El Dorado Royale Opens First Aquaponics Agrotourism Farm in the Riviera Maya

Riviera Maya, Quintana Roo — El Dorado Royale has opened the first agrotourism farm with an aquaponics system at a hotel in the Riviera Maya, a project that produces fish and vegetables together while using fewer resources.

The hotel inaugurated the farm during the 10th International Aquaponics Congress, in partnership with the Mexican aquaponics company BOFISH. The system is biointegrated and circular, allowing fish and plants to be grown at the same time.

What the first stage includes

The first phase operates on 400 square meters with an investment of 2.3 million pesos and six production tanks. It is designed to produce 10 tonnes of fish a year — tilapia and sea bass — plus byproducts such as shrimp, along with 30,000 plants annually, including arugula, spinach, watercress, lettuce and baby greens.

The project forms part of Grupo Lomas’s sustainability programs, which aim to reduce the carbon footprint of food production for its properties.

Savings on water, power and fertilizer

Carlos León Ramos, founder and director of BOFISH, said aquaponics cuts water consumption by up to 90% compared with traditional agriculture.

“This requires 10 times less electricity, allows 95% savings in fertilizers and minimizes waste generation, because it runs on organic waste that is composted with larvae or worms, and the fish generate the nutrients for the plants,” he said.

Three stages, industrial scale by 2027

The plan is divided into three stages. The second will build the structure for the agrotourism model, covering 900 square meters with an investment of 25 million pesos.

The third will take the system to industrial production with a total of one hectare by the end of 2027, targeting 500 tonnes of fish and 1.3 million plants a year, León Ramos said.

Farm to table for hotel guests

The project seeks to combine sustainable production, gastronomy and agrotourism experiences for guests. The model brings together agrotourism, wellness, education and food under the “Aquaponics Lifestyle” concept and farm-to-table experiences, in which guests can tour the farm, harvest their own food and taste it prepared by the hotel’s chefs.

BOFISH runs more than 150 small- and large-scale farms in Mexico, the United States and Colombia, and is currently developing what it describes as the world’s largest such farm, in the desert of Oman, covering more than three hectares after two years of successful production.