Playa del Carmen, Q.R. — Residents in a new Playa del Carmen neighborhood are concerned about the discovery of hollow ground. On Saturday, a hole opened at the base of a concrete utility system in a front yard in the Porto Real subdivision.
The newly opened sinkhole exposed a natural cavern beneath the Porto Real subdivision in the western part of the city. The underground portion of the hole is approximately three meters deep and seven meters long beneath Playa de los Cabos Street.
While the incident details the natural geological conditions of the area, there are also concerns of possible hidden flaws in the construction carried out by the developer. The collapse of ground at the base of the electrical system was reported by neighbors who said the cavity is about to directly affect one of the nearby homes. Authorities from Cenotes Urbanos inspected the sinkhole Saturday.
They have determined it to be a natural cave with biodiversity and therefore should not be filled but rather preserved under environmental and safety protocols.
The Porto Real subdivision, which has not yet been municipalized and remains under condominium control, leaves the responsibility of implementing the necessary safeguards on the developer. Until the subdivision is municipalized, meaning it is physically part of the municipality of Playa del Carmen city infrastructure, the city is not responsible for it.
The subdivision’s current legal status of not being a municipalized residential subdivision further complicates immediate response from municipal environmental authorities. According to neighbors, this isn’t the first irregularity in the area.
“The building materials are of poor quality and no one is responsible. Now it turns out we’re living over a cavern and they didn’t even inform us at the time of the purchase,” said one of the affected residents who asked not to be named.
The sinkhole is currently cordoned off. Residents say to their knowledge, there has not been any technical intervention carried out to ensure ground stability. Urban Cenotes warns that the sinkhole could grow and affect part of the street and surrounding structures, creating a latent risk of collapse.
Both residents and the Cenotes Urbanos Association are calling on the developer and authorities to force those responsible to take action, preserve the cave and establish an appropriate management plan that guards both the safety of residents and protection of the natural environment.
