Costa Maya Newsletter
> Archived
Newsletters > Oct. 2005
Newsletters:
of primary interest to property owners on the Costa Maya, - Rio Indio
- Placer - Uvero - Punta Herrera - Xcalak and other points along the
coast
***********************
Newsletter:
October 11, 2005************************
Hi Neighbors,
This is a very short newsletter because the
tourist industry has been quite slow here
on the Costa Maya and I have been exploring
other parts of Mexico. We happened to be in
the state of Chiapas during hurricane Stan
and experienced first hand the days of rain
and the inability of the area to absorb that
much water. The rivers were incredibly full
and we could see houses standing in what appeared
to be huge lakes. Hurricane Stan was devastating
to the villages of the area because of mud
slides. We happened to be in the village of
Amatenango on the morning of the day that
huge mudslides engulfed the area. We were
oblivious to the danger that was going on
around us and drove through some fairly steep
hair-pin curves through torrential rain. Big
pieces of road were undercut and saw several
trucks that had slid off the road. We were
merely annoyed because we couldn't go as fast
as we would have liked and we were unable
to view a ruin on the border of Guatemala
because a river had overflowed its banks.
Our trip took us along the Guatemalan border
and the Ucamacinta River. I received a notice
today from the US Consulate stating that many
people in Guatemala and Chiapas are still
stranded. We feel very blessed to be here
today and I know many of you feel the same
after all the hurricanes of this season. We
have met many of you who own property in the
Gulf and Atlantic coast who have been touched
in many ways by the weather this year and
worry about all of you.
You can find this newsletter and archives
of past newsletters at this location: http://www.mayanbeachgarden.com/PropertyOwners_Newsletter.html
Contents:
-
Hurricane Stan - aftermath on the Costa
Maya
-
Costa Maya Road report
-
Timing of getting an FM3
-
Beach erosion -- UNESCO resource
-
Meet your neighbors -- Wayne Kelly and
Karla Nelson
HURRICANE STAN - AFTERMATH ON THE COSTA
MAYA
Hurricane Stan only brought some reasonable
storm surge with a tremendous amount of
the usual garbage followed by a lot of rain
to the Costa Maya. We had several days with
5 and 6 inch rainfalls. We didn't see any
beach erosion, however. The rain is resulting
in an onslaught of mosquitos. Please bring
a good repellent if you are visiting anytime
soon. We are not sure how long the standing
water will remain in the low spots and around
the lagoons and mangroves, but we have had
two days of dry weather, but the temperatures
have cooled down slowing down evaporation
COSTA MAYA ROAD REPORT
The sand does an admirable job of absorbing
rain - but the roads do not and we have
had a lot of rain this year. The beach roads
are becoming a slow drive (but still very
passable) and potholes are popping up elsewhere.
The jungle roads that head to the Sian Ka'an
and south to Xcalak are only oil and gravel
over kalichi shale. The oil and gravel surface
is only about 3/8 of an inch, so it doesn't
take much to break it down. This is especially
bad close to Mahahual in either direction.
There are some potholes that stretch from
one side of the road to the other, so please
be careful if you are planning on visiting.
It is unclear if this will get fixed any
time soon. The unpaved roads in the beach
area of Mahahual are horrible. They grade
it often, but because of all the traffic
it only stays smooth for a week or two before
it is a very rough drive. As romantic as
a sandy road is for a fishing village, paved
roads may be the only solution.
TIMING OF GETTING AN FM3
Eventually it will be in your best interest
to get an FM3. There are a variety of FM3s
depending on whether or not you have a business,
are retired, trying to get a job, or living
here just during part of the year. If you
are planning on moving here and taking advantage
of the one time "duty free" move
per FM3, you may want to think carefully
about the timing of this. Carla and Wayne,
who are spotlighted this month, just came
through the Mexican border with a trailer
full of their personal furniture and goods
expecting to take advantage of this law.
They were informed that they could ONLY
take advantage of this 6 months after the
first granting of their FM3. Luckily Wayne
has had his less than 6 months. They had,
however, planned on making two trips with
personal items using Karla's FM3 for the
other trip, but Karla's FM3 is well over
6 months old. Now they are faced with paying
a duty on their remaining goods or sneaking
them in somehow. We have never heard of
this before since not that many people have
made a permanent move down here. Kim and
I had already started the move before we
knew anything about an FM3 and ended up
with our goods in storage for 6 months while
we waited for the FM3 to be granted so we
never had the opportunity to find out about
this side of the law. Please contact your
consulate for more information on moving
your personal items across the border. I
will try and look into this more to find
out what the law really is but thought it
worthwhile to report this recent incident.
I believe they entered Mexico in Brownsville,
Texas.
BEACH EROSION - UNESCO RESOURCE
Here on the Costa Maya we seem to be the
recipient of the gentle side of Hurricanes
-- certainly that is the case for the ones
that hit this and the previous year. We
were very blessed, but this seems also seems
to be the norm. We can, however get some
fairly substantial Storm surges from any
storm. The surges bring in a lot of garbage
and create beach erosion. Year round there
is some beach erosion. Waves are generally
highest from June to July and from December
to March when the wind speeds are highest.
Right now the tides are very low and the
water is calm. I've heard several times
that we don't have to worry about beach
erosion because there is a reef out front.
Because beaches are always changing, I think
everyone needs to worry about beach erosion.
I found a really good resource published
by UNESCO on beach erosion in the Caribbean.
It primarily applies to the islands which
have been devastated by over development
and beach erosion, sometimes loosing hundreds
of feet of beach. This has also been the
case in Playa del Carmen and other areas
north of us. Some things that I found out
after reading the publication are:
-
Even on a beautiful calm day, you may
get waves and swells or groups of waves
that originate in the North Atlantic
-
During each winter season, there may
be from five to ten swell events, each lasting
from one to eight days. Research has also
shown that intense winter swell activity
often runs in cycles, several active years
being followed by several less active years
-
During the summer, there may be wide
beaches. This is eroded during the winter
leaving the beach and buildings vulnerable
to direct wave action.
-
During the summer months, when the seas
are calmer and the waves smaller, beaches
tend to build up. This process is known
as accretion or the accumulation of sand
or other beach material due to the natural
action of waves, currents and wind.
-
If you own beach front property and are
concerned, about seasonal changes occurring,
you can take some simple measurements on
a regular basis to assess whether a problem
exists such as measure the water line to
a fixed object like a tree.
-
If purchasing beach front property, visit
the site several times in both winter and
summer before completing the purchase. If
this is not possible, talk to neighbors
about their observations of seasonal changes
to the beach. Ask if they have photographs.
Also consult local planning and environmental
agencies, who may have information on beach
changes.
-
In most of the Caribbean, land below
the mean high water mark belongs to the
government. Beach front land lost from erosion
is the landowners loss. This is true
in Mexico Whenever possible, find ways to
leave as much vegetation as possible to
restrict beach erosion.
You can read the entire publication which
is in several cases. The site isn't too
user friendly. To go to the next case click
on the arrow at the bottom of each web page.
http://www.unesco.org/csi/pub/source/ero7.htm
MEET YOUR NEIGHBORS - Wayne Kelly and
Karla Nelson
Wayne Kelly and Karla Nelson are within
two months of making a permanent move to
the Costa Maya. It will be great to have
some more permanent residents. Read about
them and see a picture of their Costa Maya
home http://www.mayanbeachgarden.com/PropertyOwners_spotlight.html
Expect the next newsletter to be just as
brief because we will be leaving for the
US for a couple of weeks and unable to get
news as readily.
Back
to top
*************************************************
Updated:
02-May-2008
|