Akumal’s Scott Brown

Scott Brown first came to Akumal as a baby.  But in 1986 when he was 7 years old he returned to live in Akumal full time.  His grandparents, Jackie & Dick, co-owned one of the dive shops.  Along with mom and siblings Scott’s life became a very interesting.  School consisted of one room in Myrna Bush’s house, where there were 5 to 6 kids in his class.  Taught by Nancy Fisher and Linda Mulgrew, among others, he enjoyed the freedom of living in paradise.  In 1997, Scott and his family moved to Houston, where he went from a one-room school to a high school so typical of a huge city.  He said it really was a shock to get used to it all.  After he graduated from high school, Scott promptly made the trip south to Akumal.

When Scott first returned, he worked at a variety of jobs.  One Christmas season, he worked at La Buena Vida.  He was a property manager for TSA, and later worked for Linda and Tussy and Vista del Mar.  While working as a guide and translator at Aktun Chen, he met  Ingrid and Joel Datica, siblings who were divers.  Scott’s sister Terry met and later married Joel’s brother.   Joel married Katie and Scott worked with Katie at LocoGringo, where he was employed from 2007 to 2017.  In a small community as Akumal was in the old days, there was a group of young people looking to carve out a life.  In 2002, along with Dani Knod, Sac-Be was created.  Scott did the graphic designs and the paper established a reputation for its articles and information about Akumal and the surrounding areas.  In 2007, the hard copy Sac-Be was disbanded, but can be accessed online at www.sac-be.com

Today I know my neighbor Scott as a photographer.  He is self taught when it comes to his photography.   He does commercial work for Cueva Vodka, along with photos of properties for rent and for sale.  His wedding photos are beautiful and artistic.  Scott would like to have his work shown in galleries and this is a goal he’s set for himself.  You can see his work online at www.scottbrownphoto.com   His life is busy, being the dad of two young active boys.  Scott and his wife Marieke live the life of a typical young couple raising kids and enjoying life.  Their life together is filled with work and with friends who also have young families.  They are the generation of Akumal that I was part of when I first started coming here in the early 80’s.  Although our condo complex is small, Scott is our HR guy and is always willing to help out a neighbor, especially if she needs paint carried to the 3rd floor.  Thank you again, Scott.

As we finished out interview, Scott told me that he rode out hurricane Gilbert in the house behind the restaurant at Xpu Ha, where he was living at the time.  That had to have been scary.  I believe all the experiences Scott has lived make him the truly nice man that he is today.  He is a terrific husband and partner with Marieke and a very good dad to Kai and Finn and an asset to our community.

— contributed by Shirley