Playa del Carmen Beaches Experiencing High Tide Erosion

High tides at Playa del Carmen have led to significant erosion of some beaches, resulting in shorter sandbanks. Lourdes Várguez Ocampo, Secretary of Environment and Climate Change in Solidaridad, attributes this to the 20 consecutive days of high tides in the area. This has particularly affected beaches like Founders or Mamitas, making them appear shorter than others.

However, this doesn't signify a loss of sand but rather a redistribution to other beaches in Solidaridad. "The tides are extremely high and the waves powerful, so it's natural for some beaches to appear shorter. Founders, known for its large size, is particularly short. But other beaches like number four, thirty-eight, and forty have grown significantly," she clarified.

To illustrate the extent of the high tides, Várguez Ocampo mentioned that at Punta Esmeralda, the tide was so high that it overflowed the cenote, pulling out a large amount of sediment and seaweed from the sea floor. "The tides were so high at Punta Esmeralda that the cenote was completely covered. The cenote and the sea merged, bringing up a lot of sediment and seaweed from the seabed," she detailed.

Várguez Ocampo also mentioned that they will be examining the geotextiles, or whales, that the Gran Hyatt hotel installed to determine if they are contributing to the erosion. However, this evaluation will only take place once the tide has receded. "I don't want to prematurely blame the geotextiles installed by the Hyatt for this erosion. We will only be able to make this determination when the tides have subsided and the waves are minimal. Only then can we assess the real impact of this infrastructure," she concluded.