Legal Challenge to Royal Caribbean’s Mahahual Water Park

Chetumal, Quintana Roo — Antonella Vázquez Cavedón, president of the Quintana Roo environmental organization Defendiendo el Derecho a un Medio Ambiente Sano (Dmas), announced that they have filed an injunction against the land use change granted by the Othón P. Blanco municipality to cruise line Royal Caribbean for the construction of its Perfect Day México water park next to the Mahahual cruise ship dock.

The action stems from the land use change being authorized through a modification of the Mahahual Population Center’s Urban Development Program (PDU), in clear violation of the State Human Settlements Law, the right to citizen participation, and the legal certainty of local residents, because the legal steps for approval were not followed, including the obligation to submit it to public consultation.

The injunction was filed against Othón P. Blanco municipal president Yensunni Martínez Hernández and the Othón P. Blanco council, which approved the modification of the Mahahual PDU in a session held on December 1, putting it into effect immediately, eight days before the cruise line presented its Environmental Impact Statement (MIA) to the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (Semarnat), which was submitted on December 9.

The modifications to the Mahahual PDU were made after Royal Caribbean delivered a request for land use changes on November 3 to the mayor for a 107.67-hectare area, through which restrictions are eliminated, roadways are modified, and construction densities are changed to allow heights and technical specifications required by the water slide park planned by Royal Caribbean in Mahahual.

This request was accompanied by a study to justify the modification of the Mahahual PDU issued in 2021, concerning the area designated for the Perfect Day project.

Consequently, Mayor Yensunni Martínez Hernández asked the council to approve the reconfiguration of land uses and development parameters contained in the Mahahual PDU for the referenced area. The changes consisted of reducing the land uses on the property from seven to three, unifying three original use categories into one.

The land uses that were eliminated were those with lower room density, unifying them into one that allows up to 90 rooms per hectare, while simultaneously increasing building heights to limits of 14 and 63 meters for water slides and flagpoles.

“The ruling was presented by the mayor to the Council and in just a few days they grant everything; in the end they stipulate that it is a reconfiguration of the Urban Development Program based on Article 64 of the Quintana Roo Human Settlements Law,” explained the activist.

Vázquez Cavedón explained that for such a transcendental project with such important implications for the entire community, as recognized by the authority itself, it was unavoidable to previously conduct a public consultation, workshops, and citizen participation to understand the scope of the project and the modifications to the instrument regulating Mahahual’s urban growth.

Likewise, Dmas has reiterated on its social media that the Human Settlements Law establishes that a planned instrument following the established steps must be modified following those same steps, and those require publicity and transparency and for people to participate.

For the activist, it is evident that the cruise line’s interest prevailed over the community’s interest, as Royal Caribbean urgently needed approval of those land uses before submitting the MIA for its project to Semarnat, and that is why the councilors approved everything the U.S. company requested in an expedited manner.

The MIA for the Perfect Day México project, submitted by Royal Caribbean through the intermediary Cielo Asoleado S. de R. L. de C. V., states that the company has “compatible land use and development parameters,” following the modification of the 2021-2050 PDU of the Mahahual Population Center, approved by the Othón P. Blanco council on December 1 and published in the State Official Gazette on the 5th of the same month of 2025.

It even adds that the modifications allow a construction density of up to 50 homes and up to 90 rooms per hectare, with heights of up to four stories or 14 meters and up to 63 meters for water slides, games, and flagpoles.

Land uses are fundamental elements of the legality supporting an MIA, so if the civil association obtains the revocation of the modification made, the Perfect Day México project would lose an essential element for approval.