Puerto Aventuras coed sets
new Mexico free-dive record
By Staff
Here’s a story that could leave you breathless. Camila Jaber Lara, 20, of Puerto Aventuras, broke the Mexico women’s national free-dive record by descending 65 meters (213 feet) in 2 minutes and 45 seconds during recent world competition in San Andres, Colombia.
The earlier record for Mexican women was 58 meters, or 190.3 feet. The current world record for women is 160 meters (524 feet).
The daughter of Felix Jaber and Georgina Lara of Puerto Aventuras Boulevard, Miss Jaber, whose early education was at the local Colegio and in Playa del Carmen, is currently an environmental engineering student at the Technical College in Monterrey. She is preparing for world championship competition to be held in April at Long Island, Bahamas, where she hopes to best her own record. She said the event there is akin to “the Wimbledon of tennis.”
Her performance in Colombia generated enthusiasm among peer observers, as reported in the official results that had her “showing great potential.” On her first-day dive of the 6-day competition, “she retrieved the tag at 61 meters” parlaying that into the new national record 65 meter dive the following day.
For the laymen, free diving is an endurance sport that relies on a diver’s ability to hold his or her breath and withstand changes in atmospheric pressure without use of any breathing apparatus. Miss Jaber is able to hold her breath during fitness exercises for 4.5 minutes, a feat accomplished in only three years of training in the sport.
An engaging conversationalist with the calm demeanor of a Tibetan monk, she said she “started free-diving because, from living in Puerto Aventuras, I fell in love with the ocean and I wanted to be able to enjoy it. Free-diving gives me the freedom I was looking for,” Miss Jaber said during an interview while visiting her parents for the holidays.
The diving champ goes into a completely opposite direction for her recreational sport as a member of the college’s rock climbing club, scaling walls upwards ashore- and then diving downward asea.
The dives are made from a special platform that fits a team of four with room to prepare by relaxing muscles, organizing the mind and concentrating on breathing. Meanwhile, a team handles a line she will use to guide her dive. The line is set at the pre-determined goal chosen by the diver. A small tag, or flag, is attached to the desired depth that the diver must retrieve to prove the goal has been reached.
“My ankle is tethered to the guide line for safety. I have a diver’s watch at my wrist, an alarm at my ear to help warn when I have reached my goal, and a nose guard,” she explained, “but no breathing apparatus.”
Free-divers benefit from a reaction known as “mammalian dive reflex.” Briefly noted, it slows the heart when the body descends into water, thus requiring less oxygen. Nonetheless, the practiced but non-competitive free-diver reaches a limit of about three minutes total under water, compared to Miss Jaber’s current 4.5 minutes and climbing.
She said her descent was guided by the line for 25 meters after which she went into free-fall until reaching and retrieving the flag. On her way up, as all divers are, she was met at 30 meters from the surface by two divers to assist if necessary in the event of an emergency.
Miss Jaber is now certified to teach free-diving fitness training and has been conducting classes here during the holiday college break. Her next course here begins Jan. 8 for three days. “The only prerequisite is knowing how to swim,” she said. Of her own enthusiasm for the sport, she explains that “free-diving for me is meditation in movement. Scuba divers dive to look around, free-divers dive into ourselves.”
She is now also busy soliciting sponsorships for the April competition in the Bahamas that will cost about $8,000 USD. Her contacts for sponsorship and instruction:
Facebook: www.facebook.com/CamilaJaberFreediver
Email:camilajaberfreedive@gmail.com
Phone:9841133981
Paypal account:camilajaber@hotmail.com
Assembly 3…
How to beat the deadbeats
is a universal condo enigma
Staff Commentary:
The recurring and frustrating riddle of getting freeloading owners to pay their condo maintenance fees came up again at the Dec. 20 Colonos Assembly.
While the Colonos itself has its share of parasites, the problem, we are told, affects most condo associations in varying degrees. Condo administrators realize by now that these spongers abuse the system with impunity because they can!
There is not enough push-back from condo administrators and boards, not enough thinking outside the box and an appalling lack of legal tools provided by various levels of government to end this highly inequitable practice by some opportunistic owners.
