blue fish ocean front condos

this is a picture of the blue fish ocean front condos being constructed in the perla marina community of cabarete. back in june, we bought one of the units here - a pre-construction deal. the condos are being built by juan perdomo (the C21 broker) and partners. we actually took two 1 bedroom units and combined them into 1 large unit. this condo will be up on the third floor of the building (top floor) and will have a very large ocean facing terrace. we bought it as an investment but also fantasize about actually living in the condo, when we're feeling like we want to stay here. i think any time we see blue fish, we feel like staying!

there will be 68 condos at blue fish in 6 different buildings - of which only 2 buildings (#1 and #2) have ocean views. our unit is D3/E3 in the middle of the U shaped Building #1. by combining 2 units, we have ended up with a condo that will have a very big open living room/dining room and terrace facing directly towards the ocean, tucked in a bit, thus protecting us from the often present winds. (remember people come to cabarete for the wind to either windsurf or kitesurf, so the winds are always there!)

construction was supposed to start in august. they broke ground in september. they actually dig the foundation by hand, as opposed to using excavators! @#$%^&*$! under building #1, it is all coral stone, so it has been quite a back breaking affair for the workers. man, when you go out there in the blazing caribbean sun at midday and see these guys with shovels and axes, hacking away at this rock, you really feel for them. it's mostly haitians doing this super strenuous, menial work. they have these incredibly well defined bodies, and it is clear why. they work 7 days a week.

the construction site is also like a mini-camp for the workers. they have constructed these temporary structures where many of them live while working there. god knows from how far away they came to work on this and the pennies that they are getting for it. apparently, there are some industrious women who set up the "mess hall" on the site too and serve meals to the guys. this is a common practice on construction sites here - a good business for the women. here is the mess hall...



ok, back to the lovely ocean view..... so these condos are located 120 feet from the ocean. the coastline directly in front of blue fish is that petrified coral rock that i wrote about in one of my previous blog entries. the waves crash on these rocks and generate these huge sprays of water. it should make for some spectacular views from the terrace of our condo.

if you follow a path along the rocks for 2 minutes, you come to this great, secluded beach that is basically for the residents of Perla Marina - though all beaches in the DR are public. i already liked this beach, but i'm now coming to really love it, as we are spending a lot of time on it, walking the dog we are watching.

pablo, the C21 architect, is modeling blue fish after this hotel in mexico that he loves - el cayeres hotel resort. let's hope he pulls off his vision. veronica and i are often in his ear about a possible design change here and there, colors, materials, and of course the quality of the construction (veronica's area of expertise) to make sure it is up to snuff.

the blue fish condos are slated to be finished in May 2006 - so that means like July probably. it's fun to watch the construction of them. we go there quite often to see the progress. the walls are starting to go up really fast now that they have made it through the foundation. these makes it quite exciting. at this point, we are able to see the layout of our condo, albeit the first floor unit. we were able to go up to the 3rd floor of building #3 yesterday - they are farther along there. that gave us some perspective on what our view will be like.

here is an aerial shot of the site.