A Positive Response to Cruising Mexico's Pacific Coast

Created by doina. Last modified on 2003-01-07 12:28:33
Contributors: Pat Rains
Countries: Mexico

In response to Noonsite Report Cruising Mexico's Pacific coast Pat Rains writes:

I'm sorry you didn't like Mexico, but perhaps one month of cruising the whole country is too short a time for making such strongly negative judgements. Most cruisers I know can spend a whole month exploring one nice bay, another month deciding where to go next.

In more than 15 years of cruising Mexico and the Sea of Cortez, I've made hundreds of good local friends - from village women and children tending herds of goats to Port Captains and Navy commanders who shared their charts and local knowledge - many of whom we still visit when passing through. As with cruising any country, if you don't go ashore and make an honest effort to absorb and appreciate the local cultures (poor and wealthy), you might as well stay home. With a little more cruising experience, you might opt for a sturdier hard-bottom inflatable with sufficient power (and technique) to get you safely in and out through the standard shorebreak.

The Pacific side of Mexico has 20 full-service marinas in resort ports and commercial harbors, from Ensenada through Baja and the Sea of Cortez, down the mainland to the border at Guatemala. If you stay at a marina, take a class in Spanish and explore away from the harbor. We wrote a nautical guidebook "Mexico Boating Guide" that also gives interesting cultural and historical side trips near places where you can leave your boat for a few days to weeks at a time.

Mexico also has many hundreds of remote, pristine anchorages where a local panguero village is not far away. They love to meet outsiders, and they seldom make distinctions about who is the richer. They love to trade for the necessities of life, like water from our watermaker for their fresh fish or home made cheese. They are well-known for their willingness to share whatever supplies they have, like freshly made tortillas or savory goat-meat stew or white rice from the Conasupo. Whenever a gringo boater gets into trouble, it's the pangueros who come to the rescue before anyone else. And talk about swapping stories! Well, I could go on forever. Anyway, it's these self-sufficient folks who live in close harmony with the ocean who have inspired us to write about Mexico and guide others to these special places.

Next time you visit Mexico or any other country, I hope you'll give yourself more time and be better prepared (gear-wise and head-wise) to absorb the experience.

Pat Rains

The expanded, updated 5th edition of the nautical guidebook "Cruising Ports: Florida to California via Panama" by John Rains is published January, 2003. See Noonsite Report New expanded Cruising Ports: Florida to California via Panama now published