During the Assembly, condo administrator Carlos Suarez, who is a member of the Colonos Vigilance Committee, proposed one cooperative effort by administrators and the Colonos. Briefly, administrators could write to the Colonos asking that gate-cards of an egregious deadbeats be revoked. The Colonos appeared amenable to the proposal.
The idea, unfortunately, is more like a slap on the wrist and not sufficient to extract payments from absentee owners who pocket the rent, don’t need the gate card, don’t pay the fee, and laugh all the way to the bank.
Elevate the Suarez proposal to the next level, as was reportedly done several years ago at one condo by a group of owners. A deadbeat who hadn’t paid a dime in about four years and haughtily rejected pleas for payment, came back one weekend to find the unit’s water valve had been shut off.
He turned it back on. The next day, he found the water pipe severed. His offer to pay pitifully partial arrears out of more than four years was rejected by the condo board. A short time later he sold the unit to somebody who pays the fee on time like the majority of owners do, and the arrears were collected at sale. It worked!
Problem is, apparently, shutting off water is illegal. Why? It isn’t potable and therefore not a major health threat. This is one of many outdated laws riding the books that are illogical and biased and need updating. Does not the water concessionaire legally deprive homeowners of water when they don’t pay the water bill? Does ePura or Bonafant leave a five-gallon jug by your door if the money isn’t there? Can you walk out of Chedraui with a 5-gallon jug of potable water without paying?
Suarez explains that condos usually have only one meter so it can’t be shut. The water payment is made from the common condo treasury that includes the deadbeat units, meaning the other owners are paying the deadbeat’s water bill, furnishing a free ride for the moment. But each unit, usually, has its own set of water pipes that could be individually constrained and, as we mentioned above, has been done with a good and equitable result.
Suarez says administrators themselves cannot legally deprive a non-paying unit of water. However, could not the same process as proposed by Suarez with the Colonos to cancel gate cards be made with the local, private water concession?
Could not a request in writing to the water concession saying that unit such and such isn’t paying its share (water bill divided by number of units = average cost) and request service be ended at that unit until maintenance payment is received? Could not condo owners provide the concessionaire reason to act by withholding the deadbeat shares of the condo association’s water bill payment?
Could not legislators be lobbied to modify the water law as it regards resort properties whose owners, it is generally presumed, can afford to make the payments?
The non-payment curse is a preventable drain on association financial/manpower resources and an effrontery to the majority of paying owners. A solution must exist. First, shed the pervasive “can’t do” mindset that impedes progress on this front, then tackle the Devil’s details and get it done.
Drawing worshop in all techniques – graphite, prismacolor, inks and waterolor to name a few – begin today (Wednesday, Jan. 6) from 4 to 7 p.m. at the Information and Art Center. Oil painting classes continue at the same place every Wednesday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.… Trivial Pursuits Sunday, Jan. 10, 2016, 4 p.m. at Latitude 20 with Shannon Rachynski. Proceeds go to the needy. The Dec. 13 trivial game collected gifts and raised 3,000 pesos with which to buy more gifts for the children of the poblado … Annual road race scheduled for Sunday, Jan. 31. Time is getting short so sign up at the Colonos office. There are 10K and 5K races and shorter jaunts for children. More information later. About 30 volunteers are needed for two days before and the day of the race to help with various activities to make this successful event continue. Sign up at or call the Colonos office to volunteer and help your community. (984-873-5116).… Group Spanish lessons are returning to Puerto Aventuras this year with Maestra Gloria Contreras who has been teaching informal groups here for quite a few years. Classes will be held Tuesdays and Thursdays at 11:30 a.m. for beginners and 12:30 p.m. for advanced and intermediate. Contact her at gloriatraducciones@hotmail.com or call cel 984-108-3517 for more information… Christmas tree collection for recycling will be at the recycling center at the skate park this Friday, Feb. 8 and also on Friday, Feb. 5. between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m… Also upcoming is cooler weather, says the weatherman, a return to local schools today (Wednesday Jan.6) and re-opening of the INM office in Playa after being closed since before Christmas…
Commerce Corner…
Non-government agency claims
PA’s population about 22,000
By Staff
A population study of Puerto Aventuras by a non-government organization (NGO) called “Coexistence” predicts a Puerto Aventuras population of 22,000 between 2014-2018, a much higher figure than the roughly 9,000 counted in a 2014 municipal census.
