President Claudia Sheinbaum has ordered a fresh environmental review of Royal Caribbean’s Perfect Day Mexico water park planned for Mahahual, Quintana Roo, amid mounting protests on the coast and in Mexico City.
Sheinbaum said Monday she instructed the Environment Ministry (Semarnat) and its head, Alicia Bárcena, to scrutinize the megaproject after weeks of demonstrations by residents, environmentalists and online activists.
Royal Caribbean, the multibillion-dollar cruise ship giant, is pushing ahead on the massive park, which it wants to open in phases starting in late 2027 as its own private cruise-ship playground on Mexico’s Caribbean coast.
“We must not do anything that affects that area, which has a very important ecological balance, particularly for the reefs,” Sheinbaum said at her morning press conference, according to Infobae.
“In any case,” she added, “the project can be moved to another area of Quintana Roo that does not have so many impacts on the area.”
The review comes as the environmental group Sélvame MX is calling for a peaceful march on Thursday outside Semarnat’s offices in Mexico City to demand the project’s cancellation.
Protesters are being urged to bring banners and “energy to remind [government officials] that Mahahual is not for sale.” Greenpeace has already hung a banner at the Palacio de Bellas Artes in the capital denouncing the project and warning of an “environmental tragedy” if it goes ahead.
Opposition has spread beyond traditional green groups. Fans of K‑pop group BTS and singer Taylor Swift have launched social media campaigns, circulating Change.org petitions and slogans such as “Mahahual needs us” and “Our love for BTS can also change the world.”
Mahahual is a small fishing community of fewer than 3,000 people on the southern Caribbean coast that sits beside the Mesoamerican Reef System, the world’s second‑largest coral reef, and mangrove forests that act as a natural hurricane barrier and major carbon sink.
Activists warn the park — planned to open in phases from late 2027 and receive up to 20,000 daily visitors — would damage more than 90 hectares of jungle and mangroves and threaten endangered species, including jaguars and sea turtles.
The park reportedly would include more than 30 waterslides, the world’s longest “lazy river,” three beaches with cabanas and water sports options, and roughly 12 eateries and 24 bars — including the Tipsy Sombrero Bar in the Fiesta Plaza arrival area that Royal Caribbean says will be adorned by the “world’s largest sombrero.”
With reports from Infobae, El Universal, Uno TV, El Economista and Reportur
