Caribbean Seaweed Issue - People Cancelling Their Holidays?

[AndyT77]

We experienced a bit of this last November in Ocho Rios Jamaica. Luckily, every morning the beach was cleaned of it by the hotel using JCB type tractors.

[Dawkins]

As I said yesterday

Dawkins said:

Here they are trying to clear the beach for tourists now - but it will all be back tomorrow, you can see how much of it is in the water

And here it is again this morning (10 minutes ago)



This has been happening for months now, day in and day out. By the time they come along and clear it each day the day is nearly over anyway and your time at the beach already ruined.

[Dawkins]

Good luck mate!

[Hoofy]

I guess clearing it at night so it's ready in the morning is pointless due to tides?

[DJRC]

We were in St Lucia in early June and on the Atlantic side it was quite bad and smelly. On the Carib side it was lovely

[GT03ROB]

DJRC said:

We were in St Lucia in early June and on the Atlantic side it was quite bad and smelly. On the Carib side it was lovely

so sounds like I might be Ok then!

[cailean]

Just back from 2 weeks in T&T and didn't see any even though we were warned locally. The Trinidad atlantic coast did have some but it has been cleared up and has not yet returned. Tobago's caribbean coast had none (zilch) but the atlantic coast had small amounts.

A lot will depend on location, currents, how long since cleaned up.

[paul makin]

there's plenty of it up at Speyside (tobago) but the beach is really for working access rather than tourism so no biggy. caribbean side still pretty clear, even in the south.

this happens every year around now, some years good, some not so good.

paul

[bazza white]

It was bad last year in Mexico and supposed to be worse this year but the hotels clear it within a few hours so I'm not worried. I went to the beach 6am last year and it was fairly easy to walk over and get past for a swim.

Should calm down by November when it cools slightly.

[Crombers]

Just arrived at Sandals La Source in Grenada and no seaweed in sight! Hurrah!

[GT03ROB]

Crombers said:

Just arrived at Sandals La Source in Grenada and no seaweed in sight! Hurrah!

I will be there also on Saturday.....

[Puggit]

swerni said:

Waits for the " I met a mentalist PHer who stalked me on my holiday" thread to appear very soon

Isn't that one of those Hedonist resorts?

[GT03ROB]

swerni said:

Waits for the " I met a mentalist PHer who stalked me on my holiday" thread to appear very soon

Well the stalking won't be being done by me! Having spent the last 6 weeks in sunny Kuwait my priorities may be elsewhere!

[dmitsi]

To the guys in or going to Grenada, seaweed is really only a problem on the eastern side of the island.
Enjoy the island. My top tip for a hilarious night out is a trip to Prickly bay on a wednesday night for their bingo. You can win pigs, goats, underwear, money. Strong drinks and a good laugh.

[Alex@POD]

We had a similar situation south of Cancun in November last year, the beach was cleared every day with tractors. It put us off going in the sea but, to be honest, we spent a lot of time either in the pool or doing activities outside the hotel, so it wasn't a deal breaker for us (not that we knew in advance).

[smithyithy]

Sister and boyfriend are in Dominican now for 12 days and the photos they've posted show perfectly clear beaches / water, despite their worries after reading about this seaweed

[sc0tt]

smithyithy said:

Sister and boyfriend are in Dominican now for 12 days and the photos they've posted show perfectly clear beaches / water, despite their worries after reading about this seaweed

I'm here now and the beaches are perfectly clear.

Wish the rain would ps off though. Posted from the pool...

[smithyithy]

sc0tt said:

I'm here now and the beaches are perfectly clear.

Wish the rain would ps off though. Posted from the pool...

Where abouts are you pal? I think they're in Macao, Punta Cana.

[GT03ROB]

We had no problems on the west side of the island. We had lunch one day at a hotel overlooking the northern tip & could see large clumps of seaweed drifting round from the Atlantic side. There was nothing on any of the western beaches.

[pidsy]

I'm off to st Lucia in 3 weeks - and the seaweed has bee an issue on the Atlantic coast since April. The hotel we are staying at has a machine in working all day to clear it but it's a battle they cannot win - so they are also laying on free transport and setting up a bar on a beach on the Caribbean side which is seaweed free.

It's a well known issue this year - no thoughts of cancelling from me.