It’s smelly, unsightly and unfortunately is a summer beach visitor to the Mexican Caribbean each and every year.
Yes, it’s the brown macroalgae known as sargassum.
However, the latest report on how much sargassum is expected to impact the sun, sand and surf of the Mexican Caribbean holds some promising good news for vacation travelers.
Positive Sargassum Forecast
The high point of the sargassum season is here and will only extend into the early part of July. No sargassum is expected to arrive on Mexican Caribbean beaches in both August and September.
However, that’s only the start of the good news for summer vacation travelers.
According to the Sargassum Monitoring Network of Quintana Roo Director Esteban Amaro Mauricio, ocean currents are diverting most of the sargassum his organization is monitoring towards the State of Florida and away from the Mexican Caribbean.
Because of this, not only will the sargassum season impacts only be seen this month and early July, but the impact will also be in lower amounts than normal.
In fact, Amaro Mauricio is only expecting about one million of the 6.8 million tons of macroalgae floating in the Caribbean to head to Cancun and the Mexican Caribbean.
While this still seems like a lot of sargassum, it is much more manageable, and a much smaller amount, than was predicted to impact area shores and beaches this year.
Also, only a small part of the million tons is expected to impact tourists due to mitigation measures already taken to prevent sargassum from impacting the beaches of the Mexican Caribbean.
The Season So Far
So far, more than 70 million tons have been spotted and tracked in the Mexican Caribbean region.
This is more than normal in a regular season, and the rapid growth of the macroalgae was attributed to warm ocean waters and the lingering effects of El Niño.
However, the actual amount which has washed up on the shore and impacted travelers has actually been low or even very low.
Last year, about 22,000 tons of sargassum was collected on the beaches of the Mexican Caribbean.
Projected Impact Area
Because of the smaller amount of sargassum that is expected to impact Mexican Caribbean beaches, the Sargassum Monitoring Network of Quintana Roo has narrowed down the cone of greatest sargassum amounts for travelers.
According to the analysis, the area of greatest impact is currently projected to be on the coastline of Mahahual and Xcalak, the Sian Ka’an reserve, Tulum, the east coast of Cozumel, and south of Punta Nizuc.
“Overall, there will be less and less sargassum in terms of weight, and the time of arrivals will be more and more spaced out,” Amaro Mauricio said. “That is, there will no longer be a season of massive landfalls, but all landfalls will be of medium and low intensity,”
Good News for Visitors
So, go ahead and kick off those shoes and enjoy a vacation getaway in the sand, surf and sun of the Mexican Caribbean with few worries about the impact some smelly and unsightly macro algae is going to have on your trip.
The latest predictions are that sargassum is essentially visiting Florida this season which means the impact to your vacation should be limited.
The municipalities and hotels along the Mexican Caribbean coast are prepared to handle the limited amounts of sargassum which is expected along the shore and remove it as quickly as possible.
However, travelers expecting to visit the main impact zone predicted by the Sargassum Monitoring Network of Quintana Roo should not be surprised to see some small amounts on the beach and in the ocean water of the area.
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