🇲🇽 MexicoFlow
Settle In. Branch Out.
August 18, 2026
🌊 NEED-TO-KNOW: Mexico’s Caribbean Is Having a Record Sargassum Year
If you’re headed to Cancún, Playa del Carmen, Tulum or elsewhere along the Mexican Caribbean expecting postcard-perfect beaches, check conditions before choosing your hotel.
Mexico is dealing with an extraordinary amount of sargassum in 2026.
More than 105,000 metric tons had already been removed from the Caribbean coastline by mid-August — surpassing last year’s total and approaching the approximately 119,000 tons projected for the entire season. Playa del Carmen has received particularly heavy amounts, and the season could continue into October.
Sargassum itself isn’t new. It naturally floats in the Atlantic and has washed ashore in the Caribbean for centuries. What’s changed is the enormous quantity arriving in recent years.
Once it piles up and decomposes, it doesn’t just look unpleasant. It produces hydrogen sulfide — which is responsible for that unmistakable rotten-egg smell — and removing thousands of tons of it has become an expensive daily operation for coastal communities and resorts.
💡 MexicoFlow Tip
If the beach is the main reason for your trip, don’t assume that conditions in Cancún will be the same as Isla Mujeres, Cozumel or another nearby destination.
Sargassum can vary dramatically from one beach to another and from one day to the next depending on currents and wind.
Before booking, look for recent beach photos and local sargassum reports, not just the beautiful photos on the hotel’s website.
✈️ TRAVEL UPDATE: Six New Domestic Flight Routes Make Mexico a Little Easier to Explore
Mexico’s domestic air network expanded again this summer.
Six new routes began operating in July through Mexicana and Viva Aerobus, including connections between:
- AIFA ↔ Tuxtla Gutiérrez
- AIFA ↔ Chihuahua
- AIFA ↔ Hermosillo
- AIFA ↔ León
- AIFA ↔ Manzanillo
- Monterrey ↔ La Paz
Mexico’s Tourism Ministry says the new routes are intended to strengthen connectivity between important regional destinations.
For travelers, the interesting part isn’t simply having more flights.
It’s having more opportunities to travel within Mexico without connecting through Mexico City International Airport.
Mexico is enormous, and some destinations that look relatively close on a map can involve very long drives. Before automatically planning your next Mexican road trip, it’s worth checking whether a new nonstop flight has quietly appeared.
🌀 MEXICO LIVING TIP: Build a Tiny Hurricane-Season Kit Before You Need One
You don’t have to live directly on the beach to feel the effects of tropical weather.
Mexico’s northeastern Pacific hurricane season runs from May through November, while the North Atlantic season runs from June through November. Mexico’s Civil Protection authorities have preparedness operations underway in all 17 coastal states for the 2026 rainy and tropical-cyclone season.
The biggest inconvenience for many residents isn’t a direct hurricane strike.
It’s losing electricity, internet or water for a while.
So this is a good time to make sure you have a very basic storm kit:
- 💧 Drinking water
- 🔦 Flashlights
- 🔋 Power banks
- 💊 Necessary medications
- 💵 A little cash
- 🥫 Shelf-stable food
- 🐾 Pet food
- 📄 Copies or photos of important documents
- 🧰 Enough essentials to comfortably get through a short outage
And charge those power banks before the storm arrives.
It’s one of those boring expat chores that feels completely unnecessary — right up until the electricity goes out.
🩺 HEALTH & INSURANCE: What Happens If You Need Care While Traveling Outside Mexico?
Living in Mexico and traveling from Mexico are two different insurance questions.
You may be perfectly comfortable paying cash for routine medical care locally. But what happens when you’re visiting the United States, Europe, South America or somewhere else and unexpectedly need medical treatment?
That’s where understanding the geographic area of coverage in your policy becomes important.
Depending on the international health insurance plan you choose, coverage may extend beyond Mexico. But benefits, deductibles, provider networks and U.S. coverage can vary substantially between policies.
Before an international trip, it’s worth knowing:
Does my policy cover me at my destination?
Do I have emergency-only coverage or full medical coverage there?
What deductible applies?
Do I need preauthorization for certain types of treatment?
Those are much better questions to answer at your kitchen table than from a hospital waiting room in another country.
Brett LaMar helps expats compare international health insurance based not only on where they live — but also on how and where they travel.
Request a health insurance quote from Brett
🌵 CITY SPOTLIGHT: TEQUILA, JALISCO
Yes, it’s a real town.
And yes, the drink is named after it.
About 60 kilometers northwest of Guadalajara sits the Pueblo Mágico of Tequila, surrounded by an extraordinary landscape of blue-green agave fields.
The Agave Landscape and Ancient Industrial Facilities of Tequila are recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, reflecting centuries of cultivation and the development of tequila production in the region.
But you don’t have to be interested in drinking tequila to appreciate the place.
The landscape itself is the attraction.
Rows upon rows of blue agave stretch across the volcanic terrain surrounding town, creating one of the most distinctive agricultural landscapes in Mexico.
Inside Tequila you’ll find a traditional central plaza, historic buildings, restaurants, small producers, large distilleries and plenty of opportunities to learn how the agave plant became one of Mexico’s most recognizable symbols.
🚗 Getting There
Tequila is close enough to Guadalajara to visit as a day trip, although staying overnight lets you experience the town after many of the tour groups leave.
And this particular week gives outdoorsy travelers an unusual reason to go.
🏃 EVENT OF THE WEEK: ULTRA TEQUILA 2026
📍 Tequila, Jalisco
📅 August 21–22, 2026
Forget running on a treadmill.
This weekend, runners will head directly into Jalisco’s famous agave landscape for Ultra Tequila, part of the Ultra Trail Mexico Series.
The routes take runners along trails surrounded by blue agave fields in the Pueblo Mágico of Tequila, including serious endurance distances for experienced trail runners.
Even if running an ultramarathon sounds like an absolutely terrible way to spend your weekend, the event provides a pretty good excuse to visit the region and cheer for the people who voluntarily do these things.
Sometimes watching other people exercise counts as an activity.
At least on vacation.
🌮 FOOD WORTH TRAVELING FOR: BIRRIA
If you’re going to Jalisco, eventually you need to talk about birria.
Traditionally associated with the state, birria is a slow-cooked, deeply seasoned meat dish originally commonly prepared with goat, although beef versions are now widespread.
The meat is cooked until incredibly tender in a chile-and-spice mixture and served either relatively dry or swimming in its flavorful broth.
And then there are the tacos.
Birria tacos have exploded in popularity far beyond Mexico in recent years — particularly the crispy, cheesy versions served with a cup of consommé for dipping.
They’re delicious.
But eating birria in Jalisco gives you a chance to experience the dish closer to where the tradition developed, including versions that may look very different from the Instagram-famous tacos served elsewhere.
MexicoFlow rule:
When you’re traveling in Mexico and everyone in town seems to be eating the same thing for breakfast…
order that.
🎬 SPOTLIGHT ON MEXICO’S ICONS: GUILLERMO DEL TORO
Monsters, ghosts and strange creatures show up frequently in Guillermo del Toro’s movies.
But they’re rarely the real villains.
Born in Guadalajara, Jalisco, del Toro grew up fascinated by filmmaking, horror, fantasy and special effects before becoming one of Mexico’s most internationally celebrated directors.
His films include Cronos, Pan’s Labyrinth, The Shape of Water, Pinocchio and the Hellboy movies.
His work often blurs the line between frightening and beautiful — using fantasy to explore childhood, loneliness, authoritarianism, death and what it means to be human.
In 2018, The Shape of Water won the Academy Award for Best Picture, while del Toro won Best Director.
He’s also part of an extraordinary generation of Mexican filmmakers — alongside Alfonso Cuarón and Alejandro González Iñárritu — whose work dramatically increased Mexico’s influence in international cinema.