Authorities explain that the municipal census was marred by lack of cooperation from residents who didn’t return polling papers or answer the door to pollsters because they were at work.
An alarming claim in the study is that Puerto Maya is growing so rapidly that infrastructure is unable to keep pace, leaving too many children without early childhood education for lack of local school space. Some 22 percent of the population figure reportedly represents children under 15.
Another growth spurt in Puerto Maya is expected when developers begin building more homes in the community’s third development phase. The report lists Puerto Maya with 16,000 residents and Puerto Aventuras at around 5,000.
An informal count of the resort population by the Colonos in 2013 showed around 1,500 permanent residents, increasing to about 2,200 in the high season.
Novamar insurance expands
representation in Puerto
Novamar Insurance Mexico spokesman Michael Kelleher reports addition of staff covering the Riviera Maya from its Puerto Aventuras base.
“Novamar Insurance México (MGI Agente de Seguros, S.A. de C.V has named Mick Hoffman, partner in Paradise Professionals with Launa ‘Cha Cha’ Brockman, as exclusive agent here. Hoffman has more than 40 years of experience as an insurance attorney in the United States before settling in Puerto three years ago.
The addition of Hoffman adds broader coverage opportunities and efficient service to this area, Keller said.He said the company has designed special insurance programs to fill the void of well-designed insurance options for homeowners, renters, and condo complex associations tailored specifically for ex-pats and snowbirds.” he said.,
"We can now provide residents and condominium complexes coverage through US agents, brokers and expert claims specialists via a US company with international backing and local service in Mexico".
"Novamar has developed specialized coverages with flexibility to select tailored plans for properties with replacement value or market value, glass breakage, electronics, jewelry, theft, with or without hurricane coverage, even for renters, and also, special endorsements for tenants or renters. The plans can also include coverage for golf carts,” Hoffman added.
Novamar Insurance México provides comprehensive insurance for businesses, boats and autos as well. Contact Hoffman at mickhoffman@gmail.com or Cel 984-125-4612.
Click the Novamar icon at left to learn more about the company and its products.
Where is it?…
Debit card awakens after 8-day coma
By Staff
Last week we reported what we saw as difficulties renewing our debit card at Bancomer. We admit we are spoiled by the model of efficient customer service in North American banking that is fueled by government oversight, competition, studied business sense and the will and training to assure exemplary service and information practices.
US banks, for example, take the initiative to mail you a renewal card with the same numbers that requires only a one-minute phone call to activate. At Bancomer here, in contrast, we had a nearly two-hour wait at a branch office and made to sign a bunch of papers. We were then given new cards by a customer service (?) representative with different numbers than the old ones.
We asked if the cards were then active and we were told they were ready for use by the customer service (?) agent. But they weren’t. Soriana refused it. Sam’s Club, where a clerk told us we had to wait 24 hours, refused it. A US credit card bailed us out.
The holidays were upon us and the banks were closed. We tried to activate the card via the internet but it didn’t work. Something might have been lost in translation. During the holiday respite, a friend suggested we call one of the numbers on the back of the card. We did. Another 15 minutes on the phone and we were told we need to slip the cards in an ATM machine to activate them using our old pin number. We never use an ATM machine, nor do we intend to because we plan not to need to. Would the old pin number work or were we supposed to have a new one? Our cards went into an 8-day coma over the holidays.
On the first Monday of the new year, we went to the bank at 9:02 a.m. Do your banking early for faster service. A guard at the door led us to an English-speaking customer representative. We explained the problem. She showed us how to use the ATM to activate the cards. All was done in five minutes. An email from the bank at precisely the time we activated the card at the ATM was waiting for us on our computer at home. It said, in translation, “This is the notice to confirm the (activation) operation, the only official proof is the statement that issued BBVA Bancomer.”
