If you are a Cancun lover, you’ll know that we are in the midst of a huge beach reconstruction project to rebuild the beaches that were lost in the hurricane in 2005.  So far the project is a huge success, with many hotels and public beaches gaining 80 to 100 meters of sand!  Some spots along the strip had been reduced to nothing, just rocks and water crashing against the barrier walls.  Now, the stretch of sand is huge, perfect for football, lazing in the sun, flying kites or romping in the surf.  I’ve been monitoring the project and every time I trek out to the hotel zone a big “WOW” comes flying out of my mouth when I see what they are accomplishing.  They are moving fast, the place looks great and hopefully more and more tourists will return to Cancun for the beaches that we are accustomed to.

The photos above show the incredible difference a couple of weeks can make.  This is located at Playa Marlin, near the Villas Marlin and Barcelo Tucancun.  So great to see the massive change in the beach!

The best news of the morning is that the beach behind the Royal Sands hotel is now open.  They’ve moved lounge chairs and umbrellas down to the sand and people were flocking to the new stretch of beach.  The pipes have been removed from about half of the beach behind the Sands, the project continues to move south from there.

The work is currently between the Royal Sands and Le Meridien.  Work should commence very soon on the Cancun Palace and the Marriott hotels.  Here’s a “before” photo behind Cancun Palace looking south towards the JW Marriott, will have some “after” shots soon!

You can find more photos on our Flickr page, here’s today’s Cancun beach recovery set.  Don’t forget to join our Cancun Travel Facebook page to share your own photos with us, we’d love to have you with us!  Stayed tuned for more updates and Happy Holidays from Cancun Travel!

Things are looking up, way up for the beaches of Cancun.  The beach restoration project is in full swing and the sand is flying!  There are two dredgers working, currently bringing sand from a deposit off of Isla Mujeres called “La Ollita”, but plans suggest they will be switching to the Cozumel source by next week.  Using the sand from Cozumel had been causing controversies and delays in the project but the authorities have ruled that they can move ahead as planned.  As of today, they have covered approximately 700 meters of beach, from the Sunset Hotel up to Punta Cancun.  The area that is complete includes the beach behind the condos Bay View Grand, Carisa, Palma and Girasol, the public beaches at Chac Mool and Gaviotas, the area behind Playa Cabanas (the beach club at The City) and they are currently working behind the Krystal and over towards Dreams.  They should finish at Dreams this week and start working their way south.  The Cancun part of the project should take about three months to complete before they move on to Isla Mujeres, Playa del Carmen and Cozumel.  When more specific scheduling details become available, we will be sure to share them with you.

I took a trip out to the beach this morning to check on the progress and my jaw literally dropped.  The only words coming out of my mouth were “WOW WOW WOW”.  I went to the same spots as exactly one week ago and the difference is spectacular.  Where once there were rocks, there is now a beautiful stretch of sand.  Behind the beach club at Playa Cabana, there was nothing last week, the water was crashing against the cement wall a few meters drop from the deck.  Now the sand stretches for about 80 meters and comes right to the top of the wall at the beach club.  It’s truly incredible what they have managed to accomplish in one week.  Here are a couple of before and after comparison shots for you……

Cancun Travel will continue to bring you updates on the progress of the beach recovery, with more photos and some videos to come.  Check out our Flickr Beach Recovery Cancun set for more pictures of this incredible project.  Don’t forget to join the Cancun Travel Facebook page, share your own photos and videos with us, we’d love to hear from you!