As advisors and clients who have travelled to the Caribbean recently will know, many resorts are receiving an unwelcome guest: brown seaweed arriving on their beaches.
Officially named sargassum, the seaweed can be unsightly, smelly and even dangerous, clogging propellors, impeding fishing and endangering wildlife. And there are tons of it.
Plus, it covers a huge area: between the northern tip of Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula all the way to Brazil, it doesn’t play favourites. From tony Grand Cayman to sophisticated Martinique, tourism authorities are worried, especially as it seems there is no end in sight. You clean it up, and back it might come as soon as the next day.
Satellite monitoring last winter showed abnormally large sargassum concentrations in the Atlantic, and by April this year the mass had reached new records, up to 40% higher than prior peak. The peak season normally runs May though August.
And it is a long-term environmental challenge. The cleanup can be hugely costly – last year over Cad$18 million was spent in Mexico alone on collection efforts. And where do you put it once you’ve gathered it up?
“Hoteliers are grappling with the issue in different ways. Properties that might be part of a larger chain which multiple hotels in the same destination might provide transportation between their properties so that guests can enjoy another beach,” Nancy Drolet of One Caribbean Canada told Open Jaw.
Some hotels build booms off the shoreline to trap at least some of it. And last month Antigua and Barbuda received a harvester, donated by Japan, to tackle their seaweed problem.
Environmental authorities have projected that over 37,000 tons will wash ashore in the Mexican state of Quintana Roo – home to Cancun and the Riviera Maya – this year alone.
On a trip to the Riviera Maya last week, I visited 3 very different Marriott resorts. At the expansive Marriott Cancun sargassum is visible in the water – but it seemed the guests were keener to spend their time by the massive pool with its entertainment and high-energy vibe. At the luxurious Riviera Maya EDITION at Kanai, the beach of purest, powdery white sand was popular and pretty: no wonder with a crew visibly maintaining it. And at the Paraiso de la Bonita (a Luxury Collection resort), some can be seen on the slip of beach, again regularly cleaned. But most guests here also seemed inclined to hang out by the pool.
“Sargassum is a natural phenomenon and hard for us to predict,” Ricardo Iriarte, Director, Public Relations All-Inclusive, Marriott Caribbean and Latin America told Open Jaw 18SEP. “In general the season runs through the summer, and already in the last couple of weeks we have seen a decrease in front of our resorts – but again, sargassum does not have set dates.”
So what can you do as a travel advisor? Be honest – some of the images in social media can pre-date the current situation, giving the impression of pristine beaches. “For most countries, the season can begin by impacting the southeast corner of the islands,” One Caribbean’s Drolet added. “So we tell clients if it’s bad at their resort, visit another beach!”
Explain that a lot of guests are choosing to get their fun-in-the-sun experience by the pool, and you might consider promoting destinations with lots of activities and attractions rather than ones that are just all about the beach.

With the booking window for Canadian clients averaging 6 to 8 weeks, it’s not possible to tell if the seaweed situation is affecting winter bookings, Marriott’s Iriate added.
Long term, this mountain of seaweed may shift from being a hazard to a lucrative asset. This episode of Undecided – after detailing the current negative effects – outlines creative uses for sargassum, some in the future but some absolutely being done today. In Barbados, seaweed is even being combined with wastewater from rum distilleries plus sheep manure to make a feasible bio methane.
From fabric dyes to a new plastic, cosmetics to bricks, this “freebie” from Mother Nature may eventually even be a blessing. But not this year.
A contributor to Open Jaw since 2006 – and known to all in the business – Martha has worked in the travel industry all of her career and covers events, destinations, personalities and issues in the travel world.
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