Thanks for this - am pretty hep to the sargassum scene - little or none June & August in Provo & Anne walks Grace Bay from Club Med Turkoise to Turtle Cove daily plus our walk-in snorkelling anywhere from Smiths Reef to Leeward Reef - lotta beach sand scouring though !
Have several exceptional Short Films re Lionfish within my Gallery. They are in the process of decimating the Caribbean Reefs & Estuaries - already adapting to murkier mangrove waters & up the easter seaboard from Florida to Maine. The filets are delightful. Am not a spearfisher, free diver or scuba. Are doing the same in the Mediterranean - entering from Gibraltar & the Suez Canal
I pay attention to Sargassum & its movements from the Atlantic into the Caribbean & Gulf of Mexico. The currents & prevailing winds keep moving sargassum until it is stopped & nowhere to go or slide around. The underlying seabed directs its pathway & tides of course. Up the beach it goes & receding tide leaves it behind.
Sargassum is not mentioned in my current Fiction but the grim reality / sheer growing mass last year & currently is truly dire ! I note that Fairmont Mayacoba includes Sargassum Free / Guaranteed within their Service Promise / Reservation & Booking App ! Your Post really gets down to grim reality - from the Client Side & Property Side ! A GROWING Economic Nightmare - 24/7 ‼️🧨
Wow Mayakoba guarantees sargassum free? Bold promise. I wonder if they installed a barrier offshore. Some places have been mildly successful with them.
If the government in Mexico municipality state and federal helped and cooperated with the Citizens of Quintana Roo this problem would not be as bad. It is possible to have a system of removal but does the government really care until they see the loss of monetary income from taxes and revenue
Wow I had no idea it was such a problem nor how much it cost to clean up. The bright spot is how it seems some companies are trying to find good uses for the waste … I hope that continues!
Thanks Kay for this thoughtful take on an environmental disaster, one for which we as humans are partially responsible for.
The sargassum is nasty, but as you and Kelly point out in your comments here, we do have to decide what is doable in our travels, and how best to manage the less desirable parts.
It is so sad 😞 and you laid it out beautifully. My heart breaks for the beaches yes, and the people who rely on tourism to feed themselves and their families.
Even back in the winter we had sargassum here in Playa del Carmen. On a positive note, the beach was beautiful yesterday. I only hope a solution can be found.
Ah those days when the beach is beautiful is something to embrace. Maybe it is a way that we all get back to “the moment” and appreciate where we are, when we are.
Thanks @Jeanine Kitchel it is so sad. But there are lessons in the situation. Just like any disaster. Really it is a variety of environmental disaster imo
This is such a compelling read. It’s one of the reasons we’ve stayed on our slow-travel path while keeping a small home base in the U.S.—partly as a reset button, and partly to stay connected to family and friends.
Every place we consider as a future home has its own tradeoffs. Lately we’ve found ourselves paying more attention to the downsides than we did at the beginning: seaweed, heat waves in Europe, politics... and realizing we’d simply be trading one set of imperfections for another.
Moving somewhere makes it all feel much more real.
There probably isn't a perfect place to live—only the place whose imperfections you're happiest to live with.
I'm actually about to unlock one of my paid essays that explores this exact realization. Thank you for sharing! 💛
There are pluses and minuses no matter where we move to, across town or across the world. And whether it’s based on age, experience, resources, compromise, risk assessment and acceptance that helps us make those decisions.
I think that’s precisely the perspective! Over time I’ve realized it’s less about finding the “right” place and more about understanding which tradeoffs matter most to us at this stage of life. Those answers seem to keep evolving too, which is probably a good thing. 💛
I had to laugh at that. I was never down for a cold shower, so I’ve been picky for years. 😄 But you’re right—the list of must-haves keeps evolving, and every place we spend time in teaches us something new about what belongs on it.
Yes, the tradeoffs are always evolving. When I was younger a hot shower was optional, now it is a non negotiable. 😂 Seriously as I look for my next place to call home I am thinking about what my must haves are, and anticipating what they may be in the future.
We are now starting to see the Sargassum on the NC coast and it causes a frenzy of panic for the very short season. Excellent reminder that what we sell isn’t always in our control
I like your comment on forest fires. I live in Idaho, it's beautiful, then one morning you wake up to smoke. Sometimes it comes from Canada, but more often it comes from Central Washington. When California fires get big the smoke can drift through all the way to Canada. The promise of a sunny summer day is gone. And there is nothing you can do except hope for rain or a change in wind direction. Perhaps a beach in Mexico is where to go?
Thanks for this - am pretty hep to the sargassum scene - little or none June & August in Provo & Anne walks Grace Bay from Club Med Turkoise to Turtle Cove daily plus our walk-in snorkelling anywhere from Smiths Reef to Leeward Reef - lotta beach sand scouring though !
Am the dude with the big focus on Lionfish ..
