After more than a year under review, 16 months in total, the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (Semarnat) has revoked the environmental authorization granted in 2024 to the mega-development known as “Baja Bay Club,” which planned to build a large tourist complex near Cabo Pulmo National Park. Authorities concluded that the permit had been granted irregularly.
The project, promoted by the Cabo Dorado Trust, received environmental approval in the final weeks of former President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s administration. Critics say the federal agency at the time ignored recommendations from the National Commission of Natural Protected Areas (Conanp), which warned that the development was incompatible with the national park.
The Baja Bay Club project was planned about 1.5 kilometers from Cabo Pulmo National Park, within the area considered to be under the park’s direct environmental influence. The proposal called for construction on about 1,482 acres, including 422 villas, 275 hotel rooms, a beach club, boating infrastructure and a golf course built on coastal dunes.
Because of the project’s size, location and potential risks to the protected natural area, the Mexican Center for Environmental Law (Cemda) and the community organization Friends for the Conservation of Cabo Pulmo (ACCP) formally requested that Semarnat review the authorizations granted in 2024.
Among the most significant findings, investigators determined that the developer failed to acknowledge the presence of water bodies on the property. In fact, at least three seasonal streams run through the site and flow into the sea. Authorities also confirmed that the development had been fragmented into two separate proposals, Baja Bay Club and Hotel Bahía El Rincón, a strategy often used to divide a large project into smaller components to avoid a broader regional environmental impact assessment that would evaluate cumulative and combined effects on the surrounding ecosystem.
Environmental groups warned that the project could threaten the largest coral reef in the Gulf of California, located within Cabo Pulmo National Park. When Semarnat’s Baja California Sur office originally approved the environmental impact statement in 2024, it did so despite Conanp’s assessment that a development of this type was not viable in the area.
Greenpeace Mexico gathered more than 9,000 signatures calling on Semarnat to halt the development, emphasizing the ecological importance of Cabo Pulmo and its coral reef system.
Despite the cancellation, the dispute may not be over. The Cabo Dorado Trust is widely expected to challenge the decision to reinstate the permit. For now, however, the revocation marks a significant victory for environmental advocates seeking to preserve one of Mexico’s most important marine ecosystems for future generations.
