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Exclusive Area Guide
Mayakoba
A resort built into the mangrove north of Playa del Carmen, a championship golf course that has hosted the PGA Tour and LIV Golf, and a planned residential city of its own across the highway. Three very different places behind one name.
One name, three places
Mayakoba sits on the coast between Playa del Carmen and Puerto Morelos, and the first thing to understand is that the name covers three separate developments that share a developer and very little else.
The resort side, on the sea side of Federal Highway 307, is the original Mayakoba: roughly 620 acres of mangrove, freshwater canals and beach, with four hotels, the El Camaleón golf course and a small number of branded residences. Ciudad Mayakoba, on the inland side of the highway, is a planned residential city of gated villages, schools, clinics and parks, at a completely different price level. Mayakoba Country Club is the top of that inland plan: large lots around an eighteen hole championship course of its own.
People arrive here having read about a hotel and end up buying in a village across the road, or the other way round. The three are worth separating before you look at a single listing, because the entry price, the paperwork and the daily life are not remotely the same.
Canals, not roads
The resort side is built around navigable freshwater canals cut through the mangrove, with boats moving between the hotels.
Two golf courses
El Camaleón inside the resort and the Sergio García course at Mayakoba Country Club inland.
Conservation by design
More than a third of Ciudad Mayakoba is kept as conservation land, with wildlife crossings between the villages.
Closest to the airport
Around thirty minutes from Cancún International, closer than anywhere further south on the corridor.
How Mayakoba was built
Mayakoba is the reference point for low density development on this coast, and that reputation was earned by the way it was built: the canals were dredged and the buildings placed between the mangrove rather than on top of it. The inland city came later, and it is the part still growing today.
The land is developed by OHL, the Spanish infrastructure group whose Mexican arm later became part of RLH Properties. Rather than clear the mangrove, the plan cuts a network of freshwater canals through it and sets the buildings on the higher ground between them.
Fairmont Mayakoba is the first hotel to operate, and the Greg Norman designed El Camaleón golf course opens the same year, laid out through jungle, canals and two oceanfront holes.
El Camaleón becomes the first course in Latin America to host a PGA Tour event. The tournament runs here through 2022, and the exposure turns Mayakoba from a resort into a name recognised well outside Mexico.
Rosewood Mayakoba opens on the beach with its lagoon suites, and Banyan Tree follows with pool villas along the canals. The three hotel model, plus residences, is established.
Andaz Mayakoba adds a younger, more urban product to the mix and brings the resort side to four operating hotels sharing one gate, one golf course and one canal system.
The developer takes the brand inland and builds the first planned population centre in Quintana Roo: a residential city of gated villages, avenues with underground utilities, bike lanes, schools and clinics, on the west side of the highway. Thousands of families now live there.
El Camaleón has hosted sixteen PGA Tour events, two LIV Golf dates and an LPGA tournament, while Mayakoba Country Club has opened its own Sergio García course inland. The resort side is essentially finished; the inland side is where the construction and most of the sales are.
The sea side: four hotels on the canals
The resort side is what made the name. Four hotels share around 620 acres of beach, mangrove and freshwater canal, connected by boats and buggies rather than public roads. It is a private, serviced enclave, and ownership here means a branded residence attached to one of those operations rather than a house in a neighbourhood.
The hotels
Four operations, each with its own beach or canal frontage, sharing the golf course and the gate.
- Rosewood Mayakoba, on the beach with lagoon suites
- Fairmont Mayakoba, the original, family oriented
- Banyan Tree Mayakoba, pool villas on the canals
- Andaz Mayakoba, the newest and most contemporary
What owners actually use
The amenity list is the hotels’ own, which is the point of buying here.
- Beach clubs, pools and spas at each hotel
- Restaurants across the four properties
- Kayaks, hydrobikes and boat service on the canals
- El Camaleón golf and the practice facility
- Concierge, housekeeping and rental management
The trade off
Everything is serviced, and you pay for it in fees rather than in effort.
