Semarnat Approves New Beach Club Inside Puerto Morelos Reef Park

Puerto Morelos, Quintana Roo — Mexico’s Secretariat of Environment and Natural Resources (Semarnat) has authorized a new beach club on 761 square meters of land reclaimed from the sea in Puerto Morelos, on a stretch of shoreline now used as open recreation space for visitors and residents.

The project, called Club 8, sits in front of Lot 1 of Block 6 in Puerto Morelos, inside the polygon of Puerto Morelos National Reef Park, in an area classified for intensive recreational use — the strip where beach recreation and swimming are permitted.

According to its environmental impact statement, the project involves building and operating a palapa bar with a kitchen and restrooms, plus outdoor tables, chairs, umbrellas and lounge chairs for beach service. The concession is slated to run for 30 years.

Photographs included in the study show the site currently has no vegetation and is used openly by swimmers. It borders tourism developments, draws heavy foot traffic and sees a constant presence of sargassum and trash.

As with other beach clubs along the Riviera Maya, the plan has stirred concern among residents, who see a space in common use being turned into a private consumption area. Although beaches in Mexico are federal land and access cannot be restricted, in practice fixed furniture, service bars and table areas shape how the space is used and push out people who are not customers.

The document acknowledges that the beach in front of the property has potential for turtle arrivals and nesting, with a season running from May to September. As a mitigation measure, the project proposes removing lounge chairs, tables, chairs and umbrellas from the sand each night and halting nighttime activity at the palapa to limit light and noise reaching the beach.

The study, however, does not explain what would happen to any nests or hatchlings recorded in the area. In practice it only calls for patrol rounds and keeping the beach clear of sargassum and trash, without detailing a protocol to report, mark off or protect a nest if a turtle comes ashore to lay eggs directly in front of an area occupied during the day by furniture and bathers.

The project’s promoter holds the concession for that section of federal land and argues the use is compatible with park regulations.