Playa Del Carmen Beach Recovery Could Take a Year, Requires Environmental Impact Study

Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo — Restoring eroded beaches in Playa del Carmen will require a mandatory environmental impact study that could take up to a year, meaning the current municipal administration will not have time to start the project, according to biologist Gabriel Robles Medina.

More than a kilometer of coastline has lost its sand due to strong sea currents and landslides, said Jose Gomez Burgos, president of the Mar Caribe Tourism Cooperative.

Diver Gregorio Murillo attributed the erosion to hotel construction on dunes, saying developments should have been built at least 100 meters back from the high tide line. Instead, he said, the rush for quick profits led buildings to encroach on the federal maritime-terrestrial zone, and the consequences are now being felt.

Robles Medina explained that the first step is to conduct all necessary preliminary studies, including bathymetric surveys of the coast, before any permits can be sought. The entire process — studies, paperwork, evaluation by the Environment and Natural Resources Secretariat (Semarnat), and technical opinions from NGOs and specialists — would take about a year before a final resolution could be issued and the recovery project executed.

He stressed that the project is urgent because a tourist destination without beaches cannot survive. “Playa del Carmen sells sun and beach tourism. We have the sun, but we don’t have the beaches, and that impacts the economy, affecting everyone,” he said.

Robles Medina called on government authorities to at least begin the studies, and urged the private sector and beach concessionaires to cooperate in a comprehensive recovery effort.