The spread of sargassum has made locating a clear beach increasingly difficult across the Mexican Caribbean. Sargazo Watch was created to address this challenge directly, providing travellers with an up-to-date and transparent view of beach conditions.
Why we started
Every year, more sargassum drifts onto these shores, and it lands unevenly, burying one beach while the next stays pristine. Yet the information travellers rely on hasn't kept up. The result is a familiar disappointment: arriving at a beach that looked perfect online, only to find it buried in seaweed.
Record volumes of seaweed now reach the coast for much of the year, and the season keeps getting longer and harder to predict.
Official reports are scattered, technical, or slow, and rarely tell you the one thing you actually want to know: is this beach clear right now?
Social media groups are full of gorgeous pictures, but many are weeks or months old, showing conditions that no longer exist.
Piecing together forums, comments and old posts is exhausting, and it still leaves travellers guessing when they arrive.
Our mission
We gather what's genuinely happening on the coast and present it clearly, beach by beach, so you can plan with confidence instead of hope. Free of promotional bias and outdated imagery, we present an honest picture that helps you spend your trip in the ocean rather than beside a pool, wishing you'd picked somewhere else.
How we do it
We combine several streams of information into a single, easy-to-read view, and refresh it constantly so it reflects today, not last season.
Every beach on the map carries recent, real photos and a clear condition score you can check in seconds.
Real-time streams from up and down the coast, giving you the same view you'd have standing on the sand.
We track sargassum floating offshore to anticipate when beaches of the Riviera Maya are going to get hit harder, even weeks ahead.
Each day we post the best and worst beach options in local social media groups, so the update reaches you where you already are.
Behind the map is a group of people putting in constant monitoring effort so the information stays current, at no cost to anyone who visits the site.
How you can help
Sargazo Watch gets better with every person who takes part. Here are three simple ways to help the community and keep the service running.
Create a free account and post your own photos to the exact beach you're on. Fresh, on-the-ground pictures are what keep every reading up to date and honest.
Share Sargazo Watch with friends planning a trip. The more people who use and contribute to it, the more reliable it becomes for everyone.
When you're ready, consider booking a stay or activity through one of our partner links. It costs you nothing extra and earns us a small commission that keeps the site free.
Conditions are estimates and can change quickly. Sargazo Watch is a planning aid, so always confirm locally before you travel. See our Disclaimer for details.