Calidad del agua en Sayulita VS Punta Mita
Estado del Río Sayulita y la calidad del agua en Sayulita
Es viernes por la mañana a las 7:45, zancos de cuello negro, garzas coronadas de amarillo y garzas blancas contemplan la laguna que se encuentra en la desembocadura del río antes de encontrar el océano. Esperan atrapar peces pequeños y comida que fluye por el río Sayulita.
La estación seca ya comenzó y el pueblo la acoge sin temor de fuertes olores o un ambiente contaminado, lamentablemente algo muy común en el pasado.
Gracias a la renovada planta de tratamiento y al esfuerzo de los lugareños que se preocupan por el medio ambiente, las recolecciones intensivas de desechos plásticos y la limpieza de los ríos a menudo hacen de Sayulita un destino más sostenible.
Ahora los surfistas y nadadores pueden disfrutar del océano limpio en la bahía de Sayulita. Afortunadamente no hay informes de enfermedades causadas por la bacteria estreptococo en el área. Grandes noticias para los visitantes de Sayulita que buscan surfear y disfrutar de la playa en este paraíso tropical.
--Diciembre 20 del 2019
Temporada de Lluvia
Ha llegado la temporada de lluvia en nuestro pueblo mágico Sayulita. Los vientos vienen y van y nuestro río empieza a cobrar vida. La vegetación se expresa a su máximo esplendor, empiezan nuevos ciclos de vida, el agua de mar empieza a tornarse de un tono terroso combinado con su azul profundo. Y por supuesto, las olas son una viva expresión de estos cambios. Nos podemos preguntar:
¿Afecta la temporada de lluvia a la calidad del agua en Sayulita?
Si estudiamos el ciclo hídrico del agua, los océanos proveen el 91 % del agua de lluvia: el agua se evapora por el sol y regresa en forma de lluvia (agua dulce), abasteciendo lagunas y dando vida a ríos cercanos al mar, como el Río de Sayulita.
El río de Sayulita es una fuente de minerales y materia orgánica para el océano (tales como hojas, ramas pequeñas de árboles, limo y arcilla) que van a parar a nuestro océano, creando así el color terroso de nuestro mar, siendo parte del ciclo de la naturaleza.
Es de suma importancia como comunidad tener mayor cuidado con nuestro paraíso, ya que si no desechamos nuestros residuos inorgánicos (basura doméstica), electrodomésticos o cualquier producto que ya no necesitemos de manera correcta, esta podrá llegar a nuestro mar.
Seamos más cuidadosos y conscientes. Y veamos que la lluvia no afecta a nuestro mar, lo que puede afectar son nuestros hábitos.
¡Tratemos de tener nuestras aguas limpias!
--Por Lucero Plascencia
Punta Mita Surf Lessons
Catch your first wave at La Lancha! With local and certified instructors to make your experience unforgettable. Enjoy your Surf Lesson in crystal clear water or just hang out on the beach.
Current situation of sea water quality in Sayulita, Nayarit, Mexico
Sayulita is a gorgeous, vibrant town that has been considered magical because of its great diversity in fauna and flora, its beautiful landscapes and coastline and its mellow waves, internationally recognized in the world of travel and surfing. This recognition entails a great environmental responsibility.
That is why government institutions and agencies such as the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT), the Federal Commission for Protection against Health Risks (COFEPRIS), and the State Commission for Protection against Health Risks of Nayarit (COESPRISNAY) have continuously monitored the water quality of the town's sea.
The Federal Commission for Protection against Health Risks carried out in June this year a study on the quality of seawater, resulting in 14 NMP (most likely number of stereococci) per 100 ml of ocean water. According to the safety levels established by the World Health Organization (WHO) the quality of sea water in Sayulita is suitable for recreational use and guarantees the protection of the health of users.
These results represent a process of continuous improvement by the government and the Sayulite community. It encourages the care and use of our beaches in a conscious way as well as encouraging the present and future generations the importance of the environment.
