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Civil Protection continuing to deal with Playa Norte overcrowding on Isla Mujeres

Isla Mujeres, Q.R. — Civil Protection personnel continue to attempt order in the disorder that has developed off the island’s Playa Norte. In recent weeks, the number of boaters arriving has increased significantly since the area is one of the few without sargassum.

Merced Ortiz Maya, director of Isla Mujeres Civil Protection says that the buoys meant to protect swimmers have been compromised as boaters began using them as ties. That has resulted in many of the cables breaking.

“We are already in talks with the Harbor Master’s Office who are the maritime authority responsible for delimiting the bathing area. We know that there has been a lot of citizen reporting on jet skis, so we are working on that too, working on everything that the law allows us to as Civil Protection, but we need to remember that the authority in this case is the Fifth Region Naval and the Harbor Master’s Office,” he explained.

Regarding the summer vacation period, Ortiz Maya said that lifeguards have been very active on Media Luna beach, which oddly enough, is the northern beach where swimming is prohibited.

He said that on a near-daily basis, lifeguards have to deal with reckless people who ignore the prohibited swimming signs and enter the water. He says most people swimming in the area enter the sea after the lifeguards have left for the day.