Quintana Roo is facing the worst sargassum season in its history, with all beaches in the southern zone and nearly 50 percent of those in the northern zone under “red alert” status. This situation has brought economic activity along the region’s coastlines to a near standstill, according to specialists and tourism service providers.
Esteban Amaro, director of the Quintana Roo Sargassum Monitoring Center, stated that forecasts predicting a 20 to 30 percent increase in seaweed arrivals—compared to the 87,000 tons collected the previous year—have been far surpassed. Current levels are unprecedented, and the only solution now is the arrival of a weather system to shift conditions.
He noted that, according to reports from the University of Florida, there are 28.8 million metric tons of sargassum floating between Africa and the Gulf of Mexico/Caribbean Sea, though not all of it will necessarily reach the Mexican Caribbean.
Playa del Carmen restaurateurs lamented that the foul odors emitted by decomposing sargassum at the water’s edge have already hurt their industry; occupancy rates have dropped to as low as 10 percent, as no one wants to dine amidst such a stench.
Meanwhile, providers of nautical and fishing services reported that business is very slow, a trend shared by local taxi drivers.
However, one domestic tourist asserted that the Mexican Caribbean offers much more than just sun and sand, encouraging potential visitors to discover the full range of experiences the region has to offer.
From the early morning hours, personnel from the Navy, Zofemat (Federal Maritime-Terrestrial Zone agency), and municipal services wade into the sargassum-filled waters—which can reach depths of up to 1.5 meters—to remove the seaweed from the beaches.