Great that you guys have not seen much sargassum. Do you fish for Líonfish? I hear they are tasty. I’ve never tried it.
12 minutes - this Chef is ‘made for TV !
https://thomasdarcyodonnell.substack.com/p/the-delectable-lionfish-filet
Oh goodie I will check it out!!
Have several exceptional Short Films re Lionfish within my Gallery. They are in the process of decimating the Caribbean Reefs & Estuaries - already adapting to murkier mangrove waters & up the easter seaboard from Florida to Maine. The filets are delightful. Am not a spearfisher, free diver or scuba. Are doing the same in the Mediterranean - entering from Gibraltar & the Suez Canal
I pay attention to Sargassum & its movements from the Atlantic into the Caribbean & Gulf of Mexico. The currents & prevailing winds keep moving sargassum until it is stopped & nowhere to go or slide around. The underlying seabed directs its pathway & tides of course. Up the beach it goes & receding tide leaves it behind.
Sargassum is not mentioned in my current Fiction but the grim reality / sheer growing mass last year & currently is truly dire ! I note that Fairmont Mayacoba includes Sargassum Free / Guaranteed within their Service Promise / Reservation & Booking App ! Your Post really gets down to grim reality - from the Client Side & Property Side ! A GROWING Economic Nightmare - 24/7 ‼️🧨
Wow Mayakoba guarantees sargassum free? Bold promise. I wonder if they installed a barrier offshore. Some places have been mildly successful with them.
Putting this one in my Friday round up. Well done
Thank you @The Upgrade | Anne Marie
If the government in Mexico municipality state and federal helped and cooperated with the Citizens of Quintana Roo this problem would not be as bad. It is possible to have a system of removal but does the government really care until they see the loss of monetary income from taxes and revenue
Wow I had no idea it was such a problem nor how much it cost to clean up. The bright spot is how it seems some companies are trying to find good uses for the waste … I hope that continues!
Thanks Kay for this thoughtful take on an environmental disaster, one for which we as humans are partially responsible for.
The sargassum is nasty, but as you and Kelly point out in your comments here, we do have to decide what is doable in our travels, and how best to manage the less desirable parts.
It is so sad 😞 and you laid it out beautifully. My heart breaks for the beaches yes, and the people who rely on tourism to feed themselves and their families.
Even back in the winter we had sargassum here in Playa del Carmen. On a positive note, the beach was beautiful yesterday. I only hope a solution can be found.
Ah those days when the beach is beautiful is something to embrace. Maybe it is a way that we all get back to “the moment” and appreciate where we are, when we are.
It’s so sad. That 150m number is insane.
Great article, Kay, detailing it all. Sad but true.
Thanks @Jeanine Kitchel it is so sad. But there are lessons in the situation. Just like any disaster. Really it is a variety of environmental disaster imo
True, and it all needs to be said.
This is such a compelling read. It’s one of the reasons we’ve stayed on our slow-travel path while keeping a small home base in the U.S.—partly as a reset button, and partly to stay connected to family and friends.
Every place we consider as a future home has its own tradeoffs. Lately we’ve found ourselves paying more attention to the downsides than we did at the beginning: seaweed, heat waves in Europe, politics... and realizing we’d simply be trading one set of imperfections for another.
Moving somewhere makes it all feel much more real.
There probably isn't a perfect place to live—only the place whose imperfections you're happiest to live with.
I'm actually about to unlock one of my paid essays that explores this exact realization. Thank you for sharing! 💛
There are pluses and minuses no matter where we move to, across town or across the world. And whether it’s based on age, experience, resources, compromise, risk assessment and acceptance that helps us make those decisions.
I think that’s precisely the perspective! Over time I’ve realized it’s less about finding the “right” place and more about understanding which tradeoffs matter most to us at this stage of life. Those answers seem to keep evolving too, which is probably a good thing. 💛
I had to laugh at that. I was never down for a cold shower, so I’ve been picky for years. 😄 But you’re right—the list of must-haves keeps evolving, and every place we spend time in teaches us something new about what belongs on it.
Yes, the tradeoffs are always evolving. When I was younger a hot shower was optional, now it is a non negotiable. 😂 Seriously as I look for my next place to call home I am thinking about what my must haves are, and anticipating what they may be in the future.
We are now starting to see the Sargassum on the NC coast and it causes a frenzy of panic for the very short season. Excellent reminder that what we sell isn’t always in our control
I like your comment on forest fires. I live in Idaho, it's beautiful, then one morning you wake up to smoke. Sometimes it comes from Canada, but more often it comes from Central Washington. When California fires get big the smoke can drift through all the way to Canada. The promise of a sunny summer day is gone. And there is nothing you can do except hope for rain or a change in wind direction. Perhaps a beach in Mexico is where to go?
There are plenty of places in Mexico and the world really to discover. 😉