Los Cabos Beaches Expected To Be Safe For Tourists By Weekend

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Last Updated 6 months ago

Hurricane Norma took her fury out on the popular beaches of Los Cabos.

Now that the storm has passed, work is underway to clean the beaches and prepare them for the upcoming fall and winter peak travel season to the beach resort destination.

However, due to the extensive movement of sand, dangerous debris on the shore, and hazardous pollution in the water, it will take close to the remainder of the week to have the local beaches open for the weekend.

Storm Washes Away the Sand

Hurricane Norma washed away some of the sand that gives Los Cabos its reputation for some of the best blue flag beaches in the entire world.

Federal Maritime-Terrestrial Zone employees have been working hard at several different beaches most impacted by the storm, replacing the sand displaced by the power of Hurricane Norma.

For example, at La Empacadora beach, the surge of the tide and the waves pushed a lot of the sand from the beach onto nearby roadways.

Teams were out with heavy equipment working to not only clear the beach access roads and parking areas for tourists but replace the lost sand that travelers love most about a vacation getaway to Los Cabos.

Handling the Debris

All over the beaches of Los Cabos lies debris that could be dangerous to visitors to the area.

Umbrellas, broken palapas, information boards, and even trash cans were strewn all over the beaches by the fury of Hurricane Norma.

Those will all have to be removed from the beaches and ultimately replaced for tourists to the beach resort destination.

The beaches are also full of items that were carried away by the storm surge and rivers flowing through the urban areas of Los Cabos.

Trash, paper, plastic bottles, and even sharp items such as nails, broken glass, and other pieces of metal are present in the sand, washed up by the storm.

Very carefully, the Federal Maritime-Terrestrial Zone team will have to canvas the sand finding sharp dangerous items buried in the sand.

Waiting For the Ocean to Clean Itself

Last but not least, Hurricane Norma washed the streets, gutters, and rivers of Los Cabos into the sea.

This has left the sea full of hazardous chemicals, pollution, and raw sewage, leading to black flags being posted at the local beaches.

It will take a couple of days for the natural cleaning process of the ocean to break down and remove the hazards from the water.

The posting of black flags after a major storm is a normal process in Los Cabos, especially due to the high levels of pollution and raw sewage in the water.

Recent heavy rains not related to Hurricane Norma caused black flags to be posted on many of the tourist beaches in La Paz due to heavy urban run-off of pollution and sewage from area rivers.

Weekend Opening Projected

According to officials with the Federal Maritime-Terrestrial Zone, beaches will remain closed for at least four to five days to allow the cleaning team and the natural action of the ocean to restore the beaches to safe conditions.

This will lead to an approximate reopening of the beaches late in the week or even over the weekend, depending on the level of cleaning needed.

Unfortunately, tourists in Los Cabos will be unable to enjoy the sun, surf, and sand of their beach vacation getaway while the beaches are cleaned and restored to a safe condition for visitors.

However, there are quite a few other things to do in Los Cabos while the beaches are off-limits to swimmers. There are several historical features to explore, outdoor adventures such as hiking and mountain biking, and even plenty of great resort amenities to enjoy.