Believe it or not, we did some things in Playa del Carmen that didn’t involve work on our condo. Toward the end of our remodel, we found ourselves with more free time and honestly, we haven’t really relaxed, or had a vacation, in Playa since we have owned the place. It was time to take it easy and do some of the fun things in the area.
Fore!
The first thing we decided to check out was golf. Thanks to my trainer, my back and knees felt good enough to give it a try. Golf in the area is geared toward soaking funds from tourists with fat wallets. Even in the off-season, prices range from $100-$300pp at most courses and we found four different courses in the area. Being residents, we have some decent deals available.
There is a Hard Rock golf course in the Playacar area on the south side of town. We were able to get a 2-for-1 all-inclusive deal with a cart for a little over $100 total. All-inclusive meant beer/soda/water on the course and lunch. Not a bad deal. They had just seeded the back nine, so we played the front twice. The course was decent and we enjoyed the flora and fauna, too. I’ve heard the deal went away due to some abuse by locals. I hope it comes back so we can take advantage of it again.
The day we went was a real scorcher with very high humidity. We were happy to have extra towels with us that we could soak in cold water periodically. The heat made it difficult to play come the back nine, but I was actually able to play 15 holes before my back objected. I was pretty happy considering I haven’t touched my clubs in a few years. As you can imagine, wandering around the world with minimal luggage doesn’t put golf at the forefront of our minds. Since our clubs now live in Playa, I want to explore the other courses in the area.
Getting Rid of Our Extra Stuff
With the arrival of our furniture and other stuff and our desire to not rent an outside storage unit, we had lots to sell and give away. For example, we determined we just couldn’t keep Mike’s red Craftsman toolbox, it was just too big. To address the issue, Mike found two smaller toolboxes we can fit easily into the storage space inside the condo. Problem solved. Now, we had the toolbox to get rid of. However, once I told our contractors, they were willing to pay the small sum I was asking for it and take the amount off of what I still owed them. Overall, they provided far more help with selling things than we had anticipated.
In addition to the big red toolbox, the arrival of our furniture left us with one king mattress and bed frame to get rid of. There was also the queen cherry bed frame, the first piece of furniture that Mike and I bought together. We had been storing it and since I couldn’t get rid of it in Las Vegas when we unloaded the box, we had it moved to Playa. I have no use for it there so it needed to be sold. Other items for sale were our old refrigerator, a big dresser, and the dining room chairs that we replaced last fall.
Selling Items
I mentioned needing to sell things to our neighbors and I was told that one of the guys who works at the front desk knows how to do that in the area. He will sell things for a small cut of the sales price. I was sure happy to hear that. The only problem was the space our stuff occupied and our limited time to dispose of everything. The refrigerator was sold to one of the guys working on our condo. I actually had a minor bidding war on that one because I priced it too cheap. The mattress and bedframes were pretty easy to sell, albeit at far below their true value.
In the last two weeks we were there, I still had the dresser, some baskets, and the old dining room chairs to deal with. I had a buyer for the dresser but she needed to borrow a truck and some strong guys to get it down from the upstairs bedroom. Because of the weight of the dresser and the lack of experience of the guys helping, the process took over an hour, scratched my walls, and broke at least one of the legs. But in the end, the thing was gone along with two of the four baskets and I was happy. Finally, people who work at the beach club took the dining room chairs and the carpenters took the last two baskets.
What to Do With the Extra Clothes
I had weeded my clothes before we packed up in the Bay Area and at least twice in Las Vegas. Yet, there were still loads of clothes and shoes that needed to be disposed of. Both because I would never wear them (blazers and heels) and because they didn’t fit anymore (I’ve lost a lot of weight). In the States, I would load everything up and bring it to Goodwill. But they don’t have such things in Playa. Again, my contractor came to the rescue. She knew someone who resold clothes and would take it all. Yeah! Everything that I didn’t want was finally gone!!!
In the end, we were left with a condo that had all of our remaining stuff, mostly locked up and was ready to rent again. That was our goal for the day we left and happily, we were able to make that happen.