Sayulita is unique and for everyone!
Let's take care and enjoy this paradise together.
Sayulita massive beach cleaning!
300 Volunteers out to set an example
Today we are with Corona in the campaign Desplastifícate
Sayulita, Nay.
In the framework of the World Environment and Oceans days that are celebrated this month, Grupo Modelo will hold from June 1 to June 15 days focused on cleaning, restoring, conserving Mexico's water and cleaning its beaches.
The movement of Corona Desplastifícate began this Saturday, June 8, in partnership with Modelo Volunteers, in more than 25 beaches in Mexican territory. The brand works to become one of the greatest agents of change in the world by cleaning about 500 beaches in more than 23 countries, thanks to the support of 300,000 volunteers worldwide.
"It is a movement that we are creating, it is the largest in Mexico of protection of the oceans. We are a brand with a great commitment to Mexico. He was born more than five years ago; It started with cleaning days and we saw that we could make a much bigger difference: raise awareness, "said Clarissa Pantoja, Director of Corona Beer, to El Economista"...
Sayulita Changed (for the better) May 18, 2019 UPDATE - Video create by a Sayulita visitor informing the improvements in Sayulita for 2019. It talks a lot about Sayulita's river, sewage and water treatment plant.
April 24, 2019 Sayulita sickness update - Check out this amazing Sayulita Review!
Incredible, Healthy Wedding in Sayulita
"Two weeks ago, my husband and I were joined by 135 guests for an incredible wedding weekend in Sayulita. In the weeks leading up to the wedding, our wedding planner notified us of the norovirus going around in Sayulita, and advised us to take precautions. This sent us into an anxiety spiral -- reading these forums, I imagined it was impossible to avoid the norovirus, that all precautions were useless, and even considered calling the wedding off entirely. We were very up front with our guests -- we sent them two email communications detailing precautions to take, and instructions in case of sickness. Unfortunately, we lost 20 guests in the two weeks before our wedding who decided not to join us and risk it. Now, two weeks after our wedding, I'm happy to report that we had a healthy wedding. Only two guests got sick, and we aren't convinced it was norovirus (dehydration, heat stroke, hangovers...). It was a four-day extravaganza with multiple wedding events in the center of town, including at Don Pedro's and Palmar Trapiche. We, all of our guests, and all of our vendors, took every precaution - obsessive hand washing, strict "quarantine" for anyone who felt any nausea, an on-call doctor to evaluate anyone who was feeling ill, no swimming anywhere along the main beach, and more. I can not recommend my wedding planner, Lauren from Nicoella Event Design, HIGHLY enough. She was absolutely incredible, honest, supportive, and action-oriented every step of the way. The weekend was magical."
Readers, don't forget to post your positive experiences on TripAdvisor's Sayulita Forum.
April 24, 2019 - Sayulita Beach SAFE for Swimming- A Busy Semana Santa Holiday is Under Way
As many have seen, numerous articles and internet "trolls" with inaccurate information have been making their way around social media and various travel forums declaring that Sayulita beach is not safe for swimming. This has caused the rumor mill to spin, and some to worry about how this would affect tourism over the Semana Santa holiday. However, the correct information is that Sayulita beach has been tested, and the water is safe! Even with some false reports about our beach and water safety, we have still seen a fairly busy Semana Santa Holiday here in Sayulita. According to Mexico's secretary of health, in an article published on Tuesday, April 16th, 2019, it states, "according to the most recent analysis carried out on the marine water of Sayulita beach, municipality of Bahia de Banderas, its waters are suitable for the recreational use of all tourism and residents of this tourist destination." Read full article here
April 17, 2019 Sayulita beach declared for safe swimming and recreational use - Sayulita is now the only beach town in the area that does not dump wastewater directly onto the beach. Many people turned out today to tour the plant and grounds, and it was great to see everyone involved in the process. There was also a noticeable lack of odor at the plant, which was a pleasant experience. The government of Nayarit also tested the Sayulita water quality and the latest test results showed between 10 and 20 NMP / 100 ml enterococci, which is well below the 200 NMP / 100 ml limit set by the government for safe swimming.