A Guadalajara kid obsessed with monsters ended up becoming one of the world’s most recognizable filmmakers.
Not a bad origin story.
📋 LEGAL & RESIDENCY CORNER: Your Residency Card Is Not Something You Want to Lose
Your Mexican temporary or permanent resident card may be small.
Treat it like the important immigration document it is.
If you’re a resident traveling internationally, make sure your residency card is with you along with your passport — particularly when re-entering Mexico.
Also consider keeping digital photographs of the front and back of the card, along with the identification page of your passport, somewhere you can access securely if the originals disappear.
A photograph isn’t a replacement for the physical document.
But if your wallet or luggage goes missing, having your document numbers and clear copies can make dealing with authorities and your consulate considerably easier.
And one more simple travel habit:
Don’t keep every important document, credit card and piece of identification in the same bag.
Losing one wallet is irritating.
Losing your passport, residency card, every credit card and all your cash simultaneously is a vacation-ending talent best avoided.
🥃 THIS WEEKEND: TIERRA MEZCAL FEST
📍 Centro Tolzú, Toluca, Estado de México
📅 August 22–23
🕚 11:00 AM–7:00 PM
Another celebration of Mexico’s agave culture is happening this weekend — this time in Toluca.
Tierra Mezcal Fest brings together mezcal producers and the stories, regions and traditions behind the spirit. The program includes tastings, pairing experiences and workshops such as painting your own jicarita.
It’s also an opportunity to learn an important distinction:
Tequila is a type of mezcal — but not every mezcal is tequila.
Different agave varieties, production methods and geographic denominations create an enormous range of flavors and traditions.
You can attend for the culture and food even if drinking isn’t your thing.
📅 WHAT’S COMING UP IN MEXICO
🏃 August 21–22 — Ultra Tequila, Jalisco
Trail runners head through the blue-agave landscape surrounding Tequila.
🥃 August 22–23 — Tierra Mezcal Fest, Toluca
A weekend devoted to agave, mezcal producers, Mexican food, workshops and traditional culture.
🏃 August 30 — Mexico City Marathon
One of Latin America’s major marathons takes runners through some of CDMX’s most recognizable landmarks.
🍄 September — Micoturismo Season, Estado de México
Guided mushroom excursions combine forest walks with traditional knowledge about identifying and gathering local fungi.
🇲🇽 September 15–16 — Mexican Independence Celebrations
The Grito fills plazas across the country on the night of September 15, followed by Independence Day on September 16.
🌽 September 23 — Festival del Maíz, Ocosingo, Chiapas
A celebration centered on one of the ingredients at the absolute foundation of Mexican food and culture.
🌽 FUN FOODIE FACT: Corn Isn’t Just Yellow
Walk through a typical U.S. supermarket and corn looks pretty straightforward.
Yellow.
Maybe white.
Mexico tells a very different story.
Traditional Mexican maize comes in an extraordinary range of colors — white, yellow, red, blue, purple and even nearly black — with countless native varieties adapted to different climates, elevations and culinary uses.
And those differences aren’t merely decorative.
Different varieties are preferred for tortillas, tamales, pozole, atole and other foods.
Corn has been cultivated in what is now Mexico for thousands of years and remains so deeply woven into Mexican cuisine that understanding maize is practically a shortcut to understanding Mexican food itself.
So the next time someone offers you a blue-corn tortilla, don’t think of it as a trendy variation.
It’s part of a food tradition much older than the restaurant serving it.
🌿 SETTLE IN. BRANCH OUT.
One of the best things about living in Mexico is realizing how much of the country still exists outside the places most foreigners know.
There’s always another Pueblo Mágico, another regional dish, another festival and another road you’ve never taken.
You don’t have to see everything.
Just keep exploring.
That’s MexicoFlow.
🩺 Need Health Insurance in Mexico?
Brett LaMar helps expats understand international health insurance and find coverage that fits how they actually live and travel.
Get a Quote | Visit BrettLaMar.com
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