Heavy sargassum arrivals continue to impact beaches across the Dominican Republic this October, with affected areas including Punta Cana, Bayahibe, Boca Chica, and Saona Island.
The influx has altered beach conditions and limited swimming in several popular tourist destinations.
We’ve gathered the latest photo & video repost from one of the biggest FB groups monitoring the sargassum seaweed situation in the region.
On October 13, traveler Jürgen Schütz shared photos and video from Saona Island: “This is Saona Island currently, no Caribbean flair just seaweed and garbage.”
On October 3, Patrick Guennou reported cleanup efforts underway:“Cleaning of Boca Chica public beach in progress. Photo taken at 08:30 this morning.”
More recently, Andrea Scherer noted from Bayahibe:“Unfortunately, the sea grass also arrived in Dominicus/Bayahibe. Yesterday in front of Iberostar Selection Dominicus Hacienda…”
“Catalonia Royal Bavaro today. Yesterday was at least swim-able.” said an anonymous participant, along with a video recorded on October 4.
Despite cleanup operations along multiple beaches, large quantities of sargassum continue to arrive, affecting tourism and local ecosystems. The ongoing situation suggests that sargassum management will remain a challenge throughout the rest of October.
Source: Dominican Republic Sargassum Seaweed Reports (Punta Cana, Cabarete, etc.)
Current Satellite Images from Florida University
Latest satellite images from the Optical Oceanography Laboratory suggest the end of the sargassum seaweed season, but some of the remaining bulks of sargassum are still floating by the northeast coast of the Dominican Republic.
Sargassum season 2025 has been considered the worst ever recorded for the whole Caribbean region. Apart from Punta Cana, Cancun, Tulum, and Varadero have been the worst-affected destinations.