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Mexican Caribbean Beach Cams

Live Beach Webcams: Cancún, Riviera Maya & Cozumel

See what the beach actually looks like right now. 39 live streams across the Mexican Caribbean, so you can check sargassum, surf, weather and crowd levels from Cancun to Tulum.

Jump to the webcams Sargassum FAQ
39 webcams across 9 destinations Cancún · Playa Mujeres · Isla Mujeres · Puerto Morelos · Playa del Carmen · Tulum · Akumal · Cozumel · Bacalar

Why this page exists

Check the beach before you fly. And again the morning of.

Sargassum is the question everyone asks about Mexican Caribbean beaches. The seaweed has been washing ashore in heavy belts since around 2014, and on the wrong week it can stack up brown and knee-deep on stretches of Tulum and Playa del Carmen while Isla Mujeres or Cozumel stay clear. Sometimes, Maroma stays clear while Playa Del Carmen is covered in sargassum. No forecast catches all of it, and the fastest way to know what your beach ACTUALLY looks like ... is to look at it!

That's what this page is for. Every webcam below points at a real Mexican Caribbean beach, organized by zone so you can compare Cancún to Tulum to Cozumel in two clicks. Without ads, popups, and with zero incentive to hide the bad news, these cams are the most transparent, up-to-the-minute view of sargassum conditions on the ground.

Staying somewhere specific? The resort finder below maps about 70 Cancún, Riviera Maya, Cozumel and Bacalar resorts to their nearest verified cam, so you can find your beach even if your resort doesn't run its own camera.

I sell every Mexican Caribbean resort, not a curated short list, although I do have some preferences I've put together after almost 2 decades of exploring them. I have no reason to hide which beaches are having a rough week, and I don't want anyone to arrive to their vacation with surprises. If the cam at Tulum shows brown water in May and Cozumel is glassy, that's useful information whether or not it changes your booking.

Use this page to plan around sargassum season, double-check a resort webcam before you book, or just see what the Caribbean looks like right now from your office. When you want a real recommendation about which beach is the best match for your trip dates, tell me what you're planning and I'll give you some honest feedback based on the cams and my experience.

All 39 live webcams

Filter by zone. Click any card to start the stream.

Find your resort

Find the webcam closest to your resort

If your resort runs its own public beach cam, it is listed below. If it does not, the cam shown is the closest verified live view on the same stretch of sand, usually within a kilometer or two, which on a given day reads the same sargassum and surf as your beach. Around 70 Cancún, Riviera Maya, Cozumel and Bacalar resorts are mapped to their nearest cam here. Click a cam to jump to it in the grid above, or open the live stream directly.

Cancún

Playa Mujeres & Costa Mujeres

Isla Mujeres

Puerto Morelos

Playa del Carmen & Riviera Maya

Tulum & Akumal

Cozumel

Bacalar

Parks & Experiences

How to read these cams

Three things to look for when you click in

1. Water color and shoreline

Clear turquoise close to shore means low sargassum that day. A brown band hugging the sand is the seaweed itself. A darker green-blue further out is normal Caribbean depth, not a problem.

2. Same beach, different week

Sargassum shifts day to day with wind and current. A beach that looked rough on the cam Monday can be clear by Thursday. Check the same cam 2 or 3 mornings in a row before you draw conclusions.

3. Compare across zones

The Yucatán coast funnels seaweed differently than the islands. If Tulum is heavy, Isla Mujeres and Cozumel often aren't. The zone filter above is built to make that comparison fast.

Common questions

Sargassum, seasonality, and what these cams show

When is sargassum season in the Mexican Caribbean?

The heaviest sargassum months are typically April through August, peaking in May, June and July. September through March is usually the cleanest stretch, with the calmest water and clearest sand from December through February. Year-to-year totals vary a lot. 2018, 2022 and 2023 were record-heavy years; some seasons stay mild start to finish. 2026 kicked off super early this year - with us seeing sargassum already in February. As of June - it's been a heavy season, but with a lot of variability week to week.

Which Mexican Caribbean beaches usually stay clearer?

Isla Mujeres (Playa Norte) and Cozumel's west coast are the two destinations that most often stay clearer during a heavy week, because they sit on the leeward side of currents that push seaweed onto the mainland. Holbox tends to stay beautiful all the time.

On the mainland, several Riviera Maya resorts have installed their own offshore sargassum barriers and run dawn cleanup crews. If you're picking between mainland all-inclusives, the updated list of Riviera Maya resorts with sargassum barriers is the next page to read.

"Usually" is doing real work in that sentence. Use the live cams to confirm before you book a date.

How often are these webcams verified?

Every cam on this page was opened in an incognito window and confirmed playing before it was added. We re-check the list every month. Some "24/7 live" YouTube channels go dark for a week at a time; if you find one that won't play, tell me and I'll look into it.

Why do some cards say "Open in new tab" instead of playing inline?

A few hosts (resort-owned cams especially) block their streams from being embedded in third-party pages. Those show up here with a single "Open live cam" button so the cam still gets a spot in the list, even though the playback has to happen on the host's own site. Every other card plays inline when you click it.

Can I see the beach at my exact resort?

Often, yes. Use the Find Your Resort directory on this page, which maps about 70 Cancún, Riviera Maya, Cozumel and Bacalar resorts to their nearest verified cam. If your resort runs its own public cam it is listed; if it does not, the directory points you to the closest cam on the same stretch of sand, usually within a kilometer or two, which reads the same sargassum and surf on a given day.

If you've already booked and want a current read on your specific stretch of sand, send us your dates. Between the cams, our own resort contacts and recent guests, we can usually give you a real picture within a day.

Does sargassum mean I shouldn't go to Mexico?

No. Even in heavy years, most days at most resorts the beach is swimmable. The sargassum belt is a 2018-onward reality that the Mexican Caribbean tourism industry has adapted to. Most large resorts run beach-cleaning crews before sunrise. The Mexican navy operates offshore barriers in front of the worst-hit stretches, and a growing list of all-inclusives now run their own private sargassum barriers too. Pool and ocean swimming are usually both viable even on the roughest weeks.

The reason to check the cams isn't to decide whether to go. It's to pick the destination and the week that gives you the best odds of the water you actually want.

Go deeper

Want the resorts that actively fight sargassum?

The webcams above tell you what the water looks like right now. The next question is which resorts are best positioned for the day you actually arrive. I keep a separate guide tracking every Riviera Maya all-inclusive that has installed its own offshore sargassum barrier or runs a serious dawn cleanup program.

If you're choosing between mainland resorts and sargassum risk is the deciding factor, that's the page to read next.

Want help picking a beach that fits your dates?

I plan trips across the entire Mexican Caribbean. Send me your travel window and I'll tell you which zones are looking cleanest, which resorts are best positioned, and what to book.

Start planning with Mike