These days if we’re talking Cancun, especially during the current slow season, we must be talking the Beach Restoration Project. Sure, there’s low hotel occupancy, a smattering of swine flu around in a topic that may rear it’s ugly head worldwide in the later part of this year and early next, and then there’s the vacation sales discounts that haven’t been seen in years. But, despite it all, it’s beach restoration that has Cancun, along with her sister resort areas, Playa Del Carmen and Cozumel, in the Mexican State of Quintana Roo all a buzz.
The only problem is, the Beach Restoration Project has been delayed so many times that no one, and I mean no one, is ever quite sure what the scheduling of the work time line is going to be. And, hell there’s still the tropical storm season to deal with, well, two months of it anyway. However, rest assured, it’s going to happen, in fact the citizenry and government officials up and down Quintana Roo are bubbling with anticipation, at least as far south as Playacar, just south of Playa Del Carmen, the primary benefactor of restoration outside of Cancun. Now, we don’t want to keep you in anticipation of the coming events any further, just don’t hold your breathe or make life altering decisions based on the information we’re about to give you, as with everything in Mexico, the below announced dates and schedules are subject to change and/ or delays.
(Beach Reclamation Equipment in action during previous work, Courtesy Jan De Nul)
Reported Dates of Interest*:
Puerto Progreso, Yucatan
September 5, 2009: Estimated Arrival, Specialized Ships used for dredging, sand mining and bulk sand placement.
Cancun:
September 15, 2009 - December 28, 2009: Initial placement and construction of breakwaters in Cancun.
Early October, 2009- December 19, 2009: Beach Replenishment/ Addition of Sand to 12 KM of beach in Cancun.
Playa Del Carmen:
September 21, 2009 - November 19, 2009: Initial placement and construction of breakwaters in Playa Del Carmen.
December 11, 2009- December 20, 2009: Beach Replenishment/ Addition of Sand to select beaches
Isla Cozumel:
September 21, 2009 - November 19, 2009: Initial placement and construction of breakwaters
December 11, 2009- January 20, 2010: Beach Replenishment/ Addition of Sand to select beaches
*(All Dates Approximate and Subject to Delay, the information is deemed reliable but not guaranteed.)
The information in this edition of the Cancun Casa Blog was compiled from multiple sources, official and media related.
We’ll get a golden island…We’ll feed the food to the ford, And we’ll live off the coconut…
Dangers…
September 7th, 2009 at 12:26 pm Dangers, thanks so much for the update, will spread the link around. :) Saw what may be a dredger this weekend in the bay near Puerto Cancun, here’s a photo, in your expert opinion does it look like what I think it is? http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=3951817&l=dfdb04eb59&id=585581277 Also saw some survey equipment on Playa Delfines, not sure if it’s connected, but I have a funny feeling…. http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=3951816&l=222195f322&id=585581277 Thanks again! (Once things get rolling, I’m going to try to get regular photos…..was going to attempt to get shots behind the Gran Caribe Real of the removal of their “stolen sand” equipment, but there’s just no public access near the hotel!)
September 8th, 2009 at 10:21 pm CC~ the ship or more likely barge, does look like a dredging/ heavy lift barge of some type though I’m not sure of it’s origin. Oddly enough, it looks familiar, possibly something similar to the barges that worked the Puerto Cancun development area some time back that I had seen but I couldn’t be sure, I’m definitely no expert in dredging barges. ;-) …The project’s contractor may be confirming preliminary marine and beach surveys for the physical aspects of the project at this point…And, the Gran Caribe, there’s some old fashioned Mexican madness there, lol…thanks for the photo links. ;-)
September 14th, 2009 at 9:58 am Dangers, thank you for this useful information. As it is now September 14th - is there an update on this story - has worked commenced or was it another false dawn?
September 15th, 2009 at 6:37 am Christopher~ the word that I’m getting is that coastal survey and engineering teams are out laying out the plans for the beach replenishment, and that machinery and equipment has indeed arrived in Progreso for the project. Just no conclusive word on those dredger ship arrivals as of yet from Progreso but that doesn’t mean they aren’t there.
September 15th, 2009 at 7:11 am Thanks for the update, I am really interested to see how they restore the beach, I visited in May 2005 and then again in April 2008 and the difference between both was drastic. Thank you for the update, it is greatly appreciated!
