Sargassum Overrun Threatens Tulum's Beaches and Tourism Industry
Massive sargassum blooms are covering Tulum's shores, forcing workers to clear the seaweed and driving tourists away.
At Playa Paraiso in Tulum, employees such as Omar Camacho spend mornings loading wheelbarrows with dense sargassum that the ocean currents push over ineffective barriers, leaving the once-busy wellness destination nearly empty. Researchers like Stephen Leatherman point to fertilizer-laden runoff from Brazil's Amazon basin and a sharp rise since 2011 as drivers, while noting that legal responsibility is unclear. President Claudia Sheinbaum unveiled a $115 million plan that equips the Mexican Navy with tugboats, specialized "sargaceros" and containment booms to raise removal capacity to 4,000 tons daily, yet daily landings still exceed 9,000 tons. The crisis is compounded by the 2024 creation of Jaguar Park, a fee-based protected beach zone that, despite recent free-admission tweaks, has deterred tourists and strained local operators like Franco Chan and craftsman Bertoldo Pol Cocón. Residents report earnings of only a few dollars a fortnight, highlighting the broader economic fallout of the seaweed invasion.
Why it matters
The seaweed surge is crippling Tulum's tourism, a key economic driver, and tests government response to environmental crises.
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