Guaymas, Sonora – Mainland Mexico

Guaymas.  A mere 20 miles, more or less, southeast from San Carlos.  Hot, in May.  Before arriving there about a month ago we had gunkholed about 10 miles north of San Carlos at Playa Chollado (nice snorkeling when the seas are calm)(which, after 24 hours, they weren't); moved a half mile north to Bandito Cove (great sea caves nearby when the seas are calm)(which, after 24 hours, they weren't); and then turned southeast again to find better shelter at the large Bahia de Algodones with its reefs and white sand beaches, close to San Carlos itself.  All these anchorages have good holding but unfortunately when the swell decides to run, a cruising boat gets bounced right out of these open roadstead-type spots.  Sailling is like that sometimes.

Algodones has a pretty beach – been used for a movie set or two – and the northern portion is a total gringo resort atmosphere.  Not that there's anything wrong with that, but the weekend we were anchored off this nice beach, we noticed that the people with low melanin content but many pesos all stayed in the resort's palapa bar drinking $8 margaritas, while the browner local families brought their own beverages, snacks and shade and kept to themselves on the southern portion of the beach.  It was clear that both groups were enjoying themselves that fine weekend, so who am I to judge, but sitting at anchor and seeing the big picture, the voluntary separateness of the two groups really got to me.  We had seen much less of that in places like Mazatlan and Santa Rosalia, so it was jarring to see it here, although it was so near a town we had already seen was saturated with People Like Us who were not interested in even saying "please" or "thank you" in the local language, much less actually spending time cheek-to-jowl with the natives.  Plus the swell was still coming in and it was a bit breezy, so the snorkeling on the Algodones reefs was a total bust.  We moved on.  But to show you how picturesque this area is, on the left over there i's a photo taken at Playa Chollado, looking southeast across the mainland coast, and in the distant background you see Bahia Algodones and the buildings of the northern portion of San Carlos and one of its marinas.

The last anchorage we stayed in before arriving in Guaymas was Bahia Catalina, a mere 5 miles distant and at the head of the inlet into Guaymas's channel.  Catalina has a pretty setting and excellent shelter from high cliffs all around, but sadly is so near the Guaymas outskirts that locals can easily get here to toss all manner of things on the beach – from scrap tarps, to plastic jugs, to stoves, to use your imagination.  We saw many vehicles drive up to one part of the beach and park, the doors would open yet nobody would get out, and then after 15 minutes or so the doors would close and the vehicles would leave.  And then the police cars would cruise past the area.  Upon reflection, it appears there may have been some transactions of a sexual nature being conducted, if you get my drift.  Oh dear.  So we stayed on the boat, the locals stayed on the beach, we stayed safe, and we moved on to Guaymas.  No, I did not take pictures.

I liked Guaymas the moment we entered the main shipping channel.  They have the coolest, biggest, most obvious pair of range markers I have ever seen, and I'd like to see them in every port – they're that hip.  Big, rhomboid, red and white like two giant pairs of Mick Jagger's lips – I'm just sorry that the photo I took of them fails to do them justice:

We enjoyed Guaymas. Unlike the very gringo-vibe we got of San Carlos, Guaymas is a true Mexican town* with a rich history and some still-standing buildings from the late 19^th/early 20^th century to prove it. During the California Gold Rush in 1848 and after, the French tried to move in to California and northern Mexico to do a bit of mineral exploration and while they were at it maybe take over a country or two. They succeeded in exploiting some minerals (see, e.g., The Boleo mines in Santa Rosalia) but they failed in taking over Mexico when on July 13, 1854 the Mexicans defeated them right in downtown Guaymas. Firing squads were busy. In the early 20^th century there were revolutions aplenty, General Huerta was executing all his former allies, Pancho Villa was shooting up Sonora and Chihuahua (and embarrassing General Pershing and Woodrow Wilson), and Guaymas was the epicenter of a lot of violence. Must have been terrible to be a regular citizen of Guaymas during those days, just trying to get by without catching a bullet. Three Mexican presidents hailed from Guaymas, so there must have been a lot of politics going on, back in the day.

A few Chinese merchants lived in Guaymas, and if you explore you can find the ruined remnants of what might have been the old Chinatown.  There are even a couple of Chinese restaurants downtown (Restaurante Mandarin on Calle 21 (or is it 22?) is popular with the locals).   The downtown area near the fishermen’s monument includes a spot where there’s a small collection of antique carnival rides that are still operational – so if you have toddlers or small children, take them for a spin in a miniature airplane ride that looks like it’s out of the 1940s (and probably is)(OSHA regulations be damned).

At this point I’d like to make a few remarks on the fisherman’s statue that is the landmark for the malecon and is but a stone’s throw from the fine Singlar Guaymas marina. The fisherman’s face looks as weathered and grizzled as any 65-year-old’s, but the body? Oh, lordy – he’s built like Groundskeeper Willie in the Simpsons when he gets upset and rips his shirt off. In fact, this fisherman's monument was probably the inspiration for Groundskeeper Willie.  Check out the tris, delts and gastrocs on the studmuffin over on the right, there:

That's how I like my men:  Wearing pants and a hat, and dragging another big fish to the table.  Hott.

Also, I found a site – http://www.go2sancarlos.com/guaymas.htm - that describes more of the Guaymas area – although it unfortunately fails to include information about Marina Singlar Guaymas, whose docks are within spittin’ distance of the fishermen’s statue (more on that, later).