Guaymas a watery utopia :
Guaymas is really three communities; the city is divided from the two resort areas by a mountainous peninsula ending at jutting Cabo Haro. The original port and city face the Bay of Guaymas; 2 miles northwest is Miramar Beach on Bacochibampo Bay; and another 12 miles up the coast is New Guaymas on San Carlos Bay.
The city a major seaport hub of the Mexican shrimp industry, and fishing capital of the Worldsits amidst an encircling range of steep cliffs and mountains. Visitors enjoy the variety of stores, attractive church, and landlocked harbor. Native families bring their children to Las Playitas, a small public beach facing shallow water.
Guaymas is also the terminus of a popular car ferry route from Santa Rosalia in Baja California. The Norwegian built car ferry, Diaz Ordaz, named for a former president of Mexico, is clean and offers excellent service. It is a good idea to have advance reservations; if you don't have them, you can arrange for your passage and find out the cost of shipping your vehicle at the terminal building (cost is based on vehicle length).
To reach Bacochlbarnpo Bay, you'll drive thorough a long line of private beach homes. Where's the water? It is well hidden by the congested arrangement of hotels, trailer parks, and houses. But remember all Mexican beaches are public and you'll soon find an access to the rocky shore. Two large resort hotels and one small beach concession offer rooms for rent.
San Cartos Bay, about 5 miles north of Guaymas and about 8 miles west of Highway 15, has become quite popular with American tourists. The multimillion dollar complex is made up of a luxury hotel, several motels, a yacht club and marina, restaurants, tennis courts, a par 3 golf course, a large recreational vehicle village, a subdivision of seashore homes and cottages, and a small trailer park. There is also a convenient landing strip for private planes.
The waters are filled with an abundant and bewildering variety of game fish. Summer offers the most spectacular fishing, though the weather after May is sometimes oppressively hot. The big runs of marlin and sailfish come in July and August, but game fishing will satisfy the soul of the average angler during fall and winter months. The most exciting (and most crowded) time is during the annual International Deep Sea Fishing Rodeo in July, which marks the peak of the sport fishing season.
The best way to learn the techniques of game fishing is to charter a boat with a knowledgeable skipper who has been fishing the waters for years and knows where to find the type of fish you're after, as well as the best way to angle for them.
Cabin cruisers complete with light and heavy fishing tackle, bait, ice, ship to shore radio, and English speaking crews may be chartered by the hour or by the day. Rental skiffs and outboard motors are also available; if you wish to take your own boat, it can be launched at Miramar Beach. For big game fishing, though, the larger inboard cruisers are best. Make reservations to charter a boat, especially during the tournament season.
Desert headlands and calm estuaries attract shore fishermen. The most common fish are totuava (up to 100 pounds), corvina, sierra mackerel, roosterfish, and a variety of rockfish. For surf fishing, tackle should be brought from home because not many supplies are available in the stores of Guaymas.
Conchologists enjoy the abundance and variety of shellfish. You can use diving masks to look for them or follow their tracks in the mud at low tide.
The transparent, blue waters of Guaymas are made to order for those who enjoy skin diving and snorkeling very few hazards exist, water temperature and underwater visibility are nearly ideal, and lobsters and turtles are plentiful. Lobsters can be caught most easily on nights when there is no moon or wind because they hide in daylight but feed in shallow water at night.
Besides fishing, Guaymas offers a good spot in which to relax and soak up the sun. If you want to combine exercise with your siestas, try the tennis courts. Or, the swimming, good riding horses, and shopping should keep you occupied.
If you're the self sufficient soul who likes to do things in an independent way, you'll find ample opportunity and an abundance of free advice in the Guaymas area. Plenty of elbow room along the coastline enables campers to enjoy freedom and solitude, though you'll have to carry your own water.
An annual 4 day carnival begins the end of the third week in February. You'll see parades, aerial acrobats, fireworks, and cock fights. The town is crowded then, so be sure you have reservations.
Guaymas a watery utopia :
Guaymas is really three communities; the city is divided from the two resort areas by a mountainous peninsula ending at jutting Cabo Haro. The original port and city face the Bay of Guaymas; 2 miles northwest is Miramar Beach on Bacochibampo Bay; and another 12 miles up the coast is New Guaymas on San Carlos Bay.
San Cartos Bay, about 5 miles north of Guaymas and about 8 miles west of Highway 15, has become quite popular with American tourists. The multimillion dollar complex is made up of a luxury hotel, several motels, a yacht club and marina, restaurants, tennis courts, a par 3 golf course, a large recreational vehicle village, a subdivision of seashore homes and cottages, and a small trailer park. There is also a convenient landing strip for private planes.
The transparent, blue waters of Guaymas are made to order for those who enjoy skin diving and snorkeling very few hazards exist, water temperature and underwater visibility are nearly ideal, and lobsters and turtles are plentiful. Lobsters can be caught most easily on nights when there is no moon or wind because they hide in daylight but feed in shallow water at night.
Besides fishing, Guaymas offers a good spot in which to relax and soak up the sun. If you want to combine exercise with your siestas, try the tennis courts. Or, the swimming, good riding horses, and shopping should keep you occupied.
