Beautiful beaches in parts of Mexico are getting stinky

Aerial view of a containment barrier meant to keep sargassum away from the beach of a luxury hotel in Puerto Morelos, Mexico. — Photos: AFP

Tulum is the kind of beach that vacation dreams are made of: Turquoise water, white sand and an ancient Mayan pyramid overlooking it all.

But an unwelcome visitor has invaded this Caribbean paradise: Sargassum, a thick seaweed that has turned the crystalline water brown, filled the air with a rotten-egg smell and washed up on the beach in enormous piles.