Banco Chinchorro, Mexico

Banco Chinchorro is a pristine, remote atoll, 17 miles offshore of the SE corner of Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula. We ran over from Bahia Espiritu Santo in about 4 hours, with the trades returning to normal easterly 15 to 20 knots.
Freya Rauscher’s approach waypoint is spot on. We saw the Cayos Nortes first on radar, then the wreck on the western edge of the opening, and then the reef breaks on the north side of the opening. We came in on 132-135 deg T, and sounded our way with an eye on the color of the water toward the lighthouse on Cayo Norte. The DMA charts and the C-Map electronic charts for Chinchorro are totally inadequate in scale, soundings, and position of the reef. In both cases our tracks on route coming in showed us passing right over the reef rather than the entrance.
As soon as we got anchored, the Mexican Marines hailed us on 16 to say it’s prohibited to anchor here, we must use the mooring buoy. We’d seen 3 buoys but assumed they were reserved for the Marines or Navy. The guy’s radio was cutting out badly, so we had to ask 3 times for clarification – Are we supposed to use the mooring or avoid anchoring too close to the mooring? Finally we got it straightened out, so we upped anchor and moved to the mooring closest to the lighthouse.
Then we lowered the dinghy and got it all set up so John and I could begin our first few hours of surveying Banco Chinchorro. Our plan was to start by sounding a straight line to the lighthouse, to go ashore and pay our respects to the Marines and Lighthouse guys. But as soon as we got the dinghy moving away from the boat, someone on VHF called rather excited and said it’s prohibited to launch our dinghy, prohibited to come ashore, prohibited to even go snorkeling or diving! We asked if we could swim around or boat, and he said only with great caution.
That cancelled our whole reason for even coming to Banco Chinchorro. ; by now it was too late and we were too tired to get No Plans underway to Belize. We gathered weather faxes, and weather-wise it didn’t make any difference if we went that night or the next day. So, we opted to stay here most of the next day, leaving before sunset and making the 14 hour run to Belize City.
Chinchorro’s lighthouse was tilted southward by Hurricane Dean, the most recent hurricane to damage the Yucatan, according to the Marines who came out by panga to check our papers and sign their forms.
Chinchorro Bank is a Biosphere Reserve, not a national park, so tourism isn’t courted here anymore. It’s run by Conap, the Pesca environmental agency, who have a HQ on Cayo Centro. Conap sets a quota on how many people can visit Chinchorro in any month, so if it’s already had too many yachts stopping for presumed emergencies, then they will close it to others for a while. To protect the habitat and corals, etc. The marines said all tourism has to come over from Majahual or Xcalak as certified tours lead by guides. Chinchorro has only 3 moorings, so if 4 boats show up, one must be turned away.
Following us were 3 sailboats. Two got to use the moorings, but the 4th had to stop and anchor way out by the entrance where it must be very rolly. It is pretty rolly here on the best mooring.
Moorings (the marines said) are 100 ton concrete blocks. I dove and inspected them, the hardware and rope was new. It has no chain, probably to protect the coral, the blocks were buried in the sand and I couldn’t see them. We were in 9 feet of water. The buoys are soft plastic so they won’t damage your hull if they rub up against it. The rope had a well made eye splice covered in plastic, so they were easy to pick up and won’t chafe. While we were there a week norther blew up and to 20 knot NW and the wind blew straight in the harbor, the only direction it is open to. We had about a 2 foot sea, the 70 ton boat rode well to it without strain, but this is no place to be in a strong norther. When we first arrived the wind was easterly about 12 knots which is protected by the island and reef, but it was still pretty rolly. We’d have put up the flopper but the water is too shallow for them and they would bottom out.
The same Mexican Navy patrol boat 1102 “Sirius” that had come alongside two days before to take off the ship wreck survivors came in and picked up a buoy. They needed fuel, but couldn’t go to the pier coming out from the lighthouse because the swell was coming straight in. Then they ferried out fuel in a navy panga in drums.
We departed for Belize for an overnight run with the wind on the stern.