We are in July, our rainy season. July and August are normally the months of our ‘veranillo’ – the little summer. The little summer is the gorgeous time during the rainy season when the sun shines all day and it rains only at night, the waves are fun and we have visitors here for their family holidays. This year we have all of those things, but not so many visitors as normal!
Our part of the country is currently in yellow alert – which means we do not yet have any coronavirus cases and we are on ‘phase 3’ of reopening. Our beaches are open from 5am to 9.30am – so we are all surfing early! Masks are required to be worn in all shops, the bank, the pharmacy, etc. Restaurants and hotels are open at 50% capacity. Restaurants are only allowed to open until 10pm during the week and 7pm on the weekends, reflecting the night-time driving restrictions in place.
The borders remain closed at the moment, so we do not have the same number of foreign visitors as would be expected in a normal July. But there is nonetheless movement in town – people are going out to enjoy the restaurants that are open and we have had some visitors from other parts of the country – either visiting for an extended weekend or deciding to stay here for a few months.
Whilst we are very far from a normal July, life is ticking along. We are still working, doing showings and taking listings (following health protocols to make sure everyone stays safe). Various building projects in town continue to progress – such as the new mall opposite the Green World and a number of private homes. And the muni continues with various projects – they just finished paving the beach road down to Playa Carmen (it looks really nice!) and have installed new concrete drainage on certain parts of the main road in northern Santa Teresa.
This quiet time is the perfect opportunity to explore town away from the beach – hiking in the hills, mountain biking and nature watching. Even if the hours that we can enjoy the beach are restricted, we still have the incredible forest to enjoy, with all its beautiful creatures and amazing inhabitants.