Román Rivera Torres Reflects on the Vision Behind Puerto Aventuras in Autobiographic Book

Puerto Aventuras, Quintana Roo — Architect Román Rivera Torres has presented an autobiographical book recounting how a youthful trip to the then largely uninhabited coastline near Akumal in the 1980s ultimately led to the creation of Puerto Aventuras, now one of the most established residential marina communities in the Mexican Caribbean.

“What began as an idea, today is a home,” Rivera Torres said during the book presentation at the National Library of Chronicles in Cancún.

Rivera Torres describes how visiting Quintana Roo’s beaches with university classmates left a lasting impression. What began as admiration for the region’s natural beauty evolved into a long-term project: designing not simply a group of buildings, but an integrated community anchored around water access and proximity to nature.

Development of Puerto Aventuras began in 1988. Over time, it grew into a master-planned complex featuring a marina, residential neighborhoods, commercial areas, and tourism infrastructure. Today, the combined population of the tourist complex and surrounding town exceeds 40,000 residents — far beyond the 7,500 originally projected.

At the beginning of 2022, Puerto Aventuras was elevated from delegation status to an alcaldía within the Municipality of Solidaridad, a change intended to provide dedicated budget resources for public services, security, health, mobility, and human development. Rivera Torres, founder of the development, now serves as a council member in the interim cabinet responsible for organizing local elections.

He characterized the transition as a continuation of the project’s original intent, describing the new administrative status as an important step for a growing community that requires its own resources to maintain quality of life.

Despite economic challenges, rapid population growth, and evolving political conditions, Rivera Torres remains optimistic about the future.

“Mira, a diferencia de otras partes donde hay un panorama gris, en la zona hay un crecimiento, una inercia… cada vez hay más gente bonita, gente bien que quiere venir a invertir, a vivir para acá, está sensacional. Yo me siento bendecido y agradecido, de haber coincidido en el mejor lugar y en el mejor tiempo, estamos bien.”

More than three decades after the first stone was laid, Puerto Aventuras stands as both a residential enclave and a growing town — a development that, by its founder’s own account, expanded well beyond its original blueprint.

Puerto Aventuras and its marina stand as one of Mexico’s most desirable residential areas, immersed in the unparalleled natural environment of the Mexican Caribbean and built upon the vision Rivera Torres first conceived when he “placed the first stone upon another stone.”