San Blas, Nayarit, Mexico

Friday, March 1, 2013

021-32.515 N
105-17.797 W

Ahoy from San Blas, Mexico!

San Blas was our first stop on the mainland after crossing from the Baja and we decided to stop there based upon reviews that we had read on ActiveCaptain. According to the reviews, the town here was adorable. BlueJacket was also encrusted in salt and there was a Fonatur marina there, so we decided to pull in, get the boat cleaned up and visit the town.

In order to get into the marina at San Blas you need enter a river through a breakwater. These entrances have shifting shoals, which in this case aren't marked, so this made getting into the river a bit nerve racking. As we approached I watched where the waves were breaking and decided that I needed to hug the right hand side. As it was we saw less than 8' and we draw 5.5'. I was very happy that we made it through without any issues and then we proceeded up the river. It appears that dredging this river is a life time job as they have 2 full time dredges at work. The river channel was fairly well marked, until we got near the marina, where a panga driver motioned to me to move right and then the guys on the dock indicated that I needed to be very close to the fuel docks as I approached the marina. Anyhow, we made it without issues and immediately spent several hours de-saltifying BlueJacket. She looked and felt much better when we were done.

In the late afternoon Sue & I headed out to explore the town. One of the first things that we discovered was that they like cobblestone streets, which are a royal pain to walk on. We're not talking nice, regularly shaped cobble stones, we're talking random sized stones with rough edges. The good thing about them is that cars don't drive down them very fast as they get rattled to pieces even at a slow pace.

The central square is quite delightful with lots of activity. There are all kinds of vendors selling goods (to the nonexistent tourists), food vendors and restaurants. Instead of kids playing video games, you'll find them playing fusball on rental tables in the square! I must say that we weren't impressed by the rest of the town, as it was pretty much a dusty, working town without much interest. The beach area was beautiful, but was infested with no-see-ums (locally known as "jejenes") and our stop for a beer was cut very short by them.

The following day Sue & I set out to explore more of the town and headed to a fort which overlooks the coastline and town. It's quite a walk, but provides a great view of the surrounding area and there's the ruins of an old church on the way up the cobble stone street which is cool to look at. Other than that you'll just find small roadside eateries and tiny shops. The grocery store that we could find didn't stock many products and our quest to find chicken legs legs or thighs was for naught.

As usual it feels like nothing in Mexico ever gets 100% completed, as there always seems to be piles of supplies and/or construction debris lying around from some long forgotten project. I would also say that a street sweeper would go a long way to improve the overall quality of life. Another thing that is disappointing is how hazy the air is. Lots of people burn stuff and I think that causes a lot of pollution. As a result the views of the spectacular mountains along the coastline turn into hazy outlines.

You can view photos from the San Blas area by clicking here.

-- Geoff & Sue

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For the cruiser:

The dockage rates for the Fonatur marina were $8 pesos/ft/day. Note that they didn't have any propane for the driers or for hot water. The water is not potable. This also had to be one of the most desolate marinas that we've been in. We only saw 1 other boat with anyone on it. The staff didn't answer any e-mails or the VHF and no English was spoken.

We found a good restaurant, El Delfin, which has a Cordon Bleu trained chef. A taxi from the marina to the restaurant was $25 pesos.

Log ID: 2171