Cancun Beaches Now Free of Annual Seaweed Problem

Image: Cancun, Quintana Roo, Mexico. (photo via Quintana Roo Tourism Board).
Image: Cancun, Quintana Roo, Mexico. (photo via Quintana Roo Tourism Board).
Rich Thomaselli
by Rich Thomaselli
Last updated: 12:21 PM ET, Sat October 8, 2022

Free the beaches!

There are really no 'bad' seasons in which to visit Cancun, but if there's one portion of the year that can be described as being a nuisance then it's Sargassum Season. Sargassum is seaweed, and it tends to wash up on the shores of the famed vacation destination in Mexico every year.

Well, now, everybody can stand down and exhale.

Sargassum Season is over, according to the Cancun Sun newspaper

It's an annual issue for Cancun and the beaches of Quintana Roo. According to Wikipedia, "numerous species are distributed throughout the temperate and tropical oceans of the world, where they generally inhabit shallow water and coral reefs, and the genus is widely known for its planktonic (free-floating) species."

The Cancun Sun had a more understandable description, noting that the seaweed can sometimes be so prevalent that some tourists avoid coming to the area at the height of Sargassum Season from April, getting heavier in the hottest months in July and August, and then dissipating in September.

The Sun said the brown seaweed "forms miles out to sea in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. As it grows, it knots and tangles into itself, creating massive island-like structures that float along the ocean currents."

And now, it's gone!


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Rich Thomaselli

Rich Thomaselli

Associate Writer

Editor Associate Writer true 9281 14744 Rich Thomaselli has written for TravelPulse since 2014 and has been a professional journalist for nearly 40 years. His work has appeared in USA Today, the New York Times and New York Yankees publications. He is an 11-time writ

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