Terms of Service

1. Acceptance of terms

By accessing or using Sargazo Watch (the "Site"), you acknowledge that you have read, understood, and agree to be legally bound by these Terms of Service and our Privacy Policy, which is incorporated herein by reference. If you do not agree to these Terms in their entirety, you must not access or use the Site. You represent that you are at least the age of majority in your jurisdiction and have the legal capacity to enter into these Terms.

2. Nature of the service

Sargazo Watch is an independent informational service that aggregates and presents sargassum and beach-condition data for the Riviera Maya and the wider Caribbean region, compiled from live webcams, satellite imagery, publicly available sources and user-submitted reports. The Site is provided solely as a planning resource and does not constitute an official advisory, warning, or guarantee of any kind. Sargazo Watch is not a government agency, tourism board, or other official body, and nothing on the Site should be construed as official guidance.

3. No warranties

4. Changing conditions

You acknowledge that sargassum, weather, water, and beach conditions are inherently variable and may change materially within a short period, and that cleaning and remediation operations occur on an ongoing basis. Information presented on the Site may be delayed, incomplete, or inaccurate at the time of access. You agree to independently verify current conditions through local and official sources before making any travel, booking, or safety decision.

5. Assumption of risk

You are solely responsible for your travel, booking, and safety decisions, and you assume all risks associated with reliance on information obtained from the Site. Sargazo Watch shall not be responsible or liable for any bookings, travel, costs, damages, or losses of any nature arising from or related to your use of, or reliance upon, the Site. You agree to exercise your own judgment, comply with the instructions of local authorities and lifeguards, and not rely on the Site as your sole source of information.

6. Accounts & alerts

Account creation is optional and passwordless; access is verified through an email address for the purpose of delivering the alerts you elect to receive. You are responsible for ensuring the accuracy of the email address provided and for all activity conducted under your account. You may unsubscribe or request deletion of your account at any time. Sargazo Watch reserves the right to suspend or terminate any account that is used in violation of these Terms or in an abusive manner. Sargazo Watch may also restrict, suspend, or discontinue access to the Site, in whole or in part, at any time and without notice or liability.

7. User submissions

If you submit a photograph or other content, you represent and warrant that you own such content or otherwise have all rights necessary to share it, and that the content is accurate, lawful, and does not infringe the rights of any third party. By submitting content, you grant Sargazo Watch a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free, sublicensable licence to host, store, reproduce, resize, display, and distribute such content on the Site in connection with the presentation of beach conditions. You retain ownership of your content.

You shall not submit content that is misleading, offensive, unlawful, or that infringes the rights or privacy of any person. Sargazo Watch reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to review, decline, remove, or hide any submitted content, including content reported by other users, without notice or liability.

8. Intellectual property & trademarks

The Site's design, original text, layout and branding are owned by Sargazo Watch and protected by applicable laws. You may view and share links to the Site, but you may not copy, scrape, republish or commercially reuse substantial parts of it without permission.

All third-party trademarks, brand names and logos belong to their respective owners. Hotel names, place names, and partner brands are used for identification and reference only, and do not imply endorsement or affiliation.

9. Third-party content & webcams

Live webcams remain the property of, and are operated by, their respective owners (hotels, businesses and public operators). Sargazo Watch embeds or links to publicly available camera streams for convenience and provides no warranty over their availability, content or accuracy. Camera owners may change or remove their streams at any time. Satellite imagery on the Forecast page is public-domain data from NOAA and the University of South Florida, shown with credit.

10. Affiliate links

Some links on the Site (including hotel bookings and Viator activities) are affiliate links. If you book through them, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. This helps keep Sargazo Watch free. Affiliate relationships do not influence beach scores, which are based on conditions — not commercial partnerships. Prices and availability are set by the partner and shown for reference only.

11. Acceptable use

You agree not to misuse the Site or assist any other party in doing so. Prohibited conduct includes, without limitation: attempting to disrupt, impair, or overload the Site or its infrastructure; accessing or scraping the Site by automated means or at scale; circumventing or attempting to circumvent any security or access-control measure; introducing malicious code or content; and using the Site for any unlawful, fraudulent, or unauthorized purpose.

12. Limitation of liability

To the fullest extent permitted by law, Sargazo Watch and its operators shall not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special or consequential damages, or any loss arising from your use of — or inability to use — the Site or any information on it. Where liability cannot be excluded, it is limited to the minimum permitted by law.

13. Modifications to these terms

Sargazo Watch reserves the right to modify or replace these Terms at any time in its sole discretion. Any changes shall become effective upon posting to the Site, and the "Last updated" date above will be revised accordingly. Your continued access to or use of the Site following the posting of any changes constitutes your acceptance of the revised Terms. You are advised to review these Terms periodically.

14. Governing law

These terms are governed by the laws applicable where the Site's operator is established, without regard to conflict-of-laws rules. Nothing in these terms removes any mandatory consumer-protection rights you have in your country of residence.

15. General

If any provision of these Terms is held to be invalid or unenforceable, that provision shall be limited or severed to the minimum extent necessary, and the remaining provisions shall remain in full force and effect. These Terms, together with the Privacy Policy and Disclaimer referenced herein, constitute the entire agreement between you and Sargazo Watch regarding the Site and supersede any prior understandings. Sargazo Watch's failure to enforce any provision shall not constitute a waiver of that or any other provision.

16. Contact

Any questions or notices regarding these Terms may be directed to Sargazo Watch through our contact form. These Terms should be read together with our Disclaimer and Privacy Policy.