Hot Weather, Rainy Season, and A Hurricane
I can tell you I have no plans to stay in Playa over the summer if I can avoid it. From March on, it got hotter and hotter and more humid. Even with the new fans on the patio, there were times we just couldn’t sit out there. Also, as some of you know, hurricane season runs from June through October. Our first hurricane hit just after we left. Fortunately, our property manager takes everything on the patios indoors and secures all of the apartments they rent, ours included. Our building manager puts lounge chairs in the pool so they won’t become projectiles. So while we were in Europe, we watched hurricane news. Happily, I can say that we didn’t get a direct hit and overall there was very little damage in Playa. But that didn’t mean everything was “peachy”.
Leaking Roofs
I was left to enjoy my perfect home and kitchen for only about two days. Inevitably, something always breaks just before we are about to leave and this time was no exception. While we have some flexibility in our schedules, long-distance air travel isn’t one of those things. That leaves us to deal with things as best we can while we are still there and trust others to take care of things when we are gone. So, what happened, you ask? We had a big rain at the beginning of last week. Mike woke me up at 5 am to show me the three fairly substantial leaks in our living room, so we put out buckets and I removed the ceiling recessed lights because the extra water was coming through them. Our upstairs patio was leaking badly into our living room. The property manager said all of the patios leaked, which didn’t make me feel any better.
Consulting the Building Engineer
We called the building engineer for help and learned that the water could be coming in from the patio itself, the drain on the patio, or even the neighbor’s patio. That would have been the worst case. After some testing and trial and error, we determined that the leak was from the patio itself and our drain. So, Mike and our engineer went to Home Depot to buy sealer and used it on the area of the roof we thought was the worst. No luck. All of the leaking continued. In the end, Mike worked over WhatsApp with our property manager to hire a guy to seal the whole deck and replace the drain. We hope that will take care of things until we return in November.
We think the long-term solution is removing all of the tiles on the patio, properly sealing the roof, and then replacing the tile. That is a big job and one we didn’t want to attempt in absentia. Also, we didn’t have a lot of confidence in another vendor who gave us the first huge estimate. In addition, our property manager replaced some of the ceiling sheetrock and made the living room habitable again. We are hoping for the seal holds for at least a few months.
Making New Friends and Getting to Know the Neighbors
During our visit last fall, we made an effort to get to know our neighbors, especially those who are in Playa for a significant portion of the year. We are fortunate to have a lovely couple living just three doors down from us. In addition to enjoying dinners and drinks with them, they have loaned us tools and stored our freezer food when we leave for a short time. They even offered to help with things when we were gone. The best part is that our neighbor, Joe, is on the owner advisory board and is usually privy to most things going on with the building. We are really happy to have an inside track.
Mike, being the social butterfly he is, organized an owner meet-up for drinks every other Thursday at the beach club. Most of the owners have been there for a long time and really know the ins and outs of things in Playa. A valuable resource when we have questions about how to get things done.
The happy hour session also turned out to be an eye-opening experience because we had heard stories about some of the more troublesome owners. We have now met some of the people who make the lives of our friend Joe and the building manager challenging. What stories we have heard. I find it very entertaining, and it is nice to know our neighbors so we can chat them up at the pool and the gym. It turns out there are relatively few owners who are there during the summer and things do become more lively during the high season, as expected. I’m looking forward to returning to Playa and deepening our relationship with our neighbors.
Working With a Trainer
One of the advantages of living in Playa part time is access to relatively cheap personal training. All of the trainers I tried came directly to the gym at our condo, which makes things really easy. After trying a few, I finally settled on a trainer I liked and she was the least expensive too. She is also knowledgeable enough to work with my pain and injuries while still making sure that I’m strong and flexible.
Finding a trainer was one of the best things I did for myself. She even works with me over video on WhatsApp when we aren’t in Mexico. I wasn’t sure if that would work for me and there are a few time zone issues, but overall having that option has been great.
Also, there a two very good massage therapists located at our beach club. All I need to do is send them a message to get an appointment. For a very discounted price, I can have an hour or a two-hour massage. I’ve been indulging once per week and Mike is doing every other week. I find the massages to be integral to my feeling of well-being. Let’s hear it for taking care of yourself.
Finally, Food
I know everyone loves to see our food pictures so I’ve included some from all of our favorite restaurants. La Perla for Mexican food, Mae Thai, and India Jones, in addition to assorted taco places. Enjoy!
How would you like to spend your time in Playa del Carmen, when you aren’t remodeling your kitchen?
