![]() The Morenos had more and more guests visiting their new beach-front home. The craftsmanship of this bond is evident to guests from around the world at the present day Maroma Resort and Spa. This step marked the beginning of Morenos 30-year work relationship with a family of Mayan masons. After accessing the wreckage of their quaint hideaway, Moreno began designing and building a new home from white-washed concrete. Fortunately, the Morenos had fled to Cancun. In 1988, Hurricane Gilbert (or “Gilberto” as they say in Mexico) slammed Maroma and demolished their home on the beach. “After living above where the band played every night and then moving to a place as quiet as Maroma, the silence was deafening,” Shaw Moreno said with a smile. After living for several years above the jazz bar, the Morenos moved to Maroma Beach for good in 1984. Moreno built a kitchen and a second-story to their tiny home. Soon, visitors began arriving to see the paradise described by Jose Luis and Sally. We were all alone on the beach,” Jose Luis reflected. In those days, Jose Luis and Sally were the only residents for miles in what Jose Luis referred to as “the blue lagoon.” “At night, you could look in every direction and not see any lights. They made weekend trips to Maroma where Moreno built a small, one-room dwelling with a thatched roof. They took up residence in the upstairs apartment of a jazz bar Moreno owned. In April of 1981, Moreno and Shaw packed up a Dodge Colt and drove from Chicago to Cancun. This was the beginning of a six-month whirlwind romance. That’s when Shaw met Moreno and he charmed her into visiting the “most beautiful destination she’d ever see.” She decided to embark on a spur of the moment vacation to Cancun. In 1980, Shaw, a native of Petersburg, IL, was working as a writer for a Chicago multi-media training company. That was until Sally Shaw came into Moreno’s life. ![]() For the longest time, Moreno was one of the few people to enjoy the beauty of Maroma Beach. For years, Moreno continued to cultivate the coconuts and sold their oil to factories throughout Mexico. ![]() Moreno eventually negotiated the purchase of the plantation. The only way to reach this area was by boat from a port eight miles to the north. In the late 70s’, there was nothing but thick jungle between the area’s rural highway and this virgin beach. The site Moreno viewed was at the eastern edge of a coconut plantation. When Moreno looked down at the yet to be named Maroma Beach, he witnessed the most gorgeous white sand and turquoise water he had ever seen. That’s when Jose Luis Moreno, an architect working in Cancun’s fledgling hotel district, flew a small plane over Punta Maroma, a remote bay located 25 miles south of Cancun’s airport. The first page of the first chapter of what was originally called the Maroma Hotel goes back to 1976. The story of the owner’s early days on Mexico’s famed Maroma Beach reads like a real-life Robinson Crusoe. The legend behind the creation of the luxurious Maroma Resort and Spa is almost too good to be true.
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