Legal challenge halts Royal Caribbean’s Mahahual megaproject

Mahahual, Quintana Roo — The first injunction has been officially filed against the $1 billion Perfect Day project that cruise line Royal Caribbean intends to build in front of the Mahahual pier in southern Quintana Roo.

Antonella Vázquez Cavedón, president of the organization Defending the Right to a Healthy Environment (DMAS), reported that they filed this legal recourse due to clear violations of the Human Settlements Law, the right to citizen participation, and the legal certainty of Mahahual residents.

This action follows the Othón P. Blanco municipal council’s authorization of modifications to the Municipal Urban Development Program (PDU) that grant land use changes to favor construction of the Perfect Day megaproject.

The injunction was filed against Othón P. Blanco municipal president Yensunni Martínez Hernández and the Othón P. Blanco council.

The activist explained that the modifications to the Urban Development Program by the Council were approved on December 1, 2025, and published in the Quintana Roo Official Gazette five days later. This occurred after Royal Caribbean delivered a technical report to the mayor requesting land use changes on a 107-hectare surface area, through which roadways and restrictions are eliminated to allow constructions with heights and technical specifications required by the water slide park projected by Royal Caribbean in Mahahual.

“The report was presented by the mayor before the Council and in just a few days they granted everything; ultimately 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.

A review of the report approved by the Othón P. Blanco council establishes that to authorize these changes, the municipal authority considered that the Perfect Day project “is shaping up as one of the most ambitious tourism interventions on the Caribbean coast with the capacity to boost development of the Southern Border Region and trigger the positioning of Mahahual as a Regional Integration Center.”

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

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 Environmental Impact Statement (MIA) of its project to the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (Semarnat), which is why the councilors approved everything the U.S. company requested in an expedited manner.

“It then makes sense that (Royal Caribbean) initiated the process before Semarnat only in December of last year, since they couldn’t do it before if they didn’t have the necessary changes to the Urban Development Program.”

A review of the Perfect Day project’s MIA, submitted by Royal Caribbean to Semarnat under the corporate name Cielo Asoleado S de RL de CV, confirms that indeed, the company already mentions that its venture has “compatible land use parameters and utilization,” following modification of the 2021-2050 Urban Development Program of Othón P. Blanco municipality, modified by the council on December 1 and published in the state’s Official Gazette on the 5th of that same month in 2025.

The Megaproject

Perfect Day Mexico consists of the construction of a huge water park in front of the Mahahual cruise pier in southern Quintana Roo, specialized in recreational activities, on a total plot of 82.58 hectares, of which 404.88 m² correspond to beachfront.

An initial operational capacity of up to 21,000 cruise tourists per day is planned, plus 2,500 employees for park operation.

“The park design has been divided into six thematic areas: 1) arrival, 2) hideaway, 3) family cove, 4) loco waterpark, 5) service areas (boh), and 6) natural areas,” reads the brief description in Semarnat’s Ecological Gazette.

According to the cruise line’s own projections, they aim for the cruise pier and this park, both owned by Royal Caribbean, to receive 5 million cruise tourists annually.