Mexico Denies Approval for Royal Caribbean’s Yucatán Amusement Park
The Government of Mexico confirmed that it plans to deny permits to Royal Caribbean International, which was planning to build a massive amusement waterpark on Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula. It is seen as a victory for environmentalists and residents who had expressed concerns about overtourism in an area with critical mangroves and reefs and home to a small coastal fishing village.
“We must not do anything that affects that area, which has a very important ecological balance, and is particularly important for the reefs,” said Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum. She said she had instructed the country’s environmental authority, SEMARNAT, to conduct “a very detailed analysis,” while suggesting the project could be relocated to less sensitive areas.
Environment Minister Alicia Barcena told reporters on Tuesday that SEMARNAT, after receiving complaints from the residents and from a wide range of environmentalists, had decided not to grant the necessary environmental permits to proceed with the construction. She suggested that the company was “taking steps to withdraw the project.”
Royal Caribbean Cruises issued a statement saying it respected the role of SEMARNAT and others, but denied it would be withdrawing from the project. It says it still believes in Mexico and over the coming weeks will re-engage stakeholders.
The cruise company announced plans in October 2024 to develop a private attraction on Mexico’s Caribbean coast in Mahahual. It is a small fishing community with fewer than 3,000 residents. It is located close to the cruise line developed Costa Maya Port, but is also adjacent to the Mesoamerican Reef System, the second largest coral reef in the world. It is also alongside mangrove forests, which environmentalists report act as a natural hurricane barrier and carbon sink.
The theme park, to be called Perfect Day Mexico, is part of the corporation’s strategy to develop private destinations. It has operated private destinations on a Bahamas Out Island and in Haiti for more than 30 years, and in 2019 redeveloped Coco Cay in the Bahamas into a waterpark amusement destination, which has become a major money maker. It plans to expand the concept both with additional waterparks and its new beach club concept, including a waterpark in Vanuatu in the South Pacific, and beach clubs in the Bahamas, Santorini, and Cozumel.
Royal Caribbean acquired the Costa Maya Cruise Port in July 2025, saying it could be developed from the current approximately two million passengers annually to a total of 6.5 million passengers annually from its ships and other cruise lines.
The park would include a private beach club (RCI)
Perfect Day Mexico was to encompass more than 200 acres, with the line saying it would be bigger and bolder than anything it had developed on shore. Plans call for seven areas, including a waterpark with 30 slides and a 170-foot-tall tower, a splash cove, an adults-only area, and a beach club. It would have 24 bars, including six swim-up bars, and 12 eateries. The company planned to open the first portion by late 2027, and said it would handle as many as 20,000 visitors a day on cruises coming from Galveston, New Orleans, and Florida. The Costa Maya port remains available to all cruise lines.
To support the project, Royal Caribbean was promising a first-of-its-kind for the area waste treatment plant. They promised it would have advanced sorting technologies, closed-loop processing systems, material recovery solutions, and environmental controls to reduce landfill. They also promised to relocate a community center and build a wastewater treatment facility.
Local environmentalists complained of the potential impact on the sensitive area and won support from Greenpeace, which was calling for the project to be relocated. Residents were protesting, demanding a voice in the review and planning process, and the opposition even grew with an online petition reported to be supported by singer Taylor Swift and the pop group BTS. Reuters says that there were over four million signatures supporting the online petition.
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It was not the first time the project had encountered pushback from the government. Royal Caribbean had been ordered to stop cleanup at parts of the site in February. Mexico’s federal environmental enforcement agency raised concerns about the impact on the mangroves as the company’s contractor compacted a dirt road and worked to dismantle an abandoned amusement park on the site. They were ordered to halt demolition.
Royal Caribbean contends the project would be an economic stimulus to the region and create jobs for Mexicans.