- Very limited inventory, mostly resale
- Entry prices in the low millions of dollars
- Hotel operated rental, with a revenue split
- Higher running costs than any inland option
- Fideicomiso required inside the coastal zone
If you are buying on the resort side, the document to read is the agreement with the hotel operator, not just the condominium regime. It sets the rental split, the owner usage rules and the annual charge for the services you are actually buying.
El Camaleón, and the course across the road
Golf is the reason a lot of buyers look at Mayakoba at all, and there are now two courses under the name, one on each side of the highway. They serve different owners.
El Camaleón, in the resort
Eighteen holes, par 72, designed by Greg Norman and opened in 2006, running through jungle, mangrove, limestone canals and two oceanfront holes. A cenote sits in the opening fairway.
- First course in Latin America to host a PGA Tour event
- Sixteen PGA Tour events, two LIV Golf dates, an LPGA tournament
- Jim McLean Golf School, the only one in Mexico
- 450 yard two sided driving range and short game area
- Audubon International certified sanctuary
- Five tee positions per hole
Mayakoba Country Club, inland
The residential course: eighteen championship holes designed by Sergio García, at the centre of the most exclusive village of the inland master plan.
- Built around large residential lots, not hotels
- Club house and residential amenities
- More than 220 lots delivered to date
- The option for owners who want to live on a course
What it costs to play
Neither course is bundled into a title, so this is a separate line in your annual budget. What you pay depends on which side of the highway you own on.
- Green fees or an annual membership, paid to the club
- Resort residences usually get preferential owner rates
- Country Club lots carry their own club structure
- Ciudad Mayakoba villages outside the Country Club have no golf rights
- Ask whether the membership transfers when you sell
Neither course comes attached to a title. Green fees or a membership are paid separately, and what your purchase includes differs between the resort residences, the Country Club lots and the rest of Ciudad Mayakoba. Ask for it in writing.
The city across the highway
This is where most of the buying happens. Ciudad Mayakoba is a planned residential city on the inland side of the highway, the first of its kind in Quintana Roo: around 560 hectares of gated villages, avenues with underground utilities, schools, clinics, parks and conservation land. Several thousand families already live there, which is what separates it from a project still selling off a plan.
How it is built
Infrastructure first, which is unusual on this coast and is the reason the address holds value.
- Concrete avenues with utilities underground
- 27 km of pedestrian paths and 24 km of bike lanes
- Facial recognition cameras, speed radars, controlled access
- Cenotes and biological corridors kept inside the plan
- More than 35% of the land held as conservation
- 25 wildlife crossings between the villages
The villages
Each gated village has its own product, price level and amenity club.
- Senderos, single family lots to build on
- Lagunas, gated homes and lots
- Jardines de Mayakoba, two and three bedroom condominiums from around USD 75,000
- Bosques, apartments in the conservation belt
- Parques, the higher density residential offer
- Mayakoba Country Club, the golf village
Who it suits
A different buyer from the resort side, and often a full time one.
- Families moving to the Riviera Maya permanently
- Buyers who want to build their own house
- Retirees who want walkability and services
- Investors at an entry price the coast cannot match
- Anyone who wants Mayakoba without the beachfront cost
The name on the gate is the same, but a lot in Ciudad Mayakoba and a residence inside the resort are two different markets. Do not let a listing use one to justify the price of the other.
Mayakoba Country Club
The most exclusive village of the inland plan, and the only place under the Mayakoba name where you can own a large lot on a championship course. The eighteen hole layout is designed by Sergio García, and it sits directly across the highway from the resort, so owners are minutes from the beach and the hotels without paying beachfront prices.
Product here is land and custom homes rather than apartments: you buy a lot, build to the community’s design guidelines and end up with a house on a fairway. More than 220 lots have been delivered so far, which means the streets, the planting and the club are real rather than promised.
It is the natural answer for the buyer who wants golf at home, space for a family and a gate, and who does not need to be on the sand.
Sergio García course
Eighteen championship holes at the centre of the village.
Build your own
Large lots with design guidelines that keep the streets consistent.
Gated and delivered
Over 220 lots handed over, with infrastructure already in the ground.
Across from the resort
Minutes to the Mayakoba gate, the beach and Playa del Carmen.