We refrain from overly criticizing the way the bank conducts its business here, but we do suggest it become more sensitive to non-Spanish speaking residents by preparing some instructions in English on how to proceed on those transactions. It would save time and aggravation on both sides.That being said, we quote the bard: “All’s well that ends well.”
The Roundup…
Gasoline prices dropped by 3 percent last week. Magna went from $13.57 per liter (78 cents USD) to $13.16 (76 cents) or $1.60 per gallon. (76 cents/liter x 2.11 liters = 160 cents per gallon, or $1.60 per gallon.) Similar reductions were made for premium and diesel products. Next month, prices will fluctuate in a 3 percent range monthly as more fuel imports hit the Mexican market…
Not to be outdone, the CFE (Mexican Federal Electricity Commission) and SHC (Finance Secretariat) jointly announced a 2 percent rate reduction for low-consumption households beginning this week. Other user rates will be regulated and updated monthly by the SHC…
The Red Cross Ambulance is back in Akumal but for how long depends on the willingness of locals to support it financially. Activist Marieke Brown said the community needs 65,000 pesos per month for the year and so far is 20,000 pesos short. “We are looking for kind individuals and businesses to help us to raise this and keep the ambulance in Akumal permanently. Here is the link to make a donation,” she said. https://www.paypal.com/us/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_flow&SESSION=xRZzj8dBUBbGYAb-hwehoSWZtWsxymoiqRfTCW8gW1fdhwHjUMGj5_XONCO&dispatch=5885d80a13c0db1f8e263663d3faee8d69a70501aadbc2ff6a1e7e8cc0df6b0b
Solidaridad recorded 14 of the 95 cases of Chikungunya reported in the northern part of the state and also registered 750 cases of dengue fever, 60 percent more than in 2014. Officials say part of the problem is that some private properties prevent health officials from spraying. In PA, the Colonos sprays religiously but can’t reach every drop of water on leaves or in tree trunks where skeeters incubate, say administrators…
Rumor has it that the aeropista in Playa del Carmen, just off Highway 307, may close operations sometime in February, meaning, it is presumed, the landing strip in Puerto Aventuras will be ready? Thus far, the supposed road to the strip located at the retorno to Chedraui continues to be barricaded. (See aerial photo…)
The new year was off to a bad start in Playa del Carmen where a gang-related murder and a traffic fatality involving an ambulance striking a pedestrian in the Colonia Luis Donaldo Colosia just north of the tourist zone occurred. Also, a family of six suffered injuries when their speeding car slammed into a cement wall on Playa del Carmen Boulevard (under the overpass) and a pedestrian was hit by a car that didn’t stop then struck again by a taxi while lying on the road. The victim is reported in serious condition at the hospital… Meanwhile, hotel occupancy rates in Playa were down about 4 percent from last year’s holiday surge… And new mayor Gisel Mota of Temixco, a city of 100,000 south of Mexico City, took the oath of office on New Year’s Day last Friday and was immediately murdered by four masked gunmen the next day, making international news pages. Three suspects have been arrested including a woman and a minor and two others were killed in shootout with police…
Small-scale pot farmers in Mexico say US laws liberalizing marijuana use has cut badly into their business. Farmers north of the border increased their crops legally to generate 2013-2014 sales of $2.7billion, up from $1.5 billion, while Mexico’s farmers have seen prices drop from $100 per kilo to $30, causing some small farmers to give it up, reports the Arc View Group, a cannabis industry investment and research company….
