Each winter and spring, the Dominican Republic braces for the arrival of sargassum—floating mats of brown seaweed drifting westward from the Great Atlantic Sargassum Belt. Once a largely offshore phenomenon, sargassum has become a persistent and increasingly disruptive presence along Caribbean coastlines.
The 2025 season marked a historic peak. Satellite monitoring recorded roughly 38 million metric tons of sargassum across the Atlantic, Caribbean, and Gulf regions in May, the highest level ever observed and nearly double the previous record set in 2022. In the Dominican Republic, coastal destinations such as Punta Cana and Bávaro faced intense sargassum arrivals, prompting expanded cleanup operations.
As 2026 begins, monitoring agencies are already reporting elevated early-season indicators, reinforcing concerns that heavy sargassum influxes are becoming a long-term reality rather than an episodic anomaly.
Is Sargassum seaweed harmful to people?
In most cases, sargassum is harmless but it can cause irritation and some rash to people with sensitive skin.
What’s causing sargassum seaweed in the Dominican Republic?
The exact cause of the annual seaweed invasion in the Dominican Republic and the rest of the Caribbean is not scientifically proven yet. Various studies suggest sargassum growth is related to global warming, chemicals used in agriculture, and human pollution in the ocean.
Dominican Republic Sargassum Forecast (January 2026)
Latest satellite images from the Optical Oceanography Laboratory of the University of Florida show an accumulation of sargassum on the Atlantic and southern coast of the Dominican Republic.
Based on the satellite image, we can predict that low to no amounts of sargassum seaweed will be in the Punta Cana area in the upcoming 2-4 weeks.
Sargassum Season 2026: Latest Reports
January 2026: Latest Photos from the beaches in the Dominican Republic
As of January 21, the beaches of the main tourism hotspots around Punta Cana remain clean, but there were a few sudden arrivals reported in past few weeks.
Sargassum Season 2025: ARCHIVED REPORTS
October 2025: Latest Photos and Satellite Images from Punta Cana and other areas
Latest Photos from the Sargassum Seaweed Reporting FB group:
Latest satellite image suggests that sargassum arrivals are slowing down and about to stop for the Autumn and the past of the Winter season.
July 2025: Latest Image Reports from FB Reporting Group: Dominican Republic Sargassum Seaweed Reports (Punta Cana, Cabarete, etc.)
Based on the satellite images from the University of Florida, there is still a lot of sargassum seaweed floating towards the Caribbean, and the season will most likely last longer this year.