What you can actually buy here
Mayakoba covers a wider price range than any other name on this coast, from a residential lot you build on to a branded residence inside a hotel operation. Prices below are starting points from current inventory and move with the exchange rate, the village and the phase of construction.
The lowest entry under the Mayakoba name is a two bedroom condominium in Jardines de Mayakoba, from around USD 75,000. Single family lots in villages such as Senderos open near USD 100,000 and run to roughly USD 170,000 for the better positions, and finished homes start in the low USD 300,000s.
Large lots on and around the Sergio García course, sold for owners to build to the community’s guidelines. Lot size, golf frontage and phase drive the number, so we quote per lot from live inventory rather than from a price list.
Full ownership inside the resort, attached to one of the hotel operations, with its services and rental programme. Inventory is a handful of units at any moment and almost all of it is resale.
Before you buy: the rules that change the numbers
Confirm which side of the highway you are on
The resort side is inside the restricted coastal zone and needs a fideicomiso. Parts of the inland plan sit outside it and can be held directly. That single fact changes your closing costs and your annual bank fee, so it is confirmed lot by lot before an offer.
Golf is a separate contract
Neither El Camaleón nor the Country Club course comes with a title. Ask what your purchase includes, what a membership or green fee costs, and whether it is transferable when you sell.
Rental rules are per village
On the resort side the hotel runs the rental. Inland, some villages allow vacation rental and others limit leases to longer terms. Read the regime and its rules before making an offer.
Two fees, not one
Most villages charge a village fee for their own club and streets plus a master community fee for the wider plan. Ask for both, in writing, for the last three years.
Sending your money from the US or Canada
Funds move by international wire from your bank to the notary or to the developer trust account, never in cash. Plan two to four business days, a currency conversion that is usually better through a specialist exchange house than through a retail bank, and the source of funds paperwork that both your bank and the notary will ask for. See financing and payment options.
Between Playa del Carmen and the airport
Both sides of Mayakoba are reached from Federal Highway 307 around kilometre 298, north of Playa del Carmen and south of Puerto Morelos. The resort gate is on the sea side, the Ciudad Mayakoba gate directly opposite on the inland side.
It is the closest of the big Riviera Maya communities to Cancún International, which matters if you fly in often or rent the property out, and it is still ten minutes from the beach and a short drive from Fifth Avenue.
Interactive map · Mayakoba, Ciudad Mayakoba and the Country Club
Reasons to choose Mayakoba
A name the market already knows
Sixteen PGA Tour events, LIV Golf and an LPGA tournament have put this address on television for two decades. When you sell, you are not explaining where your property is.
Infrastructure that already exists
Underground utilities, finished avenues, bike lanes, schools and clinics on the inland side, and a finished resort on the sea side. Very little here is a promise on a rendering.
Entry from USD 75,000 to seven figures
A two bedroom condominium in Jardines de Mayakoba and a branded residence inside the resort sit within a kilometre of each other. Very few destinations let you pick your level and keep the same address.
Closest to the airport, and a low property tax
Thirty minutes from Cancún International keeps rental demand and resale liquidity high. Property tax in Quintana Roo is also a fraction of what an equivalent home costs in the United States or Canada, so the annual cost of holding is far lower than it looks.
Is Ciudad Mayakoba the same as Mayakoba?
No. Same developer and name, opposite sides of the highway, and completely different price levels. The resort is on the sea; the city is inland.
Can I buy inside the resort?
Yes, but inventory is tiny and starts in the low millions. Most of it is resale of branded residences attached to a hotel operation.
Is the golf included?
No. El Camaleón and the Country Club course are both paid separately, by green fee or membership. Confirm what your purchase includes.
Can a foreigner own here?
Yes. On the coastal side through a fideicomiso, a renewable bank trust with full ownership rights. Some inland lots can be held directly, which we confirm before an offer.
More questions before you buy? Read our buyer FAQ.
Comparing communities? Golf and a beach club behind one gate: Corasol. More space per dollar, slightly inland: Selvamar.
Looking at Mayakoba?
We will tell you which side of the highway suits what you actually want, what the golf and the village fees really cost each year, and which villages allow the rental you have in mind.
