San José

About San José:

San José sits on the north shore of Lake Petén Itzá, a couple of kilometres past San Andrés on the road that wraps around the western end of the lake from Santa Elena. Vans leave the Santa Elena market as soon as they fill up and make the trip in around half an hour, and an hourly bus does it more slowly for a little less money. A second road comes round the eastern shore from El Remate, and you can still hire a boat across the water from Flores, though the regular passenger boats were cut back once the road improved. Behind the town the municipality stretches north to the border with Campeche, in Mexico, and most of that territory lies inside the Maya Biosphere Reserve.

The town was founded in 1697, the year the Spanish took the Itzá capital on the island of Flores, at a place called Ixtutz, after the corozo palms that grew there. More descendants of the Itzá live here than anywhere else, and their language, now spoken mostly by older people, is being brought back into local classrooms. Ladino and Q’eqchi’ families later came looking for land to farm, and they now make up most of the population, above all in the aldea of Jobompiche and the caseríos of Corozal and San Pedro. In 1962 San José lost Tikal, Uaxactún and El Remate to the municipality of Flores. The town itself is laid out in barrios such as San Juan, El Porvenir, El Comercio, El Progreso, La Pava, Vista al Lago and Nueva San José.

Work splits roughly in half between small farm plots and everything else. Families grow maize, beans, tomatoes and squash for pepita, and the lack of water in the dry months keeps most other crops out. The rest of the town lives from services, crafts and visitors. The Bio Itzá community reserve, 36 square kilometres of forest set aside by Itzá neighbours 22 kilometres from town, runs a Spanish school whose students lodge with local families, and women’s groups make soap and natural dyes. The year turns on 19 March, the feast of San José; on 3 May, the Día de la Santa Cruz with the Baile de la Cabeza de Coche; and on 1 November, when the Santa Calavera procession walks the streets all night and households receive it with bollos and ixpasá.

The lake shapes daily life and the value of land alike. The municipality’s shore holds more than fifteen beaches, among them Monkey Beach, 4 kilometres from the central park and a short tuk-tuk ride away, and the forest of the Cerro Cahuí biotope rises above the water toward El Remate. North of town, the Maya site of Motul de San José is reached by the road past the Estadio Carlos Fión in barrio Nueva San José. The water also rises: after long rains Lake Petén Itzá has spilled over the malecón here, as it has in Flores and San Andrés. Buyers are mostly families from the Santa Elena and Flores area who want a lakeside plot within easy reach, people planning a small hotel, restaurant or holiday house on the shore, and local households building further up the hill.

Houses in San José:

Homes for sale sit in the barrios that climb from the lake and in the upper part of town, where the streets are paved or cobbled and most of them steep. Plots tend to be large, so a house often comes with a yard or room to extend: one three-bedroom, two-bathroom house offers 200 square metres of building on a 736 square metre lot. If you are looking at houses for sale in San José, Petén, walk the street after a heavy shower before you decide, because a slope that is easy in the dry months gets slippery in the wet ones. Ask whether the house drains to a sewer or a septic tank, how water reaches it, and whether the deed is in the seller’s name.

Land and Lots in San José:

Building land turns up in three places. On the hill near the Estadio Carlos Fión, lots of more than 1,000 square metres look straight out over the lake; along the road between San José and San Andrés, subdivisions sell 12 by 25 metre lots; and beside the Puerto Nuevo subdivision, smaller lots start at 159 square metres with a down payment. These lots for sale in San José suit people who want to live near the water without paying for frontage. A view is only as good as what can go up in front of it, so look at the parcels below yours and ask the municipality what it allows there. Before signing, get in writing when the individual deed will be handed over and who pays to bring water and power to the lot.

Lakefront Land in San José:

Land on the water is a market of its own. At the large end, a parcel of more than 15,000 square metres runs 250 metres back from 60 metres of beach, with its own dock, 60 metres on an asphalt road and its deed ready for transfer. In Jobompiche, a 638 square metre plot has 25 metres of direct frontage, and on the malecón a 517 square metre site on the main street is pitched for a restaurant or café. With lakefront property on Lake Petén Itzá, the beach you see in the dry season is not the whole story. Find out where the water reached in the last high-lake years, keep any building well back from that line, and ask the municipality what it permits on the shore before you have plans drawn.

Rentals in San José:

Renting here mostly means short stays. Lake houses with a private beach are let by the night to families and groups, local households take in students from the Spanish school, and a few small guesthouses and apartments sit near the beach and in barrio El Comercio. San José is far quieter than Flores and has much less built for visitors, which draws some people and puts others off. If you are buying a house to let, plan for guests who come for the lake and the calm, and remember that the airport and the bigger shops are half an hour away in Santa Elena.

FAQ:

• How do I get to San José from Flores?

  Take the road west out of Santa Elena through San Andrés; vans from the Santa Elena market do it in about thirty minutes. You can also drive round the eastern side of the lake from El Remate. Boats can be hired from the island, but the scheduled passenger service is much reduced.

• What should I check before buying a plot on the lake?

  Start with the water line. The lake has come over the malecón in wet years, so ask the neighbours where it reached, look for marks on walls and docks, and treat the lowest strip of beach as ground you may lose for a season. Then look at how the parcel is held: around the lake you can meet registered fincas, possession rights and land leased from the municipality, and only a registered finca gives you full title. Ask for the finca, folio and libro numbers and look them up at the property registry before any deposit changes hands.

• Can I build on the forest land north of town?

  Most of the municipality lies inside the Maya Biosphere Reserve, and Cerro Cahuí is one of its core zones, so land use there is tightly restricted and clearing forest needs authorisation from CONAP. The municipality is also full of Maya sites, and ancient mounds are protected heritage. Building is realistic close to town and to the road, not out in the reserve.

• What services do properties have?

  In town nearly every home has piped drinking water, and the streets are paved or cobbled. In Jobompiche, Corozal and San Pedro most roads are dirt and houses rely on septic tanks because there are no drains. The municipality has been upgrading the road from San José to Jobompiche, so ask how the stretch you need looks today.

• Which part of San José should I look in?

  The low barrios by the malecón put the beach a few steps away, but they are the first to feel a rising lake. The upper town, around the stadium in Nueva San José, gives you the view and drier ground in exchange for steep streets. Jobompiche, further east along the shore, is quieter and has lake frontage, with dirt roads and fewer services.