My name is Ryan Peacan. A few years back, I was living in Quintana Roo, Mexico: right along the Caribbean coast. If you've spent any time down there, you probably know that the beaches are one of the main reasons people visit. They're stunning. But there's a catch that most travel blogs won't mention until you're already there: sargassum.

Sargassum is a type of seaweed that washes ashore in massive quantities, sometimes turning a pristine white-sand beach into something that looks (and smells) completely different. The frustrating part was that it wasn't consistent. One beach could be totally clear while another a few kilometers away was buried. And the conditions changed fast; what looked great in the morning could be a mess by the afternoon.

I spent a lot of weekends driving around, texting friends, checking random Facebook groups, all trying to figure out where I could actually enjoy a day at the beach. There was no single, reliable place to check conditions across multiple beaches at once. So I built one.

Sargasso Tracker started as a simple tool for me and a handful of friends. I'd collect reports, drop pins on a map, and share the link. Over time, more people started using it; locals, expats, tourists planning trips. It turned into something bigger than I expected. People contributed their own reports, and the data got better and more useful as the community grew.

I've since moved away and now run my web development agency, Peacan Digital Design & Development, out of Dunbarton, New Hampshire. I've moved on to creating apps and websites for small businesses. But Sargasso Tracker is still running, still getting reports, and still helping people figure out where to spend their beach days.

If you're planning a trip to the Riviera Maya, I hope this tool saves you from the kind of guesswork I used to deal with. And if you're a local or a frequent visitor, consider submitting a report; it helps everyone out.