Desire Resort Forums

I'm sure it's been discussed, but I can't seem to find any recent reports about the Sargassum grass.

The last 4-5 trips, it's been pretty bad, so I'm assuming it still is.

just got back today. Its the worst I've seen it in 12 yrs. We go 2-3 times a year. We could smell it on the drive in. Hector said it was even worse last week, Hopefully its getting better.

yellowkodiak wrote:just got back today. Its the worst I've seen it in 12 yrs. We go 2-3 times a year. We could smell it on the drive in. Hector said it was even worse last week, Hopefully its getting better.

Well, shoot. That's not what I was hoping for. Not that we use the beach...but it would be nice to not have the smell... Oh well, maybe it'll change in the next couple of weeks!!! Thanks!

We were there a few weeks ago and it was the worst we’ve ever seen it in the countless amount of times we’ve been. The smell hit you as soon as the doors open to the outside. Not a single person used the beach and that cause overcrowding at the pool. The pool chair situation was so bad that they were setting up beds for people in the jacuzzi area during the day.

Yes! Have never seen it this bad. We were there 10 days this month. Horrid. We have been told that they can't legally use equipment on the beach, because of sea turtles. But this is not the case as hotels and PM are paying for an actual barrier and using equipment to clean the rest. PM has a pristine beach. I assume Desire does not want to spend the $ for either. The situation is not going to get better as it is caused by fertilizer and nitrate run off from agriculture in the Amazon and other places. Desire must invest in the barrier system that is in PM. My condo on the other side of PM is bidding for both barrier and equipment now.

I saw where Puerto Moreles was looking pretty dang good...so I hoped Pearl was too...

I agree with the comment about people not using the beach...makes the pool area way more crowded. They will need to add more area around the pool, somehow, if the beach will be unusable.

arcouple wrote:I'm sure it's been discussed, but I can't seem to find any recent reports about the Sargassum grass.

The last 4-5 trips, it's been pretty bad, so I'm assuming it still is.

Have seen reports from the area from authorities that are saying that they are receiving as much sargassum coming ashore in 3nto 4ndays as they normally receive in a month.

They are also reporting that the cause of nit is stemming from cooler temperatures in a certain area of the gulf hundreds of miles offshore.

arcouple wrote:I'm sure it's been discussed, but I can't seem to find any recent reports about the Sargassum grass.

The last 4-5 trips, it's been pretty bad, so I'm assuming it still is.

Saw a photo last week of that a couple in a separate Pearl chat group from their trip to Pearl a few weeks ago which showed the sagassum. In the picture it was so thick it looked like you could literally walk across it from the beach all the way into to the end of the pier.

The seaweed is knee deep and no way to shovel it away as there is too much. And no, Pearl is not receiving any benefit from the PM barrier so the beach is horrid right now. I am not sure that they could even play volly ball this last month. Desire Resort is going to have to invest in an actual barrier like PM. There are YouTube videos of the new type of boat that does the clean up on the ocean side of the barrier. Very impressive operation.

Was told during our June visit (Sargassum was really bad) that the barrier up near PM cost $20M. Absolutely no way of confirming that, but a laymans look at it would tell you it was a substantial investment over that Walmart pool noodle Pearl is currently using.

They are also using 2 of those boats/barges to scoop, grind, and dump the stuff on the Gulf side of their barrier

I have heard through the rumour mill that because Pearl is so close to the turtle nesting area that they aren't allowed to do anything with the sargassum aside from hand clean the beach.

Again, this is rumour and speculation.

I am more thinking that proper collection/disposal/preventative infrastructure is the real answer. This type of maintenance is expensive....

Anyone have any reports about seaweed and the beach? Can you go in the water at all? Is there a smell from the seaweed?

IrishMark wrote:Anyone have any reports about seaweed and the beach? Can you go in the water at all? Is there a smell from the seaweed?

I was there at the beginning of July and no, you can't go in the water in front of Pearl. There is a smell, but you tend to forget about it at the pool. If you stay on the beach you can't get away from the smell. You can walk down to the other resorts and enter the water there - but not in front of Pearl.

TitanTn wrote:

IrishMark wrote:Anyone have any reports about seaweed and the beach? Can you go in the water at all? Is there a smell from the seaweed?

I was there at the beginning of July and no, you can't go in the water in front of Pearl. There is a smell, but you tend to forget about it at the pool. If you stay on the beach you can't get away from the smell. You can walk down to the other resorts and enter the water there - but not in front of Pearl.

I don't know about other people's noses, because I've heard the "you forget about it" sentiment before. I do have a more sensitive nose than most, but in all honesty, our late-June trip... if it had been ANY worse we might have left. It smells horrible, and especially at the pool bar, which is a place you find yourself very often. Proceed with caution.

LuckySevens wrote:I don't know about other people's noses, because I've heard the "you forget about it" sentiment before. I do have a more sensitive nose than most, but in all honesty, our late-June trip... if it had been ANY worse we might have left. It smells horrible, and especially at the pool bar, which is a place you find yourself very often. Proceed with caution.

You're absolutely right. Everyone's mileage may vary depending on their "sense of smell." So with those two perspectives spelled out, hopefully people can figure out where on the spectrum they fall based on their sensitivity.