Major Increase In Cancun Sargassum Predicted This Year, Here’s How To Avoid It 

If you didn’t know what sargassum was before you visited Cancun, you likely did after, or you will if you’ll be visiting in the future, especially this year.   

Officials are predicting a major increase in sargassum in Cancun.   

While the destination does what it can to control it, it continues to be an ongoing problem, but fortunately, there are a few ways to avoid it.   

We’ll go over these ways to get around sharing your vacation with sargassum, but first, let’s look at how much it will increase and go over what sargassum is.  

The Forecasted Increase In Sargassum This Year 

According to reports, the increase in sargassum in the Mexican Caribbean during this year’s season could be as much as 30 percent.   

This number is being predicted by the Caribbean Sea Environmental Monitoring and Climate Change Network.   

This is based on the fact that a mass of more than 20 million tons of it is accumulating in the Atlantic right now.   

Sargassum Explained 

Sargassum is a type of macroalgae or brown seaweed that washes up on the shores of the beaches in the Mexican Caribbean, as well as in other places around the world.   

It comes from the northern Atlantic Ocean and travels with ocean currents until it reaches the Caribbean Sea.   

Sargassum may cause minor rashes on those with sensitive skin, but its biggest annoyance is its putrid smell as it decays on the beaches.   

Visit A Nearby Destination That Gets Less Sargassum 

One of the ways to avoid sargassum is by visiting a destination near Cancun that doesn’t get as much of it.   

There are several, some of which are just minutes away from Cancun.   

The top places to avoid sargassum when visiting the Mexican Caribbean are: 

• Isla Mujeres – Just a short ferry ride from Cancun. 

• Cozumel – Just a short ferry ride from Playa del Carmen. 

• Bacalar – Just a short drive from Tulum. 

Choose Your Season Wisely 

Everything has a season, and that includes sargassum, so you can avoid it by choosing the season you’ll visit wisely.   

Sargassum can arrive in small amounts during any time of the year, but typically, the season starts around March.   

Officials are estimating that the worst time for sargassum this year will be from May to June.   

The best time to visit Cancun to avoid sargassum is between October and February.  

Spend More Time At Your Hotel Pool 

You can also opt to look at the beach from afar to avoid sargassum.   

Most hotel and resort pools in the destination are on the beach.   

This means you can spend more time at your hotel pool but still enjoy the Caribbean Sea views without having to deal with the sargassum.   

Visit Some Cenotes 

If you really want to take a dip to cool off somewhere besides your hotel pool when you’re visiting Cancun you can also visit a cenote.   

Cenotes are natural swimming holes formed from collapsed caves.   

They generally have crystal-clear cool water, and there are hundreds of them in the Mexican Caribbean that you can visit.   

Best of all, they’re sargassum-free. 

How Cancun Is Handling The Sargassum Issue 

You might arrive in Cancun and find that much of the sargassum has been cleaned from the beaches.   

Several methods are used to deal with it, including sargassum barriers that prevent it from reaching the shore, Navy ships used to collect it, and workers who manually clean sargassum from the beaches.   

Those efforts could mean that you see minimal sargassum on some Cancun beaches no matter when you visit. 

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