On my morning walk on Orient Beach yesterday, the sargassum is terrible and the old Boo Boo Jam is derelict. Orient Beach is a shell of itself and its so sad.But I still love the island.
True, we were at Club O beach yesterday. The beach has been packed every day but the wind is high and constant, About 16 to 20 mph out of the East. I was actually able to get in the water though slightly better sargassum. If you could make it down south past Papagayo, the beach and water are clear but it would be a rough walk. The beach bars from Aloha, LeString up to Coco are thriving, very busy.
That photo is not of Boo Boo Jam! A lot of us referred to it as the Mystery Spot, as it lay unfinished for years and years, without a clear idea what it was meant to be. Finally, it was completed and opened in 2009, I believe, as an upscale beach bar/restaurant named "Palm Beach." As you can see, it was blown to smithereens during Hurricane Irma in 2017 and it appears to have reverted back to being a mystery spot. What's left of Boo Boo Jam is located somewhat north of there, much closer to the former Mt. Vernon resort.
It basically says that the amount of Sargassum in the Atlantic Ocean has doubled between December 2022 and January 2023. It says the current amount locally is only moderate and is expected to increase in the coming weeks.
I understand that Dawn Beach area has lots of this sargassum/seaweed? And I also have read that there is hardly any beach over by Dawn Beach Oyster Pond area? Can anyone confirm or deny. I fully realize situations can change daily, just kinda curious how it has been in that area. I read lots more about Orient Beach on this subject
Dawn Beach historically has among the worst accumulations of sargassum. You can almost assume that if it's bad on Orient, it will be bad at Dawn Beach. As far as lack of beach, that I don't know.
Usually the reef tends to limit the sargassum at the south end of Orient, where Club O used to be. But limit is not the same as eliminate, and with enough seaweed, enough wind and the right sea conditions the beach at that location can become pretty littered with it, too. Fortunately, Cedrick works really hard to keep the area as clear as possible, but it can continue to pile up anyway.
Incidentally, although people are inclined to think of this seaweed as some sort of grass or other plan life, in fact it is a form of algae. Which is one reason it is so difficult to deal with.
I am staying at OBBR and can tell you that there is plenty of room on Dawn beach for chairs. The normal beach cleaning machine is currently out of service so a front end loader with a grate on the end is cleaning the beach about every other day. There are plenty of areas where you can enter the water and swim without any seaweed. If you are staying at the other end at the Dawn Beach Club, there is minimal seaweed there.
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