Another Playa Del Carmen Beach Achieves Blue Flag Status

Officials from Playa del Carmen announced another beach in the Mexican Caribbean region has reached Blue Flag status.

According to The Riviera Maya News, Federal Maritime and Terrestrial Zone (Zofemat) for Solidaridad Director Lourdes Varguez Ocampo revealed Tuesday that Playa Pelicano has qualified for Blue Flag status.

Playa Pelicano is located on 40th Street and reached the certification milestone after meeting the 33 required criteria to earn a Blue Flag. The application process started last year as officials worked to improve the water quality and add infrastructure that included “all the needed services.”

“This is wonderful news, especially since when we sent the file to request the certification, we did not hear any news about the Blue Flag, but it passed without comments or observations,” Varguez Ocampo told The Riviera Maya News.

Varguez Ocampo said the municipality now has four total beaches with the Blue Flag certification and officials are looking to gain the status for two additional beaches in the coming months.

Solidaridad’s three other Blue Flag beaches include Playa Xcalacoco, Playa Punta Esmeralda and Playa 88.

In June, international tourism in Mexico exceeded 2019 levels through the first four months of 2022. National statistics agency INEGI reported that international tourists spent $8.67 billion in Mexico between January and April, with revenue beating 2021 totals by 123.8 percent and being 3.7 percent higher than 2019.