With Sayulita Life information: http://www.sayulitalife.com/sayulero/index.php/2019/04/17/completion-of-sayulitas-wastewater-treatment-plant-upgrade-emissor-pipe-project/
April 17, 2019 Sayulita Sickness and water quality update - The State Commission for Sanitary Risks of Nayarit (COESPRISNAY), under the Ministry of Health of the State, informed that according to the most recent result of the analysis carried out on the marine water of the Sayulita beach, municipality of Bahía de Banderas, its waters are found suitable for recreational use of all tourism and residents of this destination.The Ministry of Health of Nayarit, together with the COESPRISNAY, will maintain the sampling permanently to ensure that the Sayulita water quality continues to comply with the parameters requested by COFEPRIS.
Sayulita Wastewater Treatment Plant and Sickness Update, April 16, 2019 Today the Governor of Nayarit and the Municipal President, came to Inaugurate the new Underwater emissor and the extension of the existing Sayulita Waste Water Treatment Plant. Lots of locals were present. As of today, there is no sewage water being dumped in Sayulita Beach, the sewage smell is gone, and the water feels way cleaner! No test has been performed yet, however, we assume that without the sewage running into the ocean, water quality should greatly improve, and infectious sicknesses in Sayulita should drop.
As of today, Wildmex will start providing the Service of Surf Lessons in Sayulita again.
April 10, 2019, Sayulita Waste Water and Sickness Update. The works to submerged the wastewater disposal pipe are still on their ways, it seems like they're doing progress but it's kind of slow. As of today, they're still semi-treated waste water running into the surf break and beach and we still recommend no surfing in Sayulita beach.
We also have a 25 people yoga retreat group that arrived this Saturday and so far nobody has gotten sick so that is one good sign. However, they have not got it in the water and they have been really careful.
Sayulita Sickness update April 8, 2019 at 10:30 am, there is not much movement going on at the beach, pipe or water treatment plant to keep away Sayulita sickness and reduce the probability of catching norovirus. The pipe is still out, but still floating and no one seems to be working on anchoring it to the ocean floor.Some people came in this morning and put up signs about Sayulita sewage improvement work being done.
Still, semi-treated water is running into the Sayulita river, beach and ocean. Fortunately, the bio-disc plant was turned on a few days ago (after 3 months off!!!) and water seems to be exiting cleaner and with less smell.
April 7th 2019 update on Sayulita wastewater treatment plant and sickness - As of this morning, all 11 sections of pipe have been set out at sea and connected in order to form a 2.2 km stretch of pipe into the ocean, however, the project to keep Sayulita beach and Surfbreak free from Sewage water, and with this, hopefully reduce the infection vectors that could be one of the main reasons for the sicknesses Sayulita's visitors and locals have been suffering from for years and have become more recurring this 2018-2019 winter season.
The pipe being all set out in the ocean is a great step towards fixing this issue, however, there are still steps needed to get the whole plan going, and even though we would love to know, we have no certainty on when will they be finished. Here are the steps still needed to get the sewage water away from Sayulita beach and surf break.
1- Submerge the 2.2 km of pipe and anchor it to the ocean floor.
2- Connect the pipe to the water treatment plant exhaust, calibrate pumps
3- Get the whole thing working, and hope for no details to come up, that could delay the operation of the new system.
From our perspective, this could take anywhere from 1 week to 3 weeks, and if something unexpected does not happen, we should be good to go.
Please keep in mind that the water discharged into the ocean floor will be treated, but not at its full. It probably will not affect any of the swimmers, surfers or habitants of Sayulita, however, modifications and amplifications to the current water treatment plant will be made through the following months in order to discharge full treated water out into the ocean.
Sadly, as of this morning, semi-treated sewage is still flowing right into Sayulita River, Beach and Surf Break.
Sayulita sewage treatment plant update - April 5, 2019. Today the last pipe of the wastewater emissor was connected, in the next days, the emissor will be submerged to the deep ocean to get finish the installation.
Sayulita Sickness and sewage treatment plant update - April 2, 2019. This morning government officials from Bahia de Banderas health sector visited Sayulita wastewater treatment plant to verify the correct functionality of its process.
sadly, it was noted that the wastewater situation is far from ideal. A deadline to fix the issue was given to the contractor for next April 6th.
Let's see what happen in the next days.
[APRIL 1, 2019] The works to improve the water issues in Sayulita continue to progress. There are still some pipes to be connected, however, at April 1 2019, the underwater wastewater emissor was 75% complete. However, we still recommend that all visitors avoid swimming or surfing in the sea in Sayulita until the emissor is complete.
Once the coupling of the remaining pipes is complete, the entire emissor will be submerged and installed.
We hope that the company in charge of installing the underwater emissor is efficient and can complete the work in the coming weeks, however, according to the current progress, it could take up to a month longer to complete the work.
We recommend that all our guests surf at La Lancha beach rather than Sayulita, and find lodging in nearby towns such as San Pancho, Punta Mita, La Cruz or Bucerias until the work has been completed and the water in Sayulita is in the best conditions.
If you are currently staying in Sayulita, take advantage of our Surf Shuttle to our headquarters in La Lancha, either to take your surf lessons, rent surf boards to surf at La Lancha or just spend the afternoon at the beach.
[MARCH 2019] The issues with the water treatment plant and water quality in Sayulita is something that worries all of us in town. On March 6 we were informed that for the last six weeks, all the towns raw sewage had been being dumped into the ocean, right next to Sayulita's main beach and the surf break. No wonder people have been getting sick! We recommend that all visitors avoid swimming or surfing in these waters until this issue is fixed.
The engineers installing the underwater emissor, which will pump the treated watewater further out into the ocean, tell us that they are working on the issue and installing the pipes out into the ocean.
The engineers assure us that the emissor should be finished and ready for connection on April 1, 2019. Until then, we do not recommend going in the water in Sayulita.
The village of Sayulita is known among surfers for its consistent river mouth surf break, and it is the perfect place for your holidays. The chill atmosphere, colorful streets, friendly locals, entertaining nightlife, combined with delicious restaurants where most use only ‘organic’ locally grown food, makes it a lovely place to hang out, and most of the people that come here “for a few days” decide to stay longer.
In towns such as Sayulita, the residents have a sense of control over their immediate environment. Residents also have the freedom to build unique eco-houses without complicated applications and council approvals. There’s a strong focus on living slow, living sustainably, and living within your means.
Sayulita is a Tropical paradise and would be an idyllic community, however, sadly the fast growth of the town and the inefficiency of the Mexican Government have resulted in a situation that affects the ocean.
Sayulita town has a water treatment plant built in 2009 right next to the river that runs into the ocean, the plant dumps treated sewage into that river, however, the water going out to the river, and then to the ocean, is not as clean as it is required for human contact. Due to this situation, there has been a higher than average rate of people getting sick during the last couple of years. Although this can be caused by numerous reasons; change of diet, excessive consumption of alcohol, and so on, studies prove that the ocean water quality at Sayulita's Surf break is far from ideal for human contact, especially during the times the town is the busiest.
Common sickness problems are constant flu, respiratory troubles, and stomach sickness. Even if you don't go into the water these bacterias have some volatile compounds. To be practical about it, a lot of locals in Sayulita don't feel 100% comfortable going into the water at the beach in town.
We are by no means saying that people should not visit, stay or eat at Sayulita. It still has its charm, great restaurants, bars, and most importantly the people that make it lovely. We are just saying that the Ocean water at Sayulita’s beach is not as clean as we would like and that we reccommend people wanting to surf or spend lots of time in the Ocean, to head to cleaner beaches.
The problem of water pollution in Sayulita is like a big elephant sitting on the beach. This is, of course, a delicate and uncomfortable subject for residents, rental house owners, and resorts, but it's Sayulita's reality.
In order to solve this, residents, rental homes, hotels and local business owners have come up with a project to resolve some of the sewage and water treatment issues in town. To read more about the "5 part plan" go to this link
New sewage and rainwater drains will be installed, and a concrete structure will be placed across the river that will both serve to protect the sewage drain and allow traffic to move across the river safely throughout the year.
As part of another plan, a new water treatment plant is supposed to be built during the next years.
Until these plans are achieved, we will always recommend our guests to choose other surf breaks like La Lancha at Punta Mita for surfing.
Wildmex offers daily shuttles from Sayulita to "La Lancha" surf break in Punta de Mita, luckily one of the most consistent breaks years round is only a 25 min drive away with crystal clear water.
At La Lancha, not only the water is cleaner, but it is a real surfer spot, no big crowds with swimmers or children's playing in the water and going on your way while on a wave, it is a quiet beach where you’ll mostly meet other surfers or paddlers.
At La Lancha, there is consistent waves year-round, multiple peaks for all level surfers to enjoy, clean water, and an incredible white sand beach.
Very common to be surfing with sea turtles, plenty of fishes and pelicans there. The beach is surrounded by a jungle. No rivers discharging nearby, and plenty of ocean currents around to keep things fresh.
It is definitely a nicer and cleaner spot for those who like to catch the waves, which fortunately does not suffer the same issues as Sayulita Beach.
To know more about it:
https://www.sayulitalife.com/news/detail/612
http://mexiconewsdaily.com/news/testing-reveals-only-one-beach-unsafe/
In Spanish:
XI. LA COMPOSICION QUIMICA DEL AGUA DEL MAR. (2019). Retrieved 27 August 2019, from http://bibliotecadigital.ilce.edu.mx/sites/ciencia/volumen1/ciencia2/12/htm/sec_16.html
Duran Ramirez, X. (2019). ¿Desalinizan agua las nubes?. Retrieved 27 August 2019, from https://www.iagua.es/blogs/xavi-duran-ramirez/desalinizan-agua-nubes
Severiche Sierra, C., Barreto Lezama, A., & Acevedo Barrios, R. (2019). Efecto de las Lluvias sobre la Calidad del Agua en La Ciénaga Grande de Santa Marta, Colombia. Retrieved 27 August 2019, from http://www.unilibre.edu.co/revistaavances/avances-10-1/Tema_07_Cienaga_Grande_Santa_Marta.pdf
COFEPRIS (16 de Abril 2019). Playa Sayulita, ubicada en el municipio de Bahía de Banderas, cumple los niveles de seguridad establecidos por la OMS. Lugar de publicación: COFEPRIS. https://www.gob.mx/cofepris/articulos/al-100-aptas-las-playas-del-pais-cofepris-197446?idiom=es
COFEPRIS (10-21 de junio 2019). Resultados de calidad de agua de mar. Lugar de publicación: COFEPRIS. https://apps1.semarnat.gob.mx:8443/dgeia/gob-mx/playas/destinos/bahia-de-banderas.html
MARQUEZ GONZALEZ, A. R., TOVAR HERNANDEZ, S. R., & MONDRAGON JALMES, V. A. (2017, 19 diciembre). Calidad del agua de mar y su conocimiento por turistas nacionales: el caso de tres municipios costeros del estado de Nayarit, México.. Recuperado 3 agosto, 2019, de http://www.scielo.org.mx/pdf/eps/n33/1870-9036-eps-33-330.pdf
http://www.noticiaspv.com/aguas-negras-de-sayulita-iran-al-mar-a-traves-de-un-difusor-submarino/
