Tulum Authorities Flag Ocean Tulum, the Second Development Warning in Under Two Weeks

The Quintana Roo government and Tulum's city hall have publicly warned against buying, selling, or renting at Ocean Tulum, a condominium project they say is being sold without the permits state law requires.

The notice, circulated Thursday, August 6, 2026, through official channels of the Secretaría de Desarrollo Territorial Urbano Sustentable (SEDETUS) and issued jointly with the municipal government, asks the public to sign nothing tied to the project. It lands on a development whose buyers have spent the summer publicly demanding their apartments or their money back.

Ocean Tulum sits on Calle 2 Sur between Avenida 15 Sur and Avenida 10 Sur, in the section of town known as La Veleta. The communiqué names Grupo VINSA Construcción y Gerencia de Proyectos, S.A. de C.V. as the party responsible and lists the project's sales website alongside the address.

What the notice says Ocean Tulum is missing

According to the document, the development lacks the reviews, certificates, permits, and authorizations required by four state instruments: the Human Settlements, Territorial Ordering and Urban Development Law, the Urban Actions Law, the Condominium Property Law, and the State Urban Development Program, along with whatever municipal programs and regulations apply. It adds that Ocean Tulum is subject to judicial and administrative processes. It does not say which courts or agencies are involved, or what those cases concern.

The request to the public is specific: no purchases, no sales, no promises of purchase, and no rentals, nor any operation connected to them.

"They would be contributing to committing crimes against urban development and putting their patrimony at risk," the notice says of anyone who proceeds.

The agency invites anyone with doubts to write to atencion@sedetus.gob.mx, the same mailbox it has used in earlier alerts to verify documents for uneasy buyers.

Buyers went public first

The complaints came before the notice did.

Since mid-June, at least three regional outlets have reported public denunciations from Ocean Tulum purchasers. A group of buyers said in June that apartments sold to them as far back as 2022 remain undelivered after more than three years, that parts of the complex are still bare structure, and that dozens of families put years of savings into the project. They called on urban development, consumer protection, and justice authorities to intervene, and the company issued no position at the time.

Days later, Poresto described the development as paralyzed and reported Mexican and foreign investors who say the company has failed both to deliver units and to return money. One of them, Ángeles Luna, a U.S. citizen, said she and her husband bought in September 2025 and learned only afterward that construction had already been stopped for months. She said the company agreed in June to a refund, with a 2.5 percent penalty for late payment, and that the deadline expired without a deposit. She has filed complaints with Profeco and Sedatu, according to the outlet.

The project was sold at scale. Marketing and listing materials describe a mixed-use complex of about 272 apartments, studios, and penthouses plus commercial units, and Ocean Tulum was also opened to small investors through a crowdfunding platform with tickets starting at 1,000 pesos. In a January 2025 interview with the magazine Líderes Mexicanos, VINSA's chief executive, Héctor Sánchez, said the first phase had been built and foundations for the second were under way. The company promoted a 2,000-square-meter pool with an artificial beach as one of the largest in Tulum.

A June statement that speaks of resuming work

The company has answered its buyers once, in writing. A statement posted on the project's website, dated June 2026, acknowledges the worry and uncertainty clients feel about the project's timelines, says the signed contracts remain the framework for handling each case, and describes ongoing technical, administrative, and financial steps meant to allow "the resumption and execution of the corresponding stages" of the development. It closes with a pledge to carry Ocean Tulum to a successful and sustainable conclusion.

That statement predates the SEDETUS notice. As of Friday morning, the project's website carried no reference to the state's warning and continued to advertise presale condominiums under a condo-hotel model.

Mayab Tulum received the same warning in late July

Ocean Tulum is the second project in the municipality singled out by name in less than two weeks. On July 28, regional outlets reported a near-identical SEDETUS notice against Mayab Tulum, promoted by LOAM Desarrollos, S.A. de C.V. on Calle 12 Sur, built on the same template: missing permits, open judicial and administrative processes, and a request that the public walk away.

The one-by-one alerts follow a broader sweep. In September 2025, the agency circulated lists of irregular developments in Tulum that flagged 26 projects at their peak, before a follow-up bulletin cleared 14 of them and kept 12 under alert, as The Tulum Times reported at the time.

How buyers can check a Tulum project before signing

The episode leaves a short checklist for anyone shopping a presale in the municipality. Ask the seller for the construction license, the land-use certificate, and the registered condominium regime, and confirm each document with the municipal urban development office instead of taking a brochure's word for it. SEDETUS has offered document verification and guidance through atencion@sedetus.gob.mx, and Profeco receives complaints when a signed contract goes unmet.

The notice itself stops at the warning. It announces no closure, no fine, and no date, and neither the state nor the municipality has said publicly whether enforcement follows.

The buyers who spoke out in June are still waiting on apartments promised years ago. Luna is still waiting on the refund she says the company agreed to pay her. The rest of the public, as of Thursday, has been told in writing to stay out.

Have you put money into a Tulum presale that later ran into permit or delivery problems? Join the conversation and share your perspective with us on Instagram and Facebook at @thetulumtimes.