With its lovely beaches, top-notch resorts, friendly locals, and vibrant culture, the Dominican Republic is a popular vacation destination with millions of visitors every year. Still, there is one thing that might completely spoil your experience. Yes, we’re talking about sargassum.
The unpleasant seaweed blobs have been threatening Caribbean beaches for years now. The causes are still uncertain, and hardly any solutions are in sight. Due to the changing currents, the arrival of sargassum is also rather unpredictable – except that we know when it likes to bloom the most.
When is Sargassum Seaweed Season in the Dominican Republic?
Sargassum seaweed usually occurs in the Dominican Republic between March and October, with the peak season in summer, between June and August, when the ocean is the warmest.
According to the latest prediction, 2024 sargassum seaweed season could come to an end in the beginning of November.
Optical Oceanography Laboratory Seaweed Maps for Dominican Republic (Punta Cana)
Optical Oceanography Laboratory is a research facility by the College of Marine Science at the University of Florida that focuses on monitoring ocean conditions, including the sargassum situation.
They use raw satellite data provided by the U.S. NASA and USGS to monitor the distribution and movement of sargassum and create predictive models.
Note: As the Optical Oceanography Laboratory mentions on their website, the information only provides a general outlook of current sargassum condition and future bloom probability and should by no means be used for exact prediction or forecast for a particular beach destination.
Latest Sargassum Seaweed Satellite Images Map And Prediction
The latest map shows Floating Algae Density during the period between 30 October and 5 November 2024.
These satellite images show a creation of the sargassum seaweed on the Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of Africa which will slowly move with the Ocean currents towards the Caribbean and invades beaches in early 2025.
Satellite Images from the peak of the sargassum season between 24 June and 30 June 2024
These images recorded in mid-June suggest a huge seaweed presence around the east of the Dominican Republic (Punta Cana) which can result in massive sargassum arrivals on the beach. It might vary depending on currents and also hurricanes as they change the behavior of the sea.
Facebook Monitoring Group
Dominican Republic Sargassum Seaweed Reports (Punta Cana, Cabarete, etc.) is a Facebook monitoring group with more than 1.5k members who share photos, comments, and updates on the sargassum situation on Dominican beaches. Join to stay in the loop.
Latest Photos, News And Updates from Dominican Republic
October, November 2024: Sargassum seaweed season in the Dominican Republic is coming to an end!
As you can see on the photo reports below, the levels of sargassum are very low or non-existent but the sargassum season isn’t fully over yet. It’s quite unusual for the sargassum season to last this long in the Dominican Republic.
September 2024: Sargassum Seaweed Updates from the Dominican Republic
2024’s sargassum seaweed season is not over yet but it’s coming to an end soon. It usually lasts until the end of September but it can be prolonged during October as well.
Depending on the swell the arrival can differ but it’s been mild lately across Dominican Republic and around Punta Cana.
July 2024: Latest photo reports from the Dominican Republic
The sargassum seaweed situation is getting worse in the Dominican Republic as many travelers are reporting huge daily arrivals in Punta Cana.
June 30 to July 3: Latest Photos from FB Monitoring Group
June 25: The Dominican Republic was allocated RD$68.8 million to combat the sargassum phenomenon
The Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Technology (MESCyT) has assigned RD$68.8 million to various universities and research centers to help resolve the troublesome sargassum situation, which has been affecting the Dominican Republic for the past five years.
The funding was provided through the National Fund for Scientific Development and Technological Innovation (Fondocyt). The projects focus on sargassum-related topics, such as monitoring, prediction, and sustainable use of seaweed.
According to Dr. Franklin García Fermín, head of MESCyT, the investment has already bore fruit. So far, they have resulted in 16 scientific publications in indexed journals and three patent applications, one of which has been put into use by Dominican industry.
Beach Clean Ups Punta Cana
Punta Cana morning cleanups are quite effective and are well organized. You can enjoy fairly clean beaches after 10-11 am. See the video below.