Marina Chiapas

One of the things we notice about moving south along the coast of Mexico is that the marinas tend to become nicer, cleaner, newer, and the staff more helpful. They really seem to appreciate cruisers and go out of their way sometimes to help us get paperwork completed, give a ride into town, or just provide sage advise. This particular marina is one of the finest we have visited along our journey. The manager actually designed and supervised the construction of the marina several years ago, and although it is small, it offers first class service to the sailboats who stop here.

It also features a new 60 ton travel lift and paved storage yard for haul out and dry storage of boats during the off season.

Some of the interesting sea life of the marina included the brown cownose rays that roamed in small schools of a dozen or more around the docks. These are a species of eagle ray ranging in size from palm sized to that of a dinner plate. Feeding on the shells of clams and oysters these rays patrol the shallow waters of the estuary and marina where mollusks are plentiful.

The downside of the marina is the search each boat must go through upon both entry and exit of the marina, including  search with a dog sniffing for drugs? money? We were told that this is because of the proximity of the marina to the border with Guatemala, but we were also told that nothing has ever been found when searching causing sailboats. So why bother? Probably because a naval base is located right next to the marina and just like the US Coast guard, most boardings and searches are simply training exercises for the troops, regardless of any inconvenience to the sailors.