Rio Dulce, Guatemala

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Any one got any recommendations for a marina there for the 2012 hurricane season?

My needs are:
- happy hour and some less noisy night life.
- 220 volts
- easy access to a reasonably well stocked grocery store
- wifi
 
Keep us informed on this one, we've looked at it for 2013.

It seems to be a hotel at the entrance and then a 'safe' river in which you can anchor out of harms way............

We've told by some Americans (who were heading back that way) in Las palmas, that its fine for the hurricane season, but 1st hand info yet though.
 
Thanks Bill - message now sent to Capt John

This is one that I found through Google and am quite impressed with it:
http://tortugal.com/marina
Their responses to my emails were fast, friendly and informative. And their rates seem very good.

Another one that someone else said I should look into is: http://www.catamaranisland.com/
They sent me a rates sheet and promised they show all the NFL games. Well, that counts them out as a possible marina for this coming hurricane season! Reminds of a pub in La Paz, Bolivia. They had a sign outside saying something along the lines of "No Stupid American Sports Shown Here". The place was packed.
 
I have been spending summers in Rio Dulce since 2007.

My thoughts are as follows:

Best Hurricane hole I have found so far in 6 years of wandering.

Very nice cruising area, much fewer boats than the East Caribbean

The bar at Livingston is 6 feet so think about timing you entrance. The bar is thick mud. Boats drawing up to 7 feet make it. My personal opinion is that the tide tables here are not too accurate; I have found more water over the bar 2 hours after high water!

Be wary of chart plotters in this region, eyeball navigation is required, I have seen chart plotters being 400 metres out on more than 1 occasion.

Marinas
Do not worry about pre booking a marina berth until you get here, there is always space somewhere and this will allow you to make your own choice and not get tied into a 6 month commitment

When you get in the river, stop at Texan Bay http://texanbaymarina.com/ on the way in (anchor or dock) and then when you get to Rio Dulce/Fronteras anchor off Brunos or Shell Bay and have a look at the marinas then make a choice.

Some marinas are 15 minutes out of town by dinghy with no road access. I can think of at least 12 - 14 marinas around Rio Dulce off the top of my head. (Captain John’s has no bar).

We normally always anchor off unless we are having work done or are travelling abroad

Monthly Marina Prices range for a mono hull range from $200 to $350 per month + electricity which is usually 110 and EXPENSIVE here. 220v is available at most marinas (US type 110 x 2 so phasing maybe a problem)

All the marinas has Wifi.

Boat parts are scarce here and often have to be shipped in from the US. 4 – 6 weeks

There are 2 haul outs with travel lifts, cost for a 40 footer haul and splash - $340 and about $20 per day.

Have a look at www.riodulcechisme.com, the local cruisers web sites and if you have SSB, when you get nearer listen to the NW Caribbean net 6209 USB at 08:00 local 14:00 GMT for the latest information
Rugby and other sports available at the Sundog café in town along with exellent piazzas and bread

One other thing – as we are in the jungle here. the mould grows at an alarming rate in the summer months – much more than the East Caribbean

If you need more, let me know
 
In the summer (the rainy season) it can get very wet, hot and humid (June - September). I caught 50 gallons of water over 2 nights once. I have not spent any time in Trinidad so cannot comment. Fans or A/c are very welcome in the summer months
 
john_q, that's excellent information. Thank you.

My draft is 1.1 metres or 3.7 feet, so the bar should not be be a problem for me.
 
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We spent three seasons in the Rio, it's a great place and there is something for everyone...

Marina's come and go, they change incharactar from season to season, depending on the clientele! Good advice to wait until you get there, most usually have space.
We spent a very happy couple of seasons at www.monkeybaymarina.com , no bar but a delightful setting. A superb palapa with a bbq and hot ring that can be used by cruisers, a fridge to store food syuffs in and a freezer to make ice. That all cuts down on the high cost of electricity to your boat.
They also have a workshop with some decent tools that you can use for all those boat projects.
The manager, John, is a laid back guy with a welcoming manner. There is an active social life on the Rio but mostly based at other marinas, they are all close enough to commute to b y dinghy.

