Royal Caribbean: Mangroves Already Polluted Before Resort

Mahahual, Mexico — Prior to the cruise line Royal Caribbean applying for environmental permits for its planned development, Perfect Day Mexico, in Mahahual in southern Quintana Roo, the company has announced that the 45 hectares of mangroves on the property where they will develop this tourist complex are already contaminated.

This project has been criticized not only for risking a large area of mangroves—a threatened species protected by Mexican law—but it has also been claimed that it will completely disrupt the identity of the small community of Mahahual in southern Quintana Roo.

At a press conference, Jay Schneider, chief commercial officer of Royal Caribbean, explained that the enormous area of coastal wetlands, purchased from the previous owner of the Costa Maya pier, has for years received discharges from the deficient municipal government wastewater treatment plant, which currently dumps sewage into the coastal area of Mahahual, poisoning both the mangroves and the beach adjacent to the cruise pier, which is also now owned by the American cruise line.

The executive assured that the project does not plan to impact the mangrove zone, as the new infrastructure comprising the new complex will be built on the constructions that already currently exist; that is, the parking lot will be demolished to build a pool area; the extensive concrete areas will give way to the world's longest lazy river, while the new water park will be built on the one that currently exists.

To clean up the wetlands, they will build their own treatment plant, which will later be transferred to the municipal government to provide service to the entire community. This and other infrastructure is part of the project that will be submitted for environmental evaluation to the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (Semarnat) this October.

A Brief History

Royal Caribbean announced this project in 2024, which will involve an investment of over $1 billion to develop Perfect Day Mexico. This consists of an exclusive 90-hectare development for tourists disembarking from their cruise ships at the port of Mahahual, the second most important in the country, located in southern Quintana Roo.

It will be similar to the Perfect Day CocoCay development that the cruise line already owns on a private island in the Bahamas, where they offer various amenities ranging from waterslides, international restaurants, infinity pools, adults-only areas, among others.

The land available to the company in Quintana Roo is 90 hectares, of which 45 are mangroves.

Following the announcement, opposition groups emerged who claim this project threatens biodiversity, the rights of local communities, and the ecological balance of this coastal region in southeastern Mexico. They state that the "right of access and use of the sea, beaches, and mangroves, local identity, way of life, as well as the survival of unique and threatened ecosystems that harbor threatened species such as sea turtles, manatees, mangroves, and the world's second-largest coral reef" are at risk.

Other Project Details

At the conference called by Royal Caribbean executives, it was announced that one of their objectives is for 75 to 80 percent of supplies to be regional, which will contribute to the creation of more than 10,000 jobs, both direct and indirect.

They anticipate that in the coming years they will increase the volume of cruise passengers captured by Mahahual by 150 percent, going from two to five million annually, of which at least four million will be transported to southern Quintana Roo by Royal Caribbean's own ships.

The Costa Maya pier, with the capacity to dock up to four cruise ships simultaneously, will not be modified, only its operation will be improved.

They also announced a hospitality training center for the local population, an energy project to supply not only their complex but the entire community, as well as a reverse osmosis system to self-supply potable water.

Ari Adler, a former official of the Quintana Roo government and now director of Royal Caribbean in Mexico, explained that they have already met with different sectors of Mahahual, from fishermen and service providers to transporters, among others, to socialize the project.

Among the complementary works impacting the community, an area of up to 2,000 houses is also projected, as well as economic opportunities for other sectors, since of the 5 million tourists projected to be attracted to Mahahual starting in 2030, at least 1 million will be tourism transported by other cruise lines, which they assured will generate opportunities for taxi drivers and other service providers in this locality.