A Bus Trip to Southern Sonora - The Beaches of Huatabampito
There are two beaches to the south of Huatabampo, Yavaros and Huatabampito. There is a bus to Yavaros, but unfortunately there aren’t any hotels there (although I’m sure you could camp on the beach), and the road forks a few miles before the two beaches so the bus doesn’t go to Huatabampito.
So, this was one of those times during the trip when having a vehicle would have been preferable. Aside from having your own vehicle, the only way to get to Huatabampito from Huatabampo is to hitch a ride or take a taxi. The taxi costs 200 pesos, although you may want to call around first to see if you can find a better deal. We’d been offered a price of 150 pesos by the taxista who drove us from the cemetery to the hotel, but he didn’t answer his phone when we were ready to leave the hotel for Huatabampito.
Also, on the way we stopped at the Oxxo convenience store on the corner of the road to the beaches to buy bottled water, snacks and yes, ice cold beer. There aren’t any convenience stores in Huatabampito, so if you don’t stock up on supplies you’ll have to buy them from a local restaurant.
The road to the beach is 20-25 miles, and besides passing a couple of ejidos there isn’t much to look at. The only hotel in Huatabampito is the El Mirador RV Park and Motel. At the time we arrived it wasn’t tourist season and there weren’t any recreational vehicles. Or any other guests. El Mirador has a main building with a restaurant and wireless internet access, where you can also buy personal items. The motel is 200 yards farther down, and both are very close to the beach.
The motel and RV park are a family-owned operation, and the members of the family are very attentive and friendly. The motel rooms are air conditioned, and each room has a mini-refrigerator and a small microwave. The rooms were showing some age and had some plastic lounge chairs, although most of them were broken. The heat was oppressive, but we could literally walk out of the back door of the room and jump into the ocean, which was just steps away.
We had dinner at the restaurant – delicious, fresh shrimp complemented by ice-cold Tecate. After dinner we walked on the beach, which was all but deserted. A family showed up later to swim farther down the beach, but other than that we didn’t see anyone. The sunset was spectacular, and if it hadn’t been for the excessive heat it would have been a perfect scene.
The next morning we got up at 5:00 a.m. to see the sunrise, and we weren’t disappointed. We walked along the beach, past mansion-sized beach houses, several of which had been closed and abandoned. We took a brief detour to the road that runs parallel to the beach when we encountered a couple of Dobermans that didn’t want us to pass (the motel owner later told us that it was illegal for the owners to have their dogs unleashed on the beach, but it happened).
After getting back to the beach we paused to take photos of fishermen who were preparing to put their boat into the water. While we were watching them, two men walked out from one of the houses on the beach, each one holding the end of a net. They walked about 30 yards into the water, and by the time the other fishermen had their boat in the water the two were walking back to shore with a net full of fish.
The fishermen in the boat were casting their nets about 150 yards offshore as we made our way back to the motel, and the morning heat was already getting uncomfortable. We went for a swim, showered and slept for a bit before packing our things and going to the restaurant for breakfast.
The owner of the El Mirador then gave us a ride to the bus station in Huatabampo, and we were on our way for the eight-hour-long bus trip back to the border.
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