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Waters cover up Cancun beaches shrunk by erosion

People walk along the beach in Cancun, Mexico, on Wednesday. A year after the Mexican government spent millions to replace its hurricane-devastated beaches, Cancun is fighting against Mother Nature once again. PHOTO: AP

A year after Mexico spent millions to replace its hurricane-devastated beaches, Cancun is fighting against Mother Nature again. Erosion has shrunk its sandy playground to the point that waves at high tide lap against the decks of some of the newly renovated hotels.

On a crash course to bring tourists back after Hurricane Wilma, the Mexican government spent US$19 million to dredge the ocean floor and rebuild 12km of beach with 2.7 million cubic meters of sand.

When the dredging was completed last spring, the beaches were nearly double their pre-hurricane size, and tourists returned in droves to refurbished hotels.

Just a year later, the beaches have shrunk again, to less than 20m at mid-tide in the tourist zone, and swimmers are forced to clamber down meter-high cliffs of sand to reach the water. Some visitors have jokingly carved smiling faces and hearts into the side of the steep ledges.

Most sections of beach remain about as wide as before the hurricane hit, although in places, open sand stretches less than 10m wide, and the sea is relentlessly munching away at what's left, said biologist Alfredo Arellano, Yucatan director for the federal government's Commission for Natural Protected Areas.

Tourism officials, developers and other private investors knew erosion would be a problem, and are preparing for a long-term response. They plan a public-private fund for future beach restorations, and an artificial reef off the coast that should help contain the sand. Meanwhile, sandbags line sections of the beaches and large, cloth-like tubes have been installed about 10m offshore.

But environmentalists say such costly efforts will be futile as long as hotels continue building at the water's edge and ripping out the vegetation whose roots once helped to hold the sand in place. They've been lobbying tourism officials and developers to install a 10m strip of native plants, with walking paths between hotels and the beach, even in already developed areas.
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