November 7, 2026
Mexico's parks agency calls Royal Beach Club Cozumel unviable
Mexico's protected-areas commission says Royal Caribbean's planned Royal Beach Club Cozumel would damage reefs and turtle nesting grounds inside a national park. The opinion is not binding, and the final call now sits with Mexico's Environment Ministry.
Mexico's National Commission of Protected Natural Areas, known as CONANP, has concluded that Royal Caribbean's Royal Beach Club Cozumel is unviable. In a technical opinion reported on November 2, the agency warns the $75 million project would damage coral reefs, seagrass beds and mangroves and disturb nesting sea turtles inside Cozumel Reefs National Park. The 17.42-hectare beach club is planned for 4,000 visitors a day, with restaurants, pools, bars, 2,000 lounge chairs and 24 stilt-mounted palapa structures.
CONANP's central objections are the fixed structures planned over coral, lights facing the sea, sand compaction from daily operations near two documented sea turtle nests, and wastewater risk in Cozumel's porous aquifer. The agency also says the club would shrink public beach space at Playa Sur, one of the beaches most used by local residents. The opinion is not binding on its own. Mexico's Environment Ministry, Semarnat, is weighing it alongside other technical reviews as it decides whether to grant the project an environmental impact permit.
A separate complaint from Cozumel environmental groups, alleging a road and gate were cut through mangrove at Playa Mia for the project, was checked against the project's filed maps and found to sit more than a kilometer from the beach club site, on land signed to another company. Royal Caribbean has not begun construction on the club, because its environmental review is still open.
What it means for your sailing: nothing changes for your Cozumel port day. The beach club is not open and no sailing or excursion is affected while the project is still in review, so your ship will dock and your plans will run as booked. If you were hoping to visit the club on a future Cozumel call, the opening date is now uncertain until Semarnat rules, so keep an eye on the permit decision before counting on it in your plans.
