Seaweed Radar

Seaweed risk at Playa Tortugas

Cancún · Hotel Zone, km 6.5

NOAA rated the seaweed risk for the coast around Playa Tortugas as high on November 12, 2026. It has stayed about there for two weeks.

The level describes sargassum offshore that could arrive. It is not a view of the sand, and it is not a forecast.

  1. Low
  2. Warning
  3. Medium
  4. High (the newest level)
NOAA data from · 2 days old

The last 14 days

October 30 – November 12, 2026

  1. October 30: high
  2. October 31: warning
  3. November 1: high
  4. November 2: high
  5. November 3: high
  6. November 4: high
  7. November 5: high
  8. November 6: high
  9. November 7: high
  10. November 8: high
  11. November 9: high
  12. November 10: high
  13. November 11: high
  14. November 12: high

One mark for each day of NOAA data. The taller and darker the mark, the higher the risk for the coast around Playa Tortugas. A dotted mark is a day NOAA published no map.

Month by month

Days at each level, July 2025 – November 2026. A minus after a month counts days NOAA published no map.

L
Low
W
Warning
M
Medium
H
High
Days at each risk level for the coast around Playa Tortugas, by month
Month Days by level L W M H
2025
Jul00031
Aug00031
Sep00228
Oct21460
Nov30000
Dec29020
2026
Jan511510
Feb60184
Mar00427
Apr00624
May00130
Jun −300522
Jul −100030
Aug −100030
Sep −100623
Oct12424
Nov00012

Which way it faces

Faces north, sheltered, onto Bahía de Mujeres.

Beaches turned away from the open sea often collect less seaweed than their neighbours when it arrives, though not every time.

Shoreline around Playa TortugasPlaya Tortugas faces north, onto Bahía de Mujeres. Playa Chac Mool faces east.Playa Chac Moolfaces eastPlaya Tortugasfaces northN2 km
Shoreline traced from NOAA’s map. Not for navigation.

The open beach nearby

Playa Chac Mool, 2 km southeast, faces east.

NOAA gives both beaches the same level, high, because they sit in one run of coast. Any difference between them is on the ground.

Morning report

Get a 7 AM seaweed report for Playa Tortugas on each morning of your trip.

$4.99 per trip

Get the morning report

Reports start in spring 2027. You pay now, through Gumroad, and tell us the beach and your dates by email.

Your place is saved. We will write once, when morning reports open. Nothing has been charged.

Questions

Is there seaweed at Playa Tortugas right now?
Satellites cannot see the sand, so nobody can say from this data alone. As of November 12, 2026, NOAA rates the risk for the coast around Playa Tortugas as high. That is about sargassum offshore that could come in.
Which months are worst for seaweed around Playa Tortugas?
In NOAA's daily record since July 2025, the months with the most medium or high days for this coast were July 2025 (31 of 31 days), August 2025 (31 of 31 days) and September 2025 (30 of 30 days). November 2025 had none.
Does it matter which way Playa Tortugas faces?
Playa Tortugas faces north, onto Bahía de Mujeres. Beaches turned away from the open sea often collect less seaweed than their neighbours when it arrives, though not every time.
Where does the level come from?
From NOAA's Sargassum Inundation Risk map, which NOAA publishes daily and labels experimental. NOAA scores the shoreline in long runs. On that day this beach sat in a run of about 132 km with one level for all of it. A beach and its neighbour can share a level and still look different on the ground.
How often does this page change?
Once a day, by itself, after NOAA posts its map. NOAA's map runs one to two days behind the calendar, so the page always shows the date of the data it is quoting.

Sources and limits

Data courtesy of NOAA/AOML, NOAA CoastWatch, and USF.

The level comes from NOAA’s daily Sargassum Inundation Risk product, which NOAA calls experimental, not a forecast. NOAA scores the shoreline in long runs. On that day this beach sat in a run of about 132 km with one level for all of it. High is the top of NOAA's four levels: a lot of floating sargassum is in the waters off this coast and landings are likely along much of it.

NOAA's map from 2 days ago, the newest it has published. Seaweed Radar rewrites this page once a day by itself. NOAA does not endorse this site. How it works