Mexico

[GordMay]

LatitudeMexico is an online source for nautical information in Mexico:
Goto: http://www.latitudemexico.com/

[rserranon]

Thanks Gord:

We have been working hard to let the world know what Mexico can offer and how it is developing it´s nautical infrastructure and services.

You certainly have a good site and I will be keeping an eye on it to respond any question your users may have about cruising Mexico.

buen viento!

[rserranon]

I wonder if some users from the forums will be interested in publishing some information or personal stories on the site.

Gord, please let me know if posting this kind of inquiries will be considered bad etiquette in the site.

There are a lot of things happening in Mexico, Fontaur trough it's franchise Singlar has opened two nautical stops, one in Puerto Escondido, Baja California Sur and one at Puerto Peñasco Sonora. Both small marinas have new slips, including a fuel dock!

See you in Mexico.

Roberto

[GordMay]

Roberto:
Not only don’t I (tho’ not the final authority on the subject) think “these kind of inquiries will be considered bad etiquette”, I would further suggest that you go to your profile, and add a link to your website on your signature line.

[Charlie]

Hi Roberto:

Am planning a trip south of the border and would love to have links to your sites where I could get more info on Mexico. If you would post links I for one would appreciate it.

[rserranon]

Charly:

The site includes a business directory( including a complete listing of all marinas with google's satelite views), news, classifieds and calendar of events: Latitude Mexico - Latitude Mexico

I assume you will be cruising down the pacific coast and perhaps going up into the sea of cortez to either Cabo, La Paz, Puerto Escondido or San Carlos.

Marina de la Paz Listing: http://www.latitudemexico.com/business-listings/marina-de-la-paz.html


Here you can find an update, as of September, of Singlar's harbor works at Puerto Escondido.

Puerto Escondido Harbor Update - Latitude Mexico

And information about the major sail fests for 2007.

http://www.latitudemexico.com/news/pacific-coast/ihua-sailfest-2007.html

http://www.latitudemexico.com/news/baja-sea-of-cortez/loreto-fest-2007.html

I hope you and others find the information useful, we are committed to help cruisers that want to visit Mexico so we welcome any feedback!

Can you tell us what kind of schedule are you planning for your trip so we can provide more accurate information?

Roberto

[Charlie]

Gracias Roberto:

I will look over the sites you posted as I do my planning. We are leaving the summer of 2008 from VancouverBC or SF Bay. We will enter Mexico at the end of the Hurricane season. I would suggest that you contact Lattitude 38 and maybe put together an article for them about all the changes going on in Mexico. They are a prime source of info for people going tothe West Coast of Mexico.

[jimisbell]

Roberto,
I would love to cruise Mexico, but information on the East coast of Mexico from Pt Isabel. TX to Tampico is unavailable.

There is a fantastic oportunity for Mexico to turn its east coast into a cash cow. But nothing is being done about it.

People that live on the gulf coast of the US are limited to three types of cruising, the Caribbean (too far to go) the gulf coast itself (not very interesting), and Florida (too expensive). The east coast of Mexico is a short easy cruise that even amateures could handle from the end of the GIWW at Port Isabel. There are several interesting ports on the east coast such as La Pesca, but there is no information on how to get there AND..aparently its not legal to go there without FIRST going all the way to Tampico to get cleared into the country. That requires backtracking. The Mexican government should have some sort of temporary clearance that can ge obtained in Pt Isabel at the consolate and that allows cruising the coast and stoping is the various small ports on the way to Tampico where an official clearing in could be done.

BUT....even this knowledge that I exibit on this subject took two years to glean from other sailors that had gone before me. There seems to be no official source for such information and even the officials at Pt Isabel have conflicting information as they are consolate people and are not familiar with cruising and clearance procedures.

BTW, the requirement for a fishing license that costs a fortune even if you are not fishing and dont have fishing gear onboard & requiring one for every boat including your dinghy and your lifeboat is adding insult to injury.

I guess its different on the west coast, but the miriad of conflicting advice and impropperly applied regulations on the east coast scares most boaters away from the area.

[rserranon]

Jim,

Welcome to Mexico, we as a country have a long way to go.

Our project www.latitudemexico.com is aimed to consolidate and publish all the nautical information of Mexico. I can tell you it is not an easy task, nautical cultuture in Mexico is incipient and the government doesn't help, we are working hard to help change this but we know it will take years.

Thanks for your insights, We will have a meeting with the president of Asociación Mexicana de Marinas Turisticas next week, I wil try to find out what plans are for that area. In the meantime any information, pictures, notes you or your friends can share about that cruising region is welcome to be published in LatitudeMexico.

Buen viento!

[Raven]

Originally Posted by rserranon

I hope you and others find the information useful, we are committed to help cruisers that want to visit Mexico so we welcome any feedback!

Roberto

Roberto,

My only Mexico experience is along the coast from Tulum to Xcalak, as you know, a pretty remote stretch dominated by the Sian Kan bioshere reserve. (For those unfamiliar, it is on the Caribbean coast of the Yucatan Peninsula in the state of Quintana Roo.) I am very familiar with the waters from Xcalak to the Bacalar Chico National Park and Marine Reserve on Ambergris Key, and I am very troubled by the direction I've seen things going along that remarkable coastline. I hope that the Mexican government and citizens take an active interest in protecting that stretch of coastline so that it does not end up becoming "Cancun South."

I will anxiously await any word you get from the government as to the future of that remarkable coast. It is my hope that every effort will be made to keep it from degrading any further.

Thank you.

[Brent Swain]

Zero information on regulations there It just goes round in circles.
Brent .

[S/V Elusive]

rserranon - I appreciate your site and the information!! I think that we can all agree that it took a lot of effort on your part to acquire and organize all that.

We can also agree that while tourism is one of Mexico's 'cash cows', the boating side of things doesn't have the same impact as the millions of people who travel there via air and car.

Those of us on the West Coast (Baja & Gulfo de California) have seen vast improvements this last year in the paperwork required, the methods for check-in and out, and the costs associated with that. All things considered, I would say that was a good step forward for Mexico and certainly for us West Coast cruisers.

Things take time - perhaps soon, the smoothness of sailing in and out of the East Coast of Mexico will improve. Maybe a long term 'cruiser's fishing permit' that would encompass a boat and tender(s)(under a certain length) could be in the future. Simillar, perhaps, to the import license?

Thanks again.