Andrea Zelinski
Up to 90,000 tons of sargassum are arriving daily in the Mexican Caribbean, and 10% of it ends up along the coast of Quintana Roo, according to Alicia Barcena Ibarra, the country's secretary of environment and natural resources.
Having a hard time picturing it? That's akin to about 9,000 small compact cars scattered on the beach that have to be picked up by machines or raked and removed every day without taking the sand along with it.
It's a lot of seaweed, and it's setting records. This year's volume washing up on shore is four times that of last year, and 27 times more than the historic daily average, she said.
It's so much that Mexico is declaring war on the seaweed, investing $115 million to manage and capture it before it reaches the beach.
It's not just in Mexico; Florida, the Caribbean and the northern coast of South America are all suffering from an onslaught of sargassum. These floating macroalgae are natural but have appeared in this part of the world as an anomaly.
The brown seaweed originated in the North Atlantic, but shifting wind patterns moved it south beginning in 2011. It has since proliferated rapidly and is washing up on shores, endangering reefs, beaches and the economic activity in coastal communities.
While sargassum serves a purpose in the ocean as food for fish or habitats for creatures like baby sea turtles, once it washes ashore and decomposes, it emits hydrogen sulfide. This harmful gas smells like rotten eggs and can sour a beach-centered vacation and hurt the tourism economy.
That's why the Mexican government announced the plan to battle the seaweed this year in coordination with the government of Quintana Roo. The investment will fund two ships to collect macroalgae at sea, direct the military to install more than 30 miles of barriers to capture sargassum before it reaches the shore and employ military workers and others to clean up what arrives on the beach.
Mexico's strategy also includes satellite monitoring, scientific research and exploring alternative uses for sargassum, according to Josefina Rodriguez Zamora, Mexico's tourism secretary.
"The priority is to strengthen efforts at sea and ensure that an increasing portion of sargassum is intercepted before it reaches the coastline, helping to protect our ecosystems, our beaches and the visitor experience throughout the Mexican Caribbean," she said.
The investment is centered on Quintana Roo, including Cancun, Playa del Carmen, Puerto Morelos, Tulum and Mahahual, stretching about 25 to 31 miles of beachfront.
A threat to tourism
While officials work on managing seaweed, hotels continue to invest in Quintana Roo.
From the middle of 2025 through 2027, nearly two dozen hotels and lodgings have opened or are expected to, according to Zamara, which represents 6,021 additional hotel rooms.
Quintana Roo governor Maria Elena Lezema Espinosa pointed out that "sargassum is not on every beach every day." However, its presence threatens Mexican Caribbean tourism and is increasingly affecting travelers' experiences. It also shapes how advisors research and sell vacations in Quintana Roo, or whether they send clients somewhere else.
To best serve their clients, advisors must understand how well the beaches at hotels and resorts are maintained, which may include examining live videos of beaches in search of piles of seaweed and knowing which properties have natural barriers blocking its arrival.
While big hotel brands have the machinery or the workforce to clean up sargassum from their beaches, many smaller properties don't, especially in hard-hit areas like Tulum, said Zachary Rabino, CEO of Journey Mexico.
He relies on his team of on-the-ground staff to provide objective observations of hotel beaches so he can be as honest as possible with his clients about conditions. The most-visited page on his website houses sargassum updates, he said.
"I have to be honest, we depend on these beaches," he said.
By "we," he means hundreds of thousands of people with jobs who count on tourism. That said, he often will recommend non-beach activities, including excursions and cycling.
How travel advisors are navigating the situation
Several travel advisors I spoke to advise clients who really want beach access to consider shifting their summer vacations to the winter months, when sargassum volume is likely to drop.
"April through October is a pretty big no for me," said Yvvone Heerema, a senior luxury travel advisor for The Shameless Tourist in Austin, Texas, noting that's when the seaweed is most prevalent.
Not many of her Texas clients want to book places like Cancun, Riviera Maya and Tulum in the hot summer months. But when they do, she's careful about when to send them: only five-star hotels and no all-inclusives unless they have seaweed cleanup crews.
She also asks her guests how important ocean access is. More often than she expects, they will say the view matters, but they're more interested in lying by the pool.
If her clients really want the beaches that time of year, she'll often suggest alternatives on Mexico's Pacific Coast. Although the water is rough and known more for surfing than swimming, there are some hidden gem beaches to try and she likes sending them to Punta Mita if they're open to it.
"I hate pushing people away [from the Mexican Caribbean], but I know what it's like personally when you can't get in the water and it smells," Heerema said. "It's nature, you can't do anything about it. On the other hand, people are spending money and it might be the only vacation they take."