Tourism Season Shifts as Costa Mar Grapples with Rising Heat

The heat arrived early this year. By mid-May, the Federal Meteorological Station at Puerto Azul was recording daytime temperatures above 34 degrees Celsius, and by late June they have remained consistently above 35 degrees. The heat index — the temperature as the human body experiences it, accounting for humidity — has climbed into the low 40s. Hotel occupancy rates for June and July have begun to decline, and several dive operators have shifted their schedules to early morning and late afternoon departures, abandoning the midday dives that once anchored the peak season.

The shift reflects both comfort and safety. Tourists on boats spend hours in direct sun; the reefs themselves are stressed by elevated water temperatures, and dive operators worry about both visitor heat exhaustion and the long-term viability of the coral. Several major hotels have invested in expanded air-conditioning systems and have begun offering discounts for bookings in the shoulder seasons — April, May, September, and October — when temperatures are more moderate.

The Federal Tourism Ministry in Meridian has not yet issued guidance on how the region should adapt its marketing or its infrastructure spending. But the Costa Mar Regional Assembly's Tourism Committee is preparing a proposal for the next federal budget cycle that would fund climate-adapted facilities — shaded waiting areas, expanded water stations, upgraded cooling systems in dive shops — across the peninsula's main resort towns.