Since the spring of 2018, algae has become a real disaster for the entire Caribbean coast of Mexico. Sargasso has appeared on Mexican beaches before, but since 2018 the number of them reaching the shore has become catastrophically high. Utility services could not cope with cleaning the beaches, it was impossible to enter the water, rotting algae caused an unpleasant odor and death of marine organisms, and changed the color of the water itself. We have written repeatedly about this problem, about the hypotheses for the appearance of such a large amount of algae, and about what steps the Mexican authorities are taking to protect the coast from algae. The installation of anti-algae barriers has had no visible effect, and the only effective method of combating algae remains the manual collection of sea grass from beaches.
During the winter, the amount of sargassum seaweed arriving on beaches from the ocean experienced a seasonal decline. But if you are planning to spend your vacation in Mexico and are looking for advice on which beach city or hotel to choose, the answer will be as follows: the appearance of algae on beaches is unpredictable. Is the beach clean or not — can only be said about a specific beach on a specific day. Will it be clean tomorrow — it is impossible to say.
Here are some facts:
- the arrival of algae on the beaches of Cancun and the Riviera Maya has ceased to be a seasonal phenomenon. In other words, in winter, of course, there are many times less algae, but they are still there;
- The appearance of algae on a particular beach is unpredictable, it depends on the speed and direction of winds and sea currents. Today there is no algae on one beach, there is on the next one, tomorrow — vice versa;
- The cleanliness of beaches depends more on the intensity of cleaning. Hotels clean their beaches themselves, public utilities clean public beaches. Both of them try to do it efficiently, but they are able to work at different speeds.
Utility services are extremely interested in ensuring that tourists are satisfied with their vacation in Mexico. And that’s why they try very hard. But they are not omnipotent. And that’s why algae appears every now and then on different beaches.
Don't think you'll be alone in your quest to find a clean, algae-free Caribbean beach. Thousands of vacationers and local residents are asking the same question. For this reason they created a group on Facebook
Sargasso Seaweed Updates Riviera Maya
The group has almost 27,000 members. Every day they publish several dozen fresh photographs and their impressions of visiting certain beaches in Cancun, Playa del Carmen, Tulum and other places on the Riviera Maya. Join this group and you will always know which beach is free of algae today.
Other similar Facebook groups with daily alerts about algae on the beaches of the Caribbean coast of Mexico:
Playas sin sargazo riviera maya(26 thousand participants)
Playas sin Sargazo Cancún Hoy(1.4 thousand participants)
Playas sin sargazo playa del carmen(2.3 thousand participants)
Playas sin sargazo Tulum(1.8 thousand participants)
Another way to find out about the cleanliness of the beaches — view webcams. Cameras that broadcast images to the Internet in real time are installed on the beaches of many hotels. Large travel agencies even recommend that clients see with their own eyes the situation with algae and the number of vacationers on the beaches in order to make the right decision on their own.
Algae certainly detracts from the tourist appeal of Caribbean beaches. However, their appearance did not stop many tourists who came, are coming and will come to vacation on the Caribbean coast of Mexico. According to statistics from the Mexican Ministry of Tourism (Sectur), in 2018, the Mexican state of Quintana Roo — tourism center on the Caribbean coast of the state — 14.28 million organized and 20.32 million unorganized guests of the states, Mexicans and foreigners visited, which is 5.5% and 6% more than in 2017, respectively.
In the end, in addition to the azure beaches with white sand, there are a lot of other, more important attractions of the Mayan Riviera: the archaeological zones of Chichen Itza and Tulum, cenotes, Rio Lagartos and Pink Lakes, Bacalar, theme parks…
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