Court Clears Land-Use Changes for Royal Caribbean Project

A Quintana Roo court dismissed an amparo challenging land-use changes for Royal Caribbean’s Perfect Day Mexico project in Mahahual, allowing land clearing to move forward. The ruling has sparked criticism from environmental advocates, who warn the project could threaten jungle, mangrove, reef, and underground water ecosystems while undermining the state’s conservation agenda.

A federal collegiate court in Quintana Roo ordered the dismissal of an amparo that had challenged land-use changes for Royal Caribbean’s Perfect Day project in Mahahual, effectively clearing the way for land clearing to move forward. The decision has sparked outrage among environmental advocates, who argue that the ruling weakens legal safeguards for jungle, mangrove, and coastal ecosystems while contradicting the government’s public conservation agenda.

In January, a federal judge in Quintana Roo granted a temporary suspension blocking land-use changes linked to Royal Caribbean’s Perfect Day megaproject, after the civil organization Defendiendo el Derecho a un Medio Ambiente Sano (DMAS) challenged the legality of the authorization. The group argued that the land-use change approved for the project had not followed the required legal process, including public consultation and environmental review, as previously reported by MBN.

However, according to Proceso, magistrates from the First Collegiate Circuit Court of Quintana Roo later ordered the dismissal of the amparo filed by DMAS, effectively allowing land clearing tied to the project to move forward. The ruling favored the government of Quintana Roo, which supported a legal mechanism in favor of Royal Caribbean, according to the report.

The decision adds to broader scrutiny of Royal Caribbean’s environmental footprint in the Mexican Caribbean. A previous Environmental Impact Statement for a separate Royal Caribbean project in Cozumel warned of severe environmental impacts, raising concerns over how large-scale tourism infrastructure may affect fragile coastal ecosystems, mangroves, reefs, and surrounding communities.

Guillermo D’Christy, President of Selvame MX, Member of the citizen science organization Cenotes Urbanos, told MBN that allowing Royal Caribbean’s works, together with a road project over Sac Aktun, one of the region’s most important underground rivers, reflects a contradiction in the state’s environmental policy.

“Allowing Royal Caribbean’s works, as well as a road over one of the most important underground rivers in this area, Sac Aktun, to satisfy private interests of power groups linked to the government is totally inconsistent with the official discourse,” D’Christy says. “Above all, when we have been working with environmental agencies to create new protected natural areas in Quintana Roo.”

D’Christy also criticizes what he described as a lack of political will to protect the environment beyond public statements. In a post on X, he argues that Quintana Roo’s government has failed to prioritize conservation and alleged that the project reflects the influence of private interests over environmental protection.

For critics, the Mahahual project is part of a larger pattern in Quintana Roo, where tourism megaprojects have expanded across sensitive ecosystems despite warnings over mangrove degradation, reef stress, and pressure on underground water systems. Environmental advocates argue that the state’s official conservation discourse is weakened when authorities promote or enable projects that could transform high-value ecological zones.

Royal Caribbean has presented its private destination model as a driver of tourism, jobs, and investment. However, opponents warn that enclosed resort-style developments can concentrate visitor spending within company-controlled spaces, while leaving local communities with environmental risks and limited economic spillover.

Royal Caribbean’s Perfect Day Mexico is planned as a large private cruise destination in Mahahual, Quintana Roo, tied to the Costa Maya port. In terms of scope, reports describe it as an 80ha project, designed to receive up to 21,000 cruise passengers per day, plus around 2,500 employees for its operation. 

The project aims to redevelop the area into Royal Caribbean’s largest private destination, with a major water park, beach areas, pools, food and beverage spaces, entertainment zones, and cruise passenger infrastructure. Royal Caribbean has promoted attractions such as seven themed areas, multiple pools, waterslides, swim-up bars, dining options, and what it describes as the world’s longest lazy river.