September 22nd, 2009 at 9:33 am Nice info Dangers, Did they say where they are putting the magic breakwaters?
October 10th, 2009 at 5:11 am i am working on one of the dredgers and at this moment (10 okt.) the city council of cancun won’t let use to start whith te project. at this moment the dredgers are still in europe.
November 22nd, 2009 at 3:54 pm Have they started to work south of Playa Del Carmen yet? Where are the currently. I will be staying near the Riu Yucatan December 5th and would like to see this process.
November 24th, 2009 at 9:06 pm MnFirefighter~ they’ve started moving equipment and machinery to the Playa area as per reports for preparation for restoration at Playacar predominately but the actual sand dredging and spreading of new sand isn’t expected to start until mid December, if not sooner.
November 24th, 2009 at 10:00 pm Will the grand Caribe Real have sand by mid december ? will be staying around there and right now it looks very bad that I’m almost considering canceling my booking and Trip ..thanks in advance
January 6th, 2010 at 5:20 pm Do you happen to know how the progress is at the Omni Cancun? We have been avoiding using our unit there due to the beach conditions. We are planning a late March trip. Thanks
January 7th, 2010 at 4:09 pm Watching them now from the Royak Caribbean. They are past the Omni and the beach will open in a few days. The beach is huge. They work 24/7
January 8th, 2010 at 8:40 am Thank you very much or the info!!
January 8th, 2010 at 9:37 am Omni beach opened this morning. It’s a football field long. enjoy
January 8th, 2010 at 12:24 pm Hi there,My family and I will be going to Royal Solaris Cancun. We stayed there last year and we decided to come back as we really liked it. Today, Friday January 08 I received an e-mail from our vacation carrier that The Mexican Government has commenced a beach restoration project which involves the use of heavy machinery and that it will affect any guests arriving at the ROYAL SOLARIS CANCUN from January 5th to 31st, 2010. We were set to leave on January 13 till January 27. What should I do? How long does it take to do one hotel beach? Do you think it will be ready for our arrival?Please reply.
January 8th, 2010 at 7:52 pm I’m at he Royal Caribbean, they did our beach in one day and we’re a very large complex. They did the Royal Mayan yesterday and it opened late today. Come on down!!
January 8th, 2010 at 8:16 pm Thanks very much Ted for your reply. I feel more confident now. I was worried that our 2 weeks of holidays will be a disaster.
January 17th, 2010 at 12:10 pm Do you know if work is being done in front of Valentin imperial Palace?
January 17th, 2010 at 12:33 pm I’m sorry I , it’s Valentin Imperial Maya
January 19th, 2010 at 3:33 pm Does anyone have any information on beach construction at Dreams Cancun? Are they finished there yet? I leave thursday thanks terry
January 19th, 2010 at 10:00 pm Hola Folks, the Beach Restoration is down past Playa Delphines and moving into the later stages of the to be restored areas. Beach Restoration has also been underway in Playa Del Carmen. Terry~ only a small portion of the Dreams Resort area was part of the actual sand restoration though work on a breaker continues just offshore, southeast of the resort and Punta Cancun. There should be no issues with the restoration at Dreams.
January 20th, 2010 at 12:13 pm Could anyone tell me if work is being done on the beach called Playa Del Secreto
January 20th, 2010 at 10:15 pm Diane~ to my knowledge the beaches at Playa Del Secreto are not part of the beach restoration or are the beaches North of it in Puerto Morelos.
January 21st, 2010 at 1:59 am Thank you. That is great news.
February 4th, 2010 at 1:33 pm Does anyone know how the beaches are at the Riu Yucatan? Leaving next week, hoping they will be in good shape! Thanks!
February 6th, 2010 at 1:19 pm Any word on progress at Playa Car - especially the Santos resort?
February 7th, 2010 at 10:37 am We just returned from staying in the Playa Car area. The beach restoration is mostly finished. the beach is accessable and looks great, an extra 100 feet were added. There is a pathway left for large machinery to travel but there isn’t much activity. They finished the project very quickly with a minor impact on our stay.
February 10th, 2010 at 6:19 am Thank you for the update. Heading that way tomorrow (if we don’t get snowed in here). Last year the giant sand bags were an eyesore, but it was still beautiful.