Coastal Erosion Topples Palm Trees at Playa Coral as Quintana Roo Beach Recovery Slips to 2027

Quintana Roo — Coastal erosion keeps gaining ground along Quintana Roo’s shoreline, and its effects were visible at Playa Coral, where two palm trees collapsed overnight after ending up almost entirely in the sea.

Staff from the Municipal Public Services Department said the trees could not withstand the deterioration of the coastal strip.

Recovery Plan Pushed to 2027

As the damage advances, the strategy to rebuild the beaches will have to wait until 2027, when the Coastal Geographic Atlas is completed. The study will allow authorities to identify the hardest-hit areas with greater precision and determine what kind of intervention each one requires.

Esteban Amaro Mauricio, coordinator of the Center for Environmental and Sargassum Monitoring, said the goal is to move past temporary fixes and commit to restoration grounded in scientific, environmental and engineering studies.

The effort also includes an expansion of environmental authorization to add seven kilometers of Puerto Morelos coastline to the beach restoration project. SEMA requested the change in 2025 and Semarnat approved it in August, though with conditions attached because of the area’s proximity to the Mesoamerican Reef System and the Puerto Morelos Reef National Park.

In parallel, officials are preparing a separate project to rehabilitate 32 kilometers of Cancún beaches, financed through the Environmental Sanitation Fee. That plan remains in the study stage, with its environmental impact statement still being drafted.