Royal Caribbean is aiming high in Mahahual, Quintana Roo. The cruise company hopes to build an exclusive, beach-front water park that could welcome millions of cruise passengers a year — but local opposition threatens to halt the project. Activists say the park will worsen infrastructure woes in the 2,600-person town, where an overloaded sewage system regularly leaks into nearby mangroves and reefs.

Perfect Day Mexico involves the construction of a 80-hectare water park across from the Mahahual cruise ship pier in southern Quintana Roo. The initial plan calls for an operational capacity of up to 21,000 cruise ship tourists per day, in addition to 2,500 employees for the park’s operation.

Activists, however, warned that Mahahual has serious drainage and sewage management problems, and they worry that a mega-park would overload the town’s already saturated infrastructure.

The complaints prompted the non-profit Defending the Right to a Healthy Environment (DMAS) to file an amparo lawsuit (a legal action or writ in Mexico used to protect individuals from violations of their human rights) against the Perfect Day Project. 

In the lawsuit, DMAS challenges recent land use modifications to the municipal Urban Development Program (PDU), including the removal of roads and other restrictions to allow the construction of the water park planned by Royal Caribbean in Mahahual.

Antonella Vázquez Cavedón, head of DMAS, told newspaper El Economista that the modifications to the PDU are a clear violation of the Human Settlements Law.

She explained that given the project’s significance for the entire community, authorities were obliged to carry out a public consultation process to ensure that citizens understand the project’s scope and consequences to the urban growth of Mahahual.

According to Vázquez, Royal Caribbean’s interests prevailed over the interests of the community.

“The mayor presented the ruling to the city council and in just a few days, they granted [Royal Caribbean] every request,” she said.

Currently, an incomplete water treatment plant leaks raw sewage into Mahahual’s coastal mangrove forest and the nearby reef, Vázquez said.

Royal Caribbean has promised to clean up the area contaminated by the sewage leaks, but activists say the project’s operation will further strain the community’s already poor infrastructure and drainage system.

The company has also recognized the presence of endangered species like the ocelot, margay and white turtle. According to the Environmental Impact Statement (MIA), mitigation measures will be undertaken to “reduce stress and ensure the physical integrity of the individuals.”

With reports from El Economista