Sargassum Crisis Hits Quintana Roo as Equipment Lies Abandoned

Quintana Roo, Mexico — The strategy to prevent sargassum from reaching the beaches of Quintana Roo is failing this year, according to local business leaders. Since 2019, former President Andrés Manuel López Obrador assigned the Secretariat of the Navy (Semar) the task of removing the seaweed from the ocean and coastlines, allocating at least 400 million pesos in the first two years to build 12 sargassum vessels and purchase containment barriers. However, tourism sector entrepreneurs now allege that much of this equipment is abandoned and non-operational due to lack of maintenance or fuel.

Equipment Left Unused Amid Growing Crisis

Lennin Amaro Betancourt, president of the Tourism Commission and Southeast coordinator for the National Association of Business Councils, criticized the situation in Playa del Carmen, stating, “The Navy needs to get the sargassum vessels running—we haven’t seen them.” The specialized vessels, constructed by the Navy at its shipyards, were designed to suction the algae from the ocean. In 2019, each vessel cost between 6 and 8 million pesos to build, significantly below the market price of 15 million pesos.

Despite the investment, sargassum has inundated the state’s tourist beaches just a month before the summer vacation season. The failure to properly deploy containment barriers has exacerbated the problem. Esteban Amaro, director of the Quintana Roo Sargassum Monitoring Network, noted that while barriers have worked effectively in areas like Puerto Morelos, they have failed in Playa del Carmen, where the situation is most severe.

The Playa del Carmen municipal government reported removing 8,000 metric tons of sargassum so far this year using state government equipment. However, Amaro explained that barriers have been insufficient partly because nautical businesses demand 24-hour access to open them for tourism operations. He also reported acts of vandalism on the 2.5-kilometer containment barrier in Playa del Carmen, where buoys have been cut, weakening its effectiveness.

Environmental and Economic Consequences

The crisis has forced authorities to use heavy machinery, including tractors, to remove seaweed from beaches—a practice that compacts sand and accelerates erosion. Amaro warned that 2025 could be the worst year on record for sargassum influx, citing projections from the University of South Florida. Satellite imagery shows 37.5 million metric tons of sargassum floating from Africa to the Yucatán Peninsula, a 40% increase over the 2022 record. Of this, an estimated 4 million tons may reach Mexican shores, with over 500,000 tons washing onto beaches.

Tourism operators in Playa del Carmen are already feeling the impact, with cancellations rising due to the overwhelming presence of decomposing seaweed. José Gómez Burgos, secretary of the Mar Caribe tourism cooperative, stated that tourists are avoiding El Recodo Beach, where boats dock, due to the foul odor and difficulty walking along the shore.

“We’ve had four or five cancellations. It’s very hard to operate under these unstable conditions. The shoreline is damaged, making it difficult for people to board vessels. Even when we redirect them to other areas, they cancel because the conditions aren’t favorable,” Gómez Burgos told Sipse.

Boat engines are also suffering damage from sargassum clogging, leading to costly repairs. “The transmissions get damaged, collapse, and we have to fix them,” he added.

Most Affected Areas

Despite cleanup efforts by the Federal Maritime Terrestrial Zone Directorate (Zofemat), Playa del Carmen remains the hardest-hit area, with hundreds of tons of sargassum arriving daily. Tulum and Puerto Morelos are also experiencing critical accumulations, disrupting tourism operations.

Isla María Elena faces the worst influx. “We can’t bring boats close to the dock; we have to walk over sargassum using pallets,” said Roberto Ucan, the area’s subdelegate, who warned of even greater arrivals in July.

The economic and environmental toll continues to escalate as authorities struggle to reactivate neglected equipment and implement effective containment measures.