Beachfront businesses in Playa continued to devise methods to keep sargassum off the beaches, the latest being the use of a long net that works fairly well in calm waters, not so much in rough water, according to reports… Cost of admission to the AAA archeological sites in the area has been increased to 65 pesos. The sites include Tulum, Coba, Maya Museum of Cancun among others out of this area. The AA site of Xcaret and Xel Ha will also cost 65 pesos to visit the ruins only…
Rubbish collection for the Solidaridad municipality averages 500 tons a day. But an influx of tourists including a surge of 5- and 6-member families from Montreal, Canada, at some condo complexes helped boost the holiday collections to 750 tons. Some of it was left uncollected in locations such as Puerto Aventuras to fester for a day or two, generating strong odors as did overuse of sewerage facilities. It also generated more robust rodent activity as more fat raccoons were seen flitting about…
Nature Watch…
Nature is hard to watch
when covered with debris
By Staff
Inger Bjerre is the proud owner of a gorgeous apartment on Caleta Xel-Ha overlooking the sprawling marina vista on one side and a partial rooftop view of the rolling sea on the other. In between the sea and her unit is a private empty lot for sale that’s been transformed into a visual disturbance. Construction workers for various companies, including the Colonos, have used the lot to mix cement for nearby jobs, destroying natural growth along the sidewalk, chopping or otherwise downing flora, creating mounds of rotting brush and just leaving it all there when the jobs are done.
The lot is no different than many others in the community that fall victim to what appears to be a belief by contractors that part of their destiny to create dumps on other people’s land alongside their new buildings.
“We are asked by the Colonos board to ‘do our share’ to help keep the community clean, yet this practice goes on, destroying the views of people who have paid good money for a nice place to live,” Ms. Bjerre said.
Colonos general manager Armando Rincon said workers installing new lights on the road recently did use the lot and Ms. Bjerre noted that workers on a building next to hers also used it at about the same time to mix cement, leaving unsightly gravel and cement particles on the sod sidewalk that people could trip on.
Left to Mother Nature’s whims, empty lots throughout the community could stand more like coddled pocket parks if only contractors did not violate them, Ms. Bjerre inferred. She suggests that security personnel making the rounds should stop and inquire of workers who are seen dumping trash or making cement in private empty lots – probably without owners’ permission – be asked to provide the contractor’s name and phone number if possible so the Colonos would know who to contact to clean and haul the mess away.
In true “practice what you preach” fashion, Ms. Bjerre did recently approach workers making cement at the lot across from her condo to inquire who they were working for. “The Colonos,” they replied. They were working on the street light improvement project. Oops!
Rincon said the Colonos regularly tries to clean private lots, in deference to concern for local health maintenance, before every mosquito season and collects its own construction leavings when a job is done. That is a practice that all contractors should follow, said Ms. Bjerre, if the bPuerto Aventuras paradise is to remain a jewel in the Mayan Riviera’s crown.
The Mail Bag…
Osmosis plan reversed
Dear Editor:
Any more news about the proposed ferry from Southern United States and the Yucatan Peninsula? And what happened to the reverse osmosis system to purify the water that was proposed for Puerto Aventuras? As much as we pay for water, you cannot drink it.
Signed/Jerry Sutherland
(Ed.Note: We have already published a story the ferry service has again been postponed another year. Similarly, we have reported the merger of the water concessionaire with a foreign firm that was expected to construct the reverse osmosis infrastructure didn’t work out. The water concession remains the same.)
On providing a service
Dear Editor:
Thank you for this wonderful publication! We are new to Paamul and learn so much from every story. And happy holidays!
Signed/ Gina Dixon Roemer
(Ed. Note: Welcome to Paamul and thank you for the feedback. It’s always nice to know we are are being useful.)
Sometimes, the sword is mightier than the pen
Dear Editor:
Capt. Freddy of the Knotty Hooker put owners Rhonda and Gary Johnson on quite a fish! Over 450-pound swordfish! Although several have been caught here, none that big. Several have been seen much bigger though- an 800-pounder beached off Puerto Morelos and I saw a 900-plus pounder around the Barcelo four years ago. In the 26 years I have been here, I usually see one or two a year, but this was a beauty. Swordfish are around in this area, but usually not targeted by Charter boats since the gear is very specialized (expensive) and odds are not that great.
Signed/Andy Beltran
PRODUCTION DEADLINES: The Pelican Free Press encourages and welcomes public announcements of events and activities. The deadline for publication in any given week is Monday at 5 p.m. for production mid-week, usually Wednesday. Thank you.
The End