Tulum’s Sea Turtle Festival Ends Its 24th Edition With Sand Sculptures at Xcacel
The 24th Sea Turtle Festival in Tulum concluded at the Xcacel-Xcacelito sanctuary, featuring sand sculptures, turtle films, and workshops on protecting nesting beaches.
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The 24th Sea Turtle Festival in Tulum concluded at the Xcacel-Xcacelito sanctuary, featuring sand sculptures, turtle films, and workshops on protecting nesting beaches.
National Conservation Week in Tulum runs through October 27 with beach cleanups, turtle talks, catamaran rides, and tours of the Jaguar reserve. Most events are free, with limited spaces.
Sea turtle nesting in Tulum has passed 6,000 nests this season. Volunteers want sunbeds and umbrellas off the sand at night, and a municipal rule already sets the hour.
Zofemat has pulled more than 6,500 tons off the coast in 2026, exceeding last year's total. Where the sargassum in Tulum went, and why the crews are still working at first light.
The sargassum season in Tulum is still running after 6,500 tons. Two forecasts put the low point around November, and one warns the break could be short.
While sieving the sand at Playa del Pueblo, the Tulum beach cleanup logged 32 kilos of marine litter on Friday, including 200 grams of microplastic and three syringes.
Crews have hauled 6,500 tons of sargassum in Tulum off four public beaches since January, and the containers have made more than 1,800 trips. The arrivals have not stopped.
The 2027 sargassum budget allocates the Navy 1,866.9 million pesos for ships, a dock, and four buildings in Quintana Roo, and excludes the municipalities from the spending.
Environmental groups and the business council behind the Tulum beach cleanup say the recyclables pulled off the sand are headed to a fuel plant. The dates and the money are missing.
Quintana Roo's sea turtle nesting season reached 29,413 nests by the end of July, most of them green turtles, with a single leatherback nest in the entire state count.
A federal judge dismissed the legal challenge to the Sac Actun road without ruling on the environmental exemption behind it. Elijo por el Clima can still appeal to a collegiate court.
A sea turtle rescue in Tulum ended with firefighters carrying a green turtle across sargassum to the sea. It was the second turtle found in a pool this August.
Playa Conchita and Playa del Pueblo were audited in mid-August for their first Tulum beach certification. The evaluator graded glass, dunes, and lifeguards, not sargassum.
Reef-safe sunscreen has no legal meaning in Mexico. Around Tulum, the rule changes at every gate, from a bottle swap at the Xcaret parks to a flat ban posted at Sian Ka'an.
Zofemat says the sargassum cleanup in Tulum has spared most of the sand by using less machinery. What the crews still take, and what happens at Akumal.
The Maya called them xunan kab, the regal lady. Melipona bees gave the Yucatan its honey, its medicine, and a god. Their Quintana Roo colonies fell 93 percent in a generation.
Nafin and Bancomext are weighing sargassum plan financing for new collection ships and eroded beaches, with Quintana Roo hotels and small businesses in the same conversation.
Sea turtle hatchlings are now reaching the beaches of Quintana Roo, and two videos of people picking them up are under investigation. The state committee has set out what to do and what not to.
Zofemat says Tulum beach erosion is not the fault of sargassum crews. A Caribbean study of removed seaweed found 61 percent of the volume was sand.
The SMN is watching three areas of the Atlantic for cyclone development. None threatens the coast, but the 2026 Atlantic hurricane season is entering its most active stretch.
Tulum sargassum arrivals have thinned after days of rain, and the mayor plans beach videos every two days. Specialists say the improvement is real but far from uniform.