Tulum Mayor Diego Castañón appeared on national television in October 2025 to reject rumors that the destination's beaches had been privatized, defending an agreement that opened 25 free-access points on private hotel properties.
The interview remains the fullest public accounting of how Tulum lost everyday access to its own coastline and what the municipal government negotiated back. For residents and for visitors planning a trip, the rules Castañón described, where to enter, at what hour and under what conditions, are the practical answer to whether the beach is still reachable without a hotel reservation.
The beaches, he insisted, belong to the public. The fight is over how to reach them.
The Rumor Campaign That Put Tulum's Mayor on National Television
The questions he faced were blunt. Word had spread through social media and family group chats, the interviewer told him, that Tulum's streets were empty, that restaurants sat without diners, that prices had driven visitors away and that the beaches now belonged to private hands.
Castañón answered with the calendar first. High season in Tulum runs from November to June, he said, and the stretch from August through early November has always brought the lowest occupancy. What made 2025 harsher, he argued, were two added blows: sargassum landings he called the worst Quintana Roo had ever recorded, and what he described as a dirty war of coordinated negative campaigns against the destination. He did not say who he believed was behind them.
The market showed the strain either way. Hoteliers had been running incentives of 40, 50 and up to 60 percent off for an extended period, the mayor acknowledged, framing the discounts as an effort to keep the destination moving. He projected occupancy of 75 to 80 percent from November, rising to 95 percent in December, buoyed by cultural and gastronomic events and international electronic music festivals.
How Jaguar Park Enclosed the Town's Public Beach
The privatization rumors trace back to a real loss. When the federal government created Jaguar Park, the protected natural area surrounding the archaeological zone, it absorbed what Castañón called practically the only public beach Tulum had. Administration passed to Grupo Mundo Maya, the state company under military management that also operates hotels tied to the Maya Train project, and the gates closed.
Months of negotiation followed, with Governor Mara Lezama's office at the table. The result was free entry for local residents at the park's southern access, subject to the rules that govern protected areas.
The northern access is a different story. That entrance leads to the artisan plazas, where some 500 families sell their work, the place Castañón called the lung of Tulum's tourism. It was closed, and its reopening was still under negotiation at the time of the interview. The mayor described that gate as one of the most valuable entry points the destination has ever had.
What Acceso Libre Means for Tulum Beach Access
Along the coastal hotel strip, the obstacle was never ownership of the sand. Under Mexican law, the strip along the sea is federal territory, part of the maritime-terrestrial zone, and no private party may own it. The problem is the land behind it: 8.5 kilometers of beachfront reachable mostly by crossing private lots.
The municipal answer was Acceso Libre, a set of agreements under which 25 hotels and beach clubs let the public walk through their property to the shoreline between 9 in the morning and 5 in the afternoon, with no minimum consumption required. Visitors are asked to respect the rules of the federal maritime zone and to leave the beach clean, a condition the mayor tied directly to the destination's image.
By his account, no complaints of denied entry had been filed, and more properties were joining. If one access point closes for a private event, he said, two dozen others remain open.
Doubts in the Press and Reinforcement From the State
The program was not received as a settled solution. National outlets including El Financiero and Proceso questioned the schedule and the conditions attached to the entrances within days of the launch, asking how free an access can be when it runs on a hotel's terms and a fixed clock.
The state government moved to shore it up. In mid November 2025, Governor Mara Lezama and federal Tourism Secretary Josefina Rodríguez announced free and open access to Tulum's public beaches, presented alongside a package reported by El Universal as 128 actions aimed at reversing the tourism decline.
Castañón closed the interview by asking skeptics to judge for themselves. Do not settle the question in a group chat, he said in effect. Go to Tulum and look.
Two markers he set remain the ones to watch: the December occupancy of up to 95 percent he projected, and the reopening of Jaguar Park's northern gate, where 500 artisan families are still waiting for the foot traffic that once sustained them.
Have you tried one of the 25 free beach entrances along Tulum's hotel zone? Join the conversation and share your perspective with us on Instagram and Facebook at @thetulumtimes .