Playa El Recodo Struggles to Recover as Sargassum Impact Persists

Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo — Tourist fishermen along the Playa El Recodo coastline have reported zero earnings for a week as heavy sargassum arrivals and port closures continue to disrupt their services.

José Gómez Burgos, secretary of the Mar Caribe tourist cooperative, said the situation is worrying because the sargassum that has washed ashore over recent days is difficult to clean, having mixed with sand to form a muddy sludge.

“The previous two weeks saw a lot of sargassum arriving, and it got worse because the port was closed. For us, a port closure means total scarcity. But with the prevailing wind, everything filled with sargassum, and the emergency management response was overwhelmed. In two days, the sargassum that had accumulated in various areas arrived here and quickly turned into mud,” said the fishermen’s leader.

Playa El Recodo is the most affected beach in Playa del Carmen due to its concave shape. It serves as a shelter for boats where tourists can book snorkeling, diving tours, or deep-sea fishing excursions.

However, the current conditions are driving tourists away, as boarding a boat has become difficult, as reported by this news outlet in recent days.

Personnel from the Mexican Navy are carrying out cleanup work at the site, but efforts are insufficient because sargassum, although arriving in smaller quantities recently, has not stopped washing ashore.

“The sargassum that is drying out is turning into more mud, and the wind is piling it up here at El Recodo, the worst-hit area. People can’t operate, and customers don’t want to step into the mud,” he said.

Forecasts indicate that the macroalgae will continue to arrive in large quantities over the next four months, with the possibility that arrivals will cease in autumn when wind direction changes, expected to come from the north.