In town there is a reasonable supermarket, plenty of roadside stalls, specialist store for the american tastes in imported food..

A bus ride away is the town of Morales, with good hardware stores ets.

It's REALLY wet in the rainy season and evrything will turn a violent green colour unless you clean the boat very regularly!

Don't feel you need to stay in the marina all the time, great sailing and gunkholing on the Golfete, lago Izabel and out in the nay of Livingstone. Never had the slightest concern about hurricanes. Occasionally in the summer there are some high winds for a short time that come swooping down from Lago Izabel, we saw up to 50 knots but they caused very few problems really.

I endorse loking at the www.riodulcechisme.com site. You'll learn a lot about the place, particularly from the forums!
 
To Stingo; I clicked on the the link http://tortugal.com/marina and they say Welcome to Paradise... it toally looks it..!! And the prices were good too:)

To John q; Your tip at http://texanbaymarina.com/ is also just out of this world beautiful.. although I didn't see any pricing...

So my question to you both, anyone else is free to join in...
WHAT'S the catch??
Are the a lot of anchorages, where you can go off and be alone if/when you wish to?
And of course, how's the crime rate.?. We hear Central America is 'dodgy' but tell us, of me anyway the truth according to you guys:D
 
There are 15 marinas in Rio Dolce and from what I have read, you can anchor off anywhere you like - just avoid being close to a village.

The other thing is getting over the sandbar at the entrance to the river. What draft are you?
 
To Wazza

Texan Bay
The web site does not lie it is very beautiful. Laguna Marina – the new name, is under new ownership/management and they are working on their web site but their prices are around $150 - $200 per month. When I next see the new owners in town I will get the latest info. I would expect Texan Bay to be a bit cheaper than the Rio Dulce marinas as it is in the jungle 30- 40 minutes from town by fast launcha or 2 – 3 hours in your own boat. Texan bay run launchas into Rio Dulce and Livingston at least twice a week for stocking up, about $9 a return trip for the Rio Dulce trip, less for Livingston as it is nearer

As I said before we do not use marinas unless we have to (boat problems or travelling) but when we do, I leave the boat at Texan Bay as (in my opinion) the security is better, the locals are very friendly and know us and the marina is very sheltered in a lagoon.

Whats the catch?

We spent 2 years in the East Caribbean and have based ourselves here since 2007 so I guess there are not too many catches but the following come to mind

We are very far west – 88 degrees- further west than Panama which means that going anywhere east is a slog to windward against the current i.e Honduras Bay Islands, or back to the East Caribbean.

Obtaining boat parts can be a pain and these may have to be shipped from the US - 4 weeks by sea or 1 week by air – no Island Waterworld, Budget Marine or anything even close. Stock up in St Maartin (be prepared for my list!!!!!). A couple of times we have flown to Fort Lauderdale (2 hours from Guat City) to pick up boat parts

Very close to the southern states of the US so not that many Europeans (but we have secret meeting places!!!)

Flights home are a bit more expensive and usually route via the US which is a pain as you have to check in and out of the US even if you are in transit so get your duty frees on the second leg of the journey otherwise you will lose them when you go back out through security

Changing US Dollars can be difficult or even sometimes impossible

If you don’t have any Spanish it can make it more difficult

Anchorages
Yes there are secluded anchorages in both the lakes, you have to take the normal precautions and listen to latest and local FIRST HAND advice. Some boats rent a security guard or travel in convoy if they are going into Largo Izabel

Security
How long is a piece of string, this is Central America!

The murder rate in Guatemala and in Honduras is amongst the highest in the world but it is normally between locals and they tend to leave gringos alone in most places unless you are in the wrong place. There are places in Guatemala City that we would not go, especially at night.

In Rio Dulce you need to take precautions as there is petty theft but no different from other countries in the Caribbean, don’t put temptation in their way. To ensure you do not lose your outboard, the most common target, make sure the fuel tank and engine are locked to the dinghy and the dingy is locked on and, if you have davits, lifted at night.

