La Sirena 5

Cen Balam (Cave of the Jaguar) is a private second home only recently become available as a vacation rental. The owners and guests love the second-floor, corner location, with its feeling of increased privacy and security and its views over Half-Moon Bay and the Caribbean beyond.

The condo’s design and location provides wonderful flow-through sea breezes. There is also A/C throughout, and ceiling fans in all rooms, including the open-air beach front beach front patio.

Cen Balam is also one of the few units in the area that have the finest in upgraded doors and windows, providing protection from the elements: heat and storms, and of course, increased security.

The kitchen, with its custom made window shade has been remodeled, with additional cabinets and new appliances while still retaining the local tropical rustic character. It is well stocked with Fiesta Ware dishes, and green, hand-blown Mexican glassware, as well as matching cutlery. Enjoy playing in this wonderful kitchen surrounded by views of Half Moon Bay.

The dining area boasts a large supply of table linens, many of which are local or Guatemalan handicrafts, as are the throw-cushions and bed scarves in the bedrooms.

Both bedrooms can be opened to the breeze, featuring Mexican and/or Maya décor, including framed antique prints of Frederick Catherwood’s original drawings of Maya ruins. The beds have embroidered Guatemalan throw-cushions and hand-made bed scarves and both bedrooms have their own private patios, with a table and chairs, ensuring a peaceful place for that early morning cup of coffee, as well as a shady place to relax. These patios overlook the beautiful gardens surrounding the swimming pool and the jungle beyond.

All the rooms are decorated with original Mexican or Maya art. Many of the wood carvings are by Efrain Cetz, acknowledged as one of the finest Maya craftsmen practicing today. His large, bas-relief, cedar carving of a Maya Death Canoe overlooking the dining area was based on an original design carved on a piece of ancient bone found at the Maya site of Tikal in Guatemala.

The pieces in Cen Balam represent commissions by the owners, but carvings by Efrain Cetz (aka “Chino”) are now available in Lamanai (a not-to-be missed shop on the beach, outside the Lol Ha Restaurant Palapa). Many of the paintings in Cen Balam are by Isabel Schober, a local resident and artist.

A permanent library on Maya art and history (books are clearly marked) is available for guests’ use while in Cen Balam. There are also various paper back novels for relaxing on the beach (“take one if you need to; leave one if you can”). An assortment of games is present in the condo, and a television (with Netflix) has been installed for the convenience of guests.

The owners first saw Akumal in 1974, on a circumnavigation of the Yucatan Peninsula, and they have loved it ever since.. They now feel blessed to have a pied-a-terre there and invite you to experience it.  They wish you an enjoyable vacation and hope you come to love Akumal and Cen Balam as much as they do.