work and own property in the booming area of the Riviera Maya on the Yucatan Peninsula with Tulum being the fastest growing and developing area in all of Latin America! No joke, thats an actual fact! Tulum is the gem of this pristine jungle paradise and the opportunity for investing is ripe. Kyle offered to take us around and show us a few projects in the area of Aldea Zama which in its self is what many consider the gem of Tulum.
The next day after a wonderful breakfast and the perfect weather we were off! It didn't take long until we were enthralled with this area and the potential of what was on the horizon. Although we spent most of our day within the master planned community of Aldea Zama which has several ongoing multi unit condo projects, both finished and still under construction, we visited everything from places in the deep jungle all the way to the actual town of Tulum. Personally I fell in love with Aldea Zama the most and really made an effort to explore the possibilities of purchasing a condo within the master development. Unfortunately most of them were either out of my price range or simply too early in their development fazes to really peak my investment aspirations. It really came down to how long was I willing to wait to make my dream come true and sooner rather than later is what my heart was after. It seemed that I would have to be willing to make another trip down south planned more around property hunting than vacation. Which or course was fine by me!
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The next day Kyle, being extremely knowledgable and well connected, invited me to come see a project that he thought would meet all of my desires. Cordanada Perfecta. Indeed, it was perfect from the get go. Not only was it affordable at well under $100,000 USD but the location was fantastic! Located just a few blocks from Aldea Zama this was the perfect "get your feet wet" entry into my dream becoming a reality! Also, beach access is somewhat limited in Tulum. There is only one main road that leads to the beaches and hotel/resort area, but Cordanada Perfecta is situated ON the newly constructed Kukulcan road which leads straight to the highly sought after hotel/resort beach hub. My new second story studio condo will have a balcony overlooking this brand new long awaited and highly anticipated addition to the ever improving gem of a city known all over the world as Tulum! People watching is my absolute favorite thing to do and this is going to be PERFECT......But wait theres more.... the project was already well under way and scheduled for completion by mid July of THIS YEAR! Yes! Yes yes yes! Winning all the way around! I wouldn't have to wait long nor have my money all tied up for over a year in a project that wasn't even off the ground yet. The way things work down in Mexico for the most part is its primarily a cash business. Its very rare to find financing for most projects, especially ROI ( return on investment). Of all the projects i have looked into and there are dozens, they all have a formula similar to 20% down to hold the property, 50% upon acceptance of a deal being agreed to and 30% upon completion of the project. Doable and done deal where do I sign! Since this particular project was so far along I had to move fast as this was literally the last unit available. So that we did. Kyle worked his magic in all aspects of what he does best, representing the buyer for the best deal possible. Right place, right time, right person to make this deal a reality. Later that night it was time to celebrate!
Feeling more than accomplished and blessed beyond belief, the boys and I dove head first into our last full day of vacation... literally. We had been looking at Xel-Ha on the internet for months and couldn't wait to experience this oceanic wonderland. Xel-Ha is a monstrous natural lagoon that has been transformed into an absolutely amazing water park/eco habitat suitable for all ages. We got more bang for our buck that day than anything we could ever want out of one single day trip. Honestly, as myself and the three teenage boys would collectively agree upon, this was one of if not the most awesome day we might have ever had! This place was huge! You really couldn't do everything in just one day there was so much to offer. Needless to say, now that I have a permanent residence less than an hour away, we will be re visiting Xel-Ha every time we make the trip down to Tulum with out a doubt. More than well worth the price of admission at $90.00 USD and beats the heck out of Disneyland. This place was not overcrowded and the food and beverage was fantastic! I will be doing another more in depth review of Xel-Ha in a future post so keep and eye out for that one.
On the day of our departure we had still several hours to kill before our flight left back to Miami. There was a major lightning storm going on in much of the southern United States so many a flight was either cancelled or delayed. Meanwhile the weather in Tulum was perfect. Warm and tropical as it should be. The Riviera Maya typically experiences over 300 days of sunshine per calendar year. Yes please! I'll take two lol! So we decided to go visit the local Tulum Mayan ruins one more time before we left. Only a 5 minute "collectivo" ride, (what we would refer to as a taxi, and very in expensive btw) from the condo we stayed in it was perfect for spending our last few hours in paradise. Famous for being right on the beautiful pristine crystal clear waters of the Caribbean ocean, this particular Mayan ruin site is probably the pictures you see on line when you search Tulum. Just one of many world famous historical and archeological world wonders the greater Yucatan Peninsula area has to offer. W didn't make it all the way to Chichen Itza this trip but we will next time thats for sure. The thing I loved so much about the local ruins was the fact that you could go straight from the trails to the beach and right back up again. Tons of jungle trails providing both shade from the heat and awesome scenery. The kids were very entertained by the myriad of Iguanas of all colors and sizes. Some of them were huge! Such a beautiful site. I found myself daydreaming of what it must have looked like hundreds of years ago when the Mayans ruled that area and still untouched by the "civilized" world. I could imagine the scene from the top of the main ruin where the Mayan King ruled as they watched the Spanish ships sailing towards them, a site up until that point that they have never even imagined! This particular section of ruins was only $5 to visit for an all day pass. The majority of the money brought in daily from ticket sales goes to help the local community and the native peoples of the surrounding areas. I was happy to give. All of the people we met on this trip were equally amazing. So full of information and always a smile on their faces. We simply can not wait to come back!
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Thank you for reading my personal experience story of my trip to Tulum. I hope you have enjoyed the journey and the pics. I will be putting together a video of all the great footage we got there and adding it to this article here in the next few days. One more side note to add here about the property I purchased. Everything went about as well as you could possibly want it to quickly dispelling any fears I might have had of buying property in a foreign land. So two days after getting home I got a call from Kyle. He said that everything was going smoothly with the wire transfer for my deposit. He also had a bit of news for me if I was interested. I was all ears. The unit right next to the one I bought some how fell out of escrow and he was offering me first chance to purchase. Of course I said yes! Contingent upon weather he could negotiate the same price I purchased the other one for of course. After a few more days of patiently waiting for the news I got the green light! Wow! I couldn't believe my luck! I now own two properties for about the same price as I was initially going to spend on just one! What a trip it was indeed. Couldn't have asked for more. Can't wait for July... Tulum here I come and this time I'll stay a while.