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Empty beaches and 'unbearable smell': Mexico fights a tough battle against sargassum
🇵🇦 Panama /Environment & Climate

Empty beaches and 'unbearable smell': Mexico fights a tough battle against sargassum

From TVN Panamá · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News From a news agency Context piece
  • Mexico's Riviera Maya is battling a massive influx of sargassum seaweed, impacting tourism and local businesses.
  • The Navy is deploying 27 vessels to collect an estimated 100,000 tons of algae in the first half of the year, exceeding 2025's total.
  • Despite government claims of minimal impact, hotel occupancy rates have fallen, and businesses report significant revenue loss due to the overwhelming smell and unsightly beaches.

Mexico's premier tourist destinations along the Riviera Maya are struggling against a relentless invasion of sargassum seaweed, transforming once-pristine turquoise waters into a thick, foul-smelling carpet. Efforts to combat the algae, which began arriving in 2011, are ongoing, involving a fleet of 27 Navy vessels since 2019, specialized marine harvesters, and manual beach cleanups.

It is an intense season that has really demanded greater effort.

— Topiltzin FloresRear Admiral explaining the intensified efforts to collect sargassum.

These marine harvesters operate at sea, collecting vast quantities of algae. One vessel alone can gather 300 tons. The collected seaweed is then transported elsewhere. In the first six months of this year, the Navy and local governments collected approximately 100,000 tons, surpassing the 92,782 tons gathered in all of 2025. Despite these efforts, beaches remain covered, deterring tourists who complain of an unbearable stench likened to rotten eggs.

It has had an effect on international tourism, but it is the price of jet fuel, not the sargassum.

— Claudia SheinbaumPresident of Mexico, downplaying the impact of sargassum on tourism.

The economic fallout is significant. Restaurants are seeing drastically reduced customer numbers; one waitress in Playa del Carmen reported daily clients dropping from 400 to just 50. Hotels are also suffering, with one establishment in Playa del Carmen reporting all 24 rooms empty due to the overwhelming smell. Hotel occupancy rates, which once reached 90% during peak season 15 years ago, now range from 55% to 70% depending on the destination.

There have been no major losses.

— Claudia SheinbaumPresident of Mexico, asserting the government's view on the economic impact of sargassum.

However, the Mexican government maintains that tourism remains strong, attributing any issues to jet fuel prices rather than the sargassum. President Claudia Sheinbaum recently presented a strategy with hoteliers to combat the invasion, asserting that "there have been no major losses." This contrasts sharply with the experiences of local businesses and residents who describe the sargassum as having "affected us in everything" and making it impossible to "enjoy it at ease."

The unbearable smell.

— Tere MayA cook at a hotel in Playa del Carmen describing the impact of sargassum.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by TVN Panamá in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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