Ixtapa Trailer Park

[Talleyho69]

According to the local news sources, there was no one using the park, "for several months," but over the Easter holiday, there was a "significant" number of people using it, including tents, trailers and RV's.

Hopefully this means that there is hope. The news article also mentioned that there had/have been discussions of changing the place from an RV park, but that this may stop those.

Here is the GoogleTranslate version of the article: After several months without receiving tourism of any kind, the facilities of the Ixtapa Trailer Park operated by Fonatur, registered an increase in the influx during this Easter holiday period, especially from national visitors.
Sources revealed that during the weekend the 60 percent capacity allowed by the authorities was reached and for this Easter week, the presence of visitors represents 36 percent.
Inside you can see people with their tents, as well as campers and buses, who choose this lodging option located in the Linda beach area.
This rebound in use leaves an incentive for Fonatur because even long before the pandemic, the Trailer Park was already operating in the red, without being attractive to tourists.
It had even been contemplated that the federal agency or, if possible, could be concessioned to an individual to become a beach club.
When the health emergency arrived, in principle there were damages but after the reopening of the beaches little by little the visitors again turned to see this modality because it does not concentrate the same number of people as a normal hostelry.
From this moment on, Fonatur hopes that the preference for the Trailer Park will continue to increase, to assess whether resources are invested in improving this concept of accommodation or giