When a buyer looks in the Riviera Maya for a community that is genuinely complete —not a single building or a trendy street, but a place to live year-round— the oldest and most established answer has a name of its own: Puerto Aventuras. It is a gated development of roughly 900 acres, built in the late 1980s around the only full-service, deep-water marina between Cancún and Belize. It was the first planned tourist-residential development in the Riviera Maya, and over the years it became something almost no destination in the Mexican Caribbean offers: a self-sufficient community with golf, its own beaches, a school, shops and 24/7 security within its gates.
This guide gathers, verified against official sources, everything that defines Puerto Aventuras in 2026: its 143-slip marina, the 9-hole golf course that opened the golf era in the Riviera Maya, the Dolphin Discovery dolphinarium, its three beaches and its cove, the school and services that make it livable all year, how to get there from Cancún airport, how a foreigner buys, and the 12 properties Nautilus has verified inside the development —from marina-front condos to oceanfront villas.
How is the Puerto Aventuras marina? 143 slips, deep water
The heart of Puerto Aventuras is its marina. Per its official operation it has 143 slips in total —110 in the North Marina and 33 in the South Marina— with room for boats up to 150 feet (slips range from 15 to 140 feet). This is no decorative basin: it is a full-service, deep-water marina, described as the only one of its kind along the entire coast between Cancún and Belize. It works as a port of entry with customs, offers diesel, gasoline, water, electricity, sewage pump-out, Wi-Fi and laundry, monitors VHF channel 79A and serves as a safe hurricane hole.
For anyone who lives by the sea, that translates into two things. The first is world-class offshore sport fishing: deep water begins just minutes from the inlet, home to marlin (white and blue), sailfish, tuna, wahoo and mahi-mahi. Puerto Aventuras, in fact, began as a sport-fishing enclave before it consolidated as a residential community. The second is diving and snorkeling: the marina is a gateway to the Mesoamerican Reef —the second largest in the world— and to the area's cenotes, with tour operators leaving from the harbor itself.
An honest note from Nautilus: you will sometimes read that Puerto Aventuras is "Mexico's first residential marina." We found no documented source to back that up, so we don't claim it. What is confirmed by the marina's own operation is that it is the only full-service, deep-water marina between Cancún and Belize, and one of the pioneering residential marina communities of the Riviera Maya.
Golf: 9 holes, par 36, designed by Tom Lehman — the first course in the Riviera Maya
The Puerto Aventuras Golf & Racquet Club holds a place in the destination's history: it is the first golf course ever built in the Riviera Maya, opened in 1991 and designed by PGA player Tom (Thomas) Lehman. It is a 9-hole, par-36 course on Bermuda grass, ringed by palms and tropical vegetation; because each hole has two tees, it can be played as an 18-hole round. It is not an 18-hole championship layout —those would come later to Playacar, Mayakoba and Corasol— but for a resident it means being able to walk nine holes in the morning inside your own community.
The "Golf & Racquet" name is no accident: the club pairs golf with tennis courts, so the community's sporting life revolves around the same complex.
Is there a dolphinarium in Puerto Aventuras? Dolphin Discovery
Inside the Puerto Aventuras marina operates one of the Dolphin Discovery habitats, one of the largest swim-with-dolphins operators in Mexico and the Caribbean. The habitat is home to dolphins, manatees and sea lions, and offers interaction programs at different intensity levels —from platform encounters to a "royal swim"— plus specific experiences with manatees (Manatee Encounter) and sea lions (Sea Lion Discovery). Program names and prices vary by season, so it's worth confirming them directly with the operator before booking; what is permanent is that it is a tourist anchor living inside the development itself.
Beaches and cove: Fatima Bay, Chan Yu Yum and Chac Hal Al
Puerto Aventuras was built around three bays, all with Maya names. Fatima Bay (Playa Aventuras) is the main beach: about 2.4 km (1.5 miles) of white sand with a shallow entry and a beach club, sheltered by breakwaters that create small ecosystems of fish and crustaceans. Chan Yu Yum Bay, to the north by the resort area, is the best spot for free snorkeling, and from there you can kayak or paddle to the Kantenah Lagoon. To the south lies Caleta Chac Hal Al, the cove proper: a rocky-shored inlet with a small ruins site and a more sheltered feel.
Snorkeling inside the bays you'll often see rays —including the spotted eagle ray—, moray eels, crabs, lobster, conch and, occasionally, a turtle. To swim with turtles almost reliably, the iconic spot is neighboring Akumal ("place of the turtles"), a few minutes north, where most tours leaving "from Puerto Aventuras" actually go. And Puerto Aventuras has its own cenote inside the development —the Cenote Media Luna—, with several more a few minutes away along Highway 307 (Cristalino, Azul, Chac Mool) and the Kantun-Chi eco-park in Xpu-Ha.
A self-sufficient community: school, shops and 24/7 security
What sets Puerto Aventuras apart from a resort or a stand-alone condo is that it works like a town. Colegio Puerto Aventuras has operated inside the community since 1992, with grades from preschool through high school, which makes it viable for families living here year-round. For daily life there are supermarkets —Chedraui (in the plaza across the highway) and Super Aki—, several pharmacies, convenience stores such as OXXO, and a marina retail area with boutiques, crafts and 40+ restaurants, from casual beachfront to dinner with a water view (Café Olé, open since 1995, O Sole Mio, Latitude 20, The Divot by the golf course, Ristorante Massimo, among others).
The community also keeps a piece of history: the CEDAM Museum, devoted to the Spanish shipwreck of the Matancero (1741) and to Mexico's diving pioneers. The community has its own skate park (PA Skatepark) inside the development, plus an active skate and surf community ("Nohoch Skate"). And above all, what buyers value: controlled access and round-the-clock security. As a gated community, you must identify yourself to enter —a layer of peace of mind few areas of the corridor offer.
Hotels and tourist zone
Puerto Aventuras coexists with several hotels that bring tourist traffic and support the area's vacation-rental returns. Operating today are the Dreams Aventuras Riviera Maya (Hyatt Inclusive Collection, a family all-inclusive that reopened after a major renovation), the Catalonia Riviera Maya Resort & Spa and the adjacent Catalonia Yucatan Beach. The historic beachfront hotel next to the CEDAM Museum —which for years ran as an Omni— no longer carries the Omni brand: it now appears as the Puerto Aventuras Hotel & Beach Club. Its operating status has fluctuated, so it's worth confirming before taking it for granted.
History: the first planned community in the Riviera Maya
Puerto Aventuras was developed in the late 1980s as the first planned tourist-residential development in the Riviera Maya, transforming what had been a small cove into a gated development organized around the marina. Its master plan spans roughly 900 acres (~364 hectares) and has integrated, from the start, the marina, golf, beach club, school and services as a self-sufficient ecosystem. That maturity —more than three decades of an established community— is exactly what a buyer can't find in the newer areas: proven infrastructure, grown trees, clear rules and a settled community.
How do you get to Puerto Aventuras?
Puerto Aventuras sits in the municipality of Solidaridad, Quintana Roo, on Federal Highway 307 (Cancún–Tulum), between Playa del Carmen and Akumal. These are reference distances, cross-checked across several sources:
| From | Distance | Approx. time |
|---|---|---|
| Cancún Airport (CUN) | ~76–78 km | ~1 hour |
| Playa del Carmen | ~22–23 km | 20–25 min |
| Tulum (downtown) | ~42 km | 30–35 min |
| Tulum Airport (TQO) | ~82 km | ~1 h 15 min |
The 12 Nautilus-verified properties in Puerto Aventuras
Nautilus keeps verified inventory of 12 developments and villas inside Puerto Aventuras, a mix of oceanfront, marina- and canal-front, lagoon-front and residential. The range runs from new marina-front condos to oceanfront villas on a private bay.
| Property | Profile | Price from |
|---|---|---|
| Villa Caleta | Oceanfront villa · private bay | $6,000,000 USD |
| Náutica Puerto Aventuras | Boutique building · marina-front | $2,800,000 USD |
| Villa Serenity | Canal-front villa · private dock | $2,500,000 USD |
| CasaCún | Oceanfront duplex | $1,350,000 USD |
| Gran Península | Pre-construction · marina-front | $934,920 USD |
| Villa Xaac | Residential villa · golf views | $897,000 USD |
| Puerto Aqua | Pre-construction · marina-front | $695,000 USD |
| Bloom | Pre-construction · canal & marina | $639,000 USD |
| Quinta Laguna PH-201 | Penthouse · lagoon-front | $598,000 USD |
| Marina Aqua | Pre-construction · marina-front | $567,568 USD |
| Artesan Residences | Boutique residential · ocean/marina views | ~$435,000 USD |
| Condominio Nuscaa | New · marina-front | $370,000 USD |
Honest-broker classification: not all of Puerto Aventuras is "oceanfront." Villa Caleta and CasaCún are true oceanfront; Náutica, Gran Península, Puerto Aqua, Bloom, Marina Aqua and Nuscaa face the marina or canals; Quinta Laguna is lagoon-front; Villa Serenity is canal-front with a dock; Villa Xaac and Artesan are residential with views. Each listing says so clearly.
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WhatsApp Nautilus See the Puerto Aventuras area Beachfront propertiesHow does a foreigner buy in Puerto Aventuras?
Puerto Aventuras sits within the restricted coastal zone (the 50 km strip where a foreigner cannot hold property in direct ownership). The solution is the bank trust (fideicomiso): a Mexican bank acts as trustee and the foreign buyer is the beneficiary with full ownership rights —use, rent, remodel, sell and inherit. It is the standard, secure legal vehicle used by thousands of foreign buyers across the Riviera Maya.
At closing, on top of the price, add the ISAI (real-estate acquisition tax, around 4% in the municipality of Solidaridad), the trust setup costs and notary fees. Nautilus coordinates due diligence (lien-free, property tax current, contract and construction-progress verification for pre-construction), the trust and a bilingual closing, from start to finish. We do not publish guaranteed returns: we share real pricing and availability, and help you compare honestly between properties.