Boondocking in Mexico?

PNW_Steve wrote:

Tequila wrote:
$15-$30 is the range. Color Marino in teacapan which is a very nice, but remote park on the beach is about $18 a night with wifi and a pool. Laguna del Tule in melaque is $600 a month, San Carlos is $24 a night. Huatabampito also on the beach is $20. Chimulco water park is about $25 a night.

What is your intended route?

Do not forget tolls, they are very expensive, for a rig like yours you are looking at about $400 one way to Puerto Vallarta. Fuel costs are the same as Arizona, maybe higher by this season..

Thanks for the input. Color Marino sounds nice. Two of may favorite words: remote & beach.

Our current plan is to take 15D all of the way down.

I tried using the English language version of the toll calculator and it does not work. I knew the tolls were significant but did not expect them to be that high. Could you give me a hand determining the total toll for my dually pickup and a two axle trailer?

I may look at alternative routes for portions of the trip if practical.

Thanks again.

Steve

You will be in the 5-6 axle category as I am . Duallys count as 2 axles. You are looking at about $450 each way to PV. You can avoid some of them by using some good free roads, but you really have to know where they are, especially with any sizable rig. You do not want to get caught in a dead end street you cannot back up in or have to deal with low arches or tree branches. The most expensive toll is the one about 40 miles south of Mazatlan on a 2 lane stretch of 15D. You can take the free road, but make sure you get back on the toll before it starts to climb up to Tepic. You can also avoid a toll by stopping at Huatabampito and coming out south of a toll booth you can actually avoid 3 if you know how.

If you exit through Guyamas from San Carlos you avoid one, and you can easily avoid the one at Magdelena, by exiting & driving through Magdelena (no big deal). You have to remember that avoiding tolls will drop your mileage considerably as you crawl behind sugar cane trucks, you risk damaging your rig by hitting topes at high speed or snagging tree branches. Your chance of an accident is magnified on the free roads. I came to the conclusion about 3 years ago that its best to bite the bullet. The cheap person usually ends up paying more.

I have considered putting a blank rim on my outside duals to knock myself down into the 3-4 axle category. Not sure if that would be a good idea or not. Just chuck the outside duals in the truck bed.

You may also want to switch your insurance to Progressive or Blue Sky. They cover collision in Mexico meaning you only have to buy liability.


Color Marino: (BTW it has had a name change, in the chrrches book, it is Villas Onac.)




Huatabampito: