Resort Growth Squeezes Playa del Carmen Fishing Cooperatives

Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo — The rapid growth of resorts and tourism developments in Playa del Carmen is putting direct pressure on local fishing and tourism cooperatives, whose members say they are running out of room to work and compete in the Riviera Maya’s top destination.

Alfonso, director of the Cooperativa Turística de Playa del Carmen, said the sector’s activity has declined in recent years because of the difficulty competing with agencies and tour operators that offer services directly from the large hotel complexes.

“They come in privatizing paradise and offering our same permits,” he said. “We have no options left for where to take tourists because everything is full of hotels.”

The problem goes beyond business competition, Alfonso said. Hotel expansion is also limiting access to natural areas that fishermen and local cooperatives have historically used for sightseeing tours, sport fishing and recreational activities.

With fishing no longer the main source of income, several cooperatives have diversified into snorkeling, boat rides, sport fishing and guided tours. Still, they say the concentration of these services inside hotels significantly cuts their chances of attracting visitors.

Playa del Carmen has transformed from a fishing community into one of the most important destinations in the Mexican Caribbean. According to figures released in 2026, the municipality of Solidaridad has 117 registered fishermen, organized mainly into the Xaman Ha, Turística de Playa del Carmen and Del Mar Caribe cooperatives, which together represent dozens of families that still depend on the sea.

For members of the sector, those numbers highlight the disadvantage they face against a hotel industry whose expansion continues to occupy land near beaches and natural areas traditionally used by cooperatives.

Alfonso warned the impact is not just economic but social and cultural. If tourism growth continues to restrict access to areas where fishermen have historically worked, Playa del Carmen could lose part of the identity that gave rise to the city, built over decades around the sea and fishing.

The cooperatives are calling for balance between tourism development and the survival of the people who have formed part of the city’s history and local economy, hoping to keep hotel growth from entirely displacing the communities that helped build the destination.