Charts for Mexico

[SayGudday]

Gudday!
Can anyone recommend a good source of charts for he Mexican pacific coast? Am I correct in understanding that charts for that area are often inaccurate? Or is that an urban myth?

[bangkaboat]

How soon do you need them & electronic or paper? I may have an extra set of paper, I'll check tomorrow. I'm in L.A. . "I've heard" that the charts have been found to be innacurate, at times, and I also heard that the Mexican Government is having the coast re-surveyed to correct inaccuracies. But, I'll take a look & you're welcome to any extras I have.

[SayGudday]

D'oh! Sorry, paper charts.

[SayGudday]

Originally Posted by bangkaboat

How soon do you need them & electronic or paper? I may have an extra set of paper, I'll check tomorrow. I'm in L.A. . "I've heard" that the charts have been found to be innacurate, at times, and I also heard that the Mexican Government is having the coast re-surveyed to correct inaccuracies. But, I'll take a look & you're welcome to any extras I have.

The funny thing is, I have two Mexican friends who are oceanographers (born and living in Mexico) and THEY seem to have difficulty sourcing accurate charts.

[svcambria]

These are about as good, cheap, and fast as you will find:

Mexico to Panama Chartbook

They (and most others) are based on an 1880 US survey expedition to Mexico with much more recent (and accurate) small scale harbor charts included. Apparently the expedition had a clock problem because the coast is well represented north to south but is always 1/2 to 2 miles off east to west. Some areas are also only in not-very-useful-really-large scale. I recommend getting a good cruising guide book for the area you want to visit as well, as they usually have little chartlets for anchorages and waypoints to get you into the neighborhood of anchorages.

Michael

[Cheechako]

The soundings are very old, gps has proved some areas to be way out of true location. Just supplement them with a good Cruising Guide, most the problems are well known. The good news is any old set will work! In Mexico the lights and bouys cant be relied on to exist anyway!

[svcambria]

Originally Posted by Cheechako

... The good news is any old set will work! In Mexico the lights and bouys cant be relied on to exist anyway!

Do they have lights? Buoys? I'll have to go look...

Michael

[zeehag]

keep your eyes open and avoid the stuff close to shore.

[Charlie]

When I was in Mexico a couple of years ago there was talk of new charts being put out by the Mexican government based on satelite photos. I got the info from Club Cruceros in La Paz. I couldn't find it with a quick search. Also Kerry (i think that is the name)put out some charts that were accurate for GPS. There is a nice chart that is sold at Downwind Marine that is laminated and has lat/longs for anchorages on the Cabo peninsula. It is a good source.

[shadow]

We could use paper charts as well if anyone wants to donate them anywhere from San fran to panama.. We currently have none and would love to start getting them soon.. PM us if you have spare ones to donate to us...

[Jamel]

Originally Posted by shadow

We could use paper charts as well if anyone wants to donate them anywhere from San fran to panama.. We currently have none and would love to start getting them soon.. PM us if you have spare ones to donate to us...

Have you considered Bellinghams @ $5.95 per 2/3 size photocopies?

Presented in folios or individual.

[shadow]

Originally Posted by Jamel

Have you considered Bellinghams @ $5.95 per 2/3 size photocopies?

Presented in folios or individual.

No, but sounds good!!! thanks for the info. We will still take donations of old and unused paper maps though...

[Patrick_DeepPlaya]

Good thread! Curious if anyone has first hand experience with charts of the Sea of Cortez from Chartworld.com...

[neophytecruiser]

If you're looking for the newest charts of the Mexican west coast, you might try contacting Mike Rickman or Shelly Ward of La Paz Yachts (1-855-225-2729). They had the new Mexican Navy charts last year. I don't know where to get them in the U.S., but I'm sure if they're available, La Paz Yachts might be able to ship them to you. These are the charts from the latest Mexican Navy survey of the west coast of Mexico and I believe they also include the Sea of Cortez. Mike or Shelly will be able to provide answers to your questions.

[Aussie_Sequoia]

I agree, La Paz yachts has a way to buy the new recently surveyed Navy charts for the CofC and even further south. They just got a bunch in and I think they all sold within a week... but they can get more - I asked