Akumal Quintana Roo
October 20, 2003
To all concerned about Bahia de la Media Luna (Half Moon Bay), its health and wellbeing:

Regarding the Jet Ski matter that came to our attention, we (CEA) inform the following:

• Once the subject about “intruding” jet skis in the Media Luna Bay came to us, we presented a complaint to the Harbor Master from Playa del Carmen, which is the authority that grants permits to perform such activities as the where and when of all navigation aspects along the coast that concerns Akumal and its surroundings.
• Several calls from head official Capt. Victor Manuel Perez Alvarez and further visits from him to our offices have settled the problem.
• In such visits we learned that the performance of jet-skiing is NOT ILLEGAL and can not be banned from happening by other owners of such machines; even the access to this particular beach or others surrounding it can not be stopped.
• The Harbor Master’s interest from the very beginning was founded on his special intention to collaborate with CEA in all its protection actions held for the preservation of our immediate environment from uninformed and, we hope, casual trespassers.
• After his first calls (3), the Harbor Master came to our office asking for some other “evidence” to help him get to the actual owner of these jet-skis. At this point he had already talked to the possible businesses that have such rentals and, like we expected, all had denied their presence in the area in those days in which we were told the matter happened. We gave him pictures of the jet-skis.
• Next and last visit, this last Friday, he kindly came to our offices with the owner of the actual jet-skis in question! The owner stated that he opposes, too, his machines leaving the area where the business is (especially for the gasoline used) and confirmed that it was one of his guides, without his consent, that eventually brought people all the way down to Bahia de la Media Luna “for a beer” at La Buena Vida and headed back. This he says, happened only a couple of times and is NOT going to happen again in the future, at least with his jet-skis.
• And most important of all was the point that we all, as the Akumal community, can not stop anybody from coming to this beach since WE ARE NOT A PROTECTED ECOLOGICAL AREA. The Harbor Master can help us doing some of these protective actions with the rental machines, but if a particular owner of this or any other vessel decides to come, he or we CAN NOT stop them.
• Both parties agreed on a couple preventive actions: a) that signs at the entrance of the bays should be posted to show the possible deadly dangers in approaching shallow reefs at high speeds, and b) to state on these signs our (the Akumal community) interest in inviting visitors arriving from the sea to respect this environment and behave accordingly.
• All further actions should contemplate the common agreement from ALL the Akumal Community to achieve the nomination of a Marine Protected Area and thus prevent the deterioration of these wonderful and unique sites of nature, such as Akumal Sur, Turtle Bay, Akumal Bay, Media Luna Bay and Yal Kú.
• An invitation was made to all those interested in becoming “Guardia Ambiental” (environmental guards) authorized by PROFEPA, which is the environmental law enforcement agency that enforces the laws of SEMARNAT. SEMARNAT is the environmental protection agency. On Friday, October 24, 2003, the scheduled meeting with PROFEPA’s authorities did not take place at CEA’s Centro de Información as planned. Biologist Raul de Olarte Valencia has been receiving so many applications for this position that he is overwhelmed.
• Another meeting with PROFEPA has been arranged for Tuesday November 4 at 1 PM. It seems that foreigners cannot be guardias, but all are invited to come and hear about the program. . The only requirements to become a Guardia are: 2 self-portraits in color (passport size pictures), a valid ID, and to be a conscientious and ecologically-oriented person. (We don’t know yet if foreigners can apply; Señor Olarte said for all to come.) The Guardias Ambientales have authority to report any threat or misbehavior of any person in the bays, on the reefs or on land, as well.