When at anchor we have the dinghy secured to the boat with painters, a chain, a wire security cable and a dinghy alarm and we ALWAYS lock the dinghy/outboard on when we go ashore, you get into the habit.

Yacht boarding’s here are thankfully very very rare but to date have happened in remote anchorages at night.

Gerry of this parish maybe along soon to give you their views

Hope this helps
 
We left the Rio Dulce in March 2011. We had been there for 4 years....

The Rio is a strange cultural blend of rich Guatemalans, poor Mayan's, itinerant cruisers(mostly american), a variety of Expats,(mostly American) and seasonal surges of backpackers looking for 'the jungle experience'. As you can imagine it makes for an interesting mix of experiences.

The character of the place changes regularly, as the long term residents say, it's Guatemala, they come, they go.

Security is an issue, as it is in many Caribbean anchorages. We experienced a few murders,knew of some boardings and even found spent cartridges in our dinghy on occasion!

My personal view however is that so long as you stay away from unlawful activities ie drugs,prostitution etc you will almost certainly have no problems.

Without doubt it is one of the most beautiful places that we have cruised, we enjoyed the freedom to explore the area during the hurricane season and felt secure anchoring out. However we always took serious precautions. Lifted our dinghy every night, locked on the outboards and fuel. Kept the companionway locked at night, secured hatches etc.We made an effort to be very low key and kept all valuables well out of sight.

In 4 years we experienced no personal theft, no aggression(apart from a couple of other cruisers!), and had an amazing experience in one of the most unspoiled parts of the Caribbean.

As John said boat parts are hard to come by although Spiritair flights to the USA are cheap and plentiful, shopping is adequate, medical services reasonable.

Marina's vary from delightful to downright dangerous. We left one after a night of gunshots and drunken partying by a group of Guatemalans. Staying a little out of town is probably more secure than the marina's that have direct access to the main drag.

Would I recommend the place? Absolutely. It is charming and irritating and exciting and hard work and many other things. The climate can be exhausting, the heat and humidity very wearing at times.

Leaving is difficult, almost wherever you are headed will be into the wind, probably why many never leave!

I miss the place!
 
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I received this information last year and it will directly affect your planned destination. It came from Cruisers Network Online and I have been searching for it (and now found it) ever since you mentioned your plans:

Boat Papers Guatemala

Our unresolved experience in Guatemala I feel is important to share -

Puerto Quetzal

Our vessel "Destiny" was kept in the yard at the Marina since May 11-(2011) we extended our boat papers in August thru an agent [as we always did in the Rio], arriving back in Guat in October we learned at the customs office our extension papers were never filed - usually you pay a fine and move forward -

NEW RULE - no fine exists and no extension exists past 3 months unless your vessel is broken down-in transit.--you must import the boat or they own it!

If you leave the country they will possess the boat-our only choices were:

1] flee in the night to the 10 mile mark
2] call the US embassy
3] start the import process

We chose the latter [3] after the gentleman that failed to extend our papers was threatened with jail by the Marina manager if he didn't find a 'way' to fix this. His relatives are assisting in the import process.

The import tax is 30 % of the boat value--we have of course tried to 'devalue' the boat for the 'assessment - There is also payment to the assessing folks and the 'customs' agent. We are still in the process - Now the word is the law is written -the rule exists that there are no more fines for overstay, and only a 3 month visa....this is what the officials have advised us - it has started on the Pacific side-and they say it will become the norm soon..this could/will affect the Rio Dulce Hurricane hole -vessels that have been here for years with foreign registration that have extended papers and paid fines are in a panic...Now this is our experience here in Puerto Quetzal -

We are passing this awful tale on as we feel it is important to test/check the validity of this 'New Law'-our info comes from the experience we are living today..and from the officials at the Port here-the impact of this change could have far reaching effects -Raul -in Livingston may have a heads up on this 'change '-They also told us a new 'commander will be posted to the Caribbean side.It is worth checking on the facts -for those who stay and live in the Rio and do the boat paper cha cha cha....

Check your papers get your extension now .

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Cruisers_Network_Online/message/2835
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