Caribbean Seaweed Issue - People Cancelling Their Holidays?

[Dawkins]

Apparently it's the worst it's ever been and some countries are calling for it to be officially classified as a natural disaster. It's not just affecting one country but almost all of them, Mexico, Dom Rep, Trinidad & Tobago to mention just 3. Thousands are cancelling their holidays. Here's some links.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/travel_news/arti...

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/s...

Here's a picture of the beach I was at recently near Cancun. This is from a live webcam taken today.



Anyone else worried their holiday will be disappointing because of this or maybe even thinking of cancelling?

[dudleybloke]

Wrong type of weed.

[Zoon]

Dawkins said:

Anyone else worried their holiday will be disappointing because of this or maybe even thinking of cancelling?

No, because I'm not going to the Caribbean.

Looks rather terrible though for those that should be.

[Wildfire]

This is not good. I'm booked for the Caribbean in November...

[RCBRG]

i wonder if there are cheap Caribbean holidays going...

[Timmy40]

IIRC correctly it can actually give off some fairly nasty poisonous gasses when it decomposes.

[Dawkins]

Here's 80 miles further down the coast from Cancun at Tulum from a live webcam 5 minutes ago. You can make out somebody just standing in front of the seaweed.

[Dawkins]

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

[Hoofy]

Ouch. And this is what it is supposed to look like.

[GT03ROB]

Just checked our resort in Grenada no sign of any seaweed there yet

[Cyder]

There was a fair bit of weed on the beach and in the sea when we were in Playa del Carmen 2 years ago, but nothing like that much!

Doesn't look very good and I'd be pretty disappointed if I was going there on my tropical beach holiday.

[Dawkins]

GT03ROB said:

Just checked our resort in Grenada no sign of any seaweed there yet

Atlantic or Caribbean side of Grenada?

That said everyone going to the Caribbean should be checking just so they aren't disappointed when they get there.

[GT03ROB]

Dawkins said:

GT03ROB said:

Just checked our resort in Grenada no sign of any seaweed there yet

Atlantic or Caribbean side of Grenada?

That said everyone going to the Caribbean should be checking just so they aren't disappointed when they get there.

Southern tip Caribbean side. This is based on looking at resort photos on trip advisor taken this week.

[Issi]

Poisonous gases from decomposing seaweed? really?

[Pickled]

We were in the Dom. Rep. in May (Atlantic side) and although there was a fair bit on the beach, it would be regularly cleared, as I'm sure is the norm in most resorts.

Isn't this just a case of the stormy season starting and the stronger currents washing it up?

[Wolff]

Was chatting to locals back in June - worst they've had for years. They think it was started by a hurricane that blew through from the Pacific earlier this year (I have no idea how that would affect currents etc in the Caribbean but hey ho!). This was Tulum beach when I was there:



Was a shame I couldn't see the beach in all its glory, and the weather hardly helped, but was still beautiful!

[Puggit]

Hurricane Danny will have an effect on this, I'm sure - just don't know what effect.

[Hoofy]

Puggit said:

Hurricane Danny will have an effect on this, I'm sure - just don't know what effect.

Cover everything in seaweed?

[hidetheelephants]

Issi said:

Poisonous gases from decomposing seaweed? really?

It will probably make some hydrogen sulphide, which is indeed poisonous although you know about it well before it reaches danger levels if you have a functioning nose, and on an open beach as opposed to an enclosed space you'd just get nuisance levels unless you started digging around in it.

[Crombers]

GT03ROB said:

Dawkins said:

GT03ROB said:

Just checked our resort in Grenada no sign of any seaweed there yet

Atlantic or Caribbean side of Grenada?

That said everyone going to the Caribbean should be checking just so they aren't disappointed when they get there.

Southern tip Caribbean side. This is based on looking at resort photos on trip advisor taken this week.

We'll be there in under two weeks, not a thread I wanted to read! It was bad enough looking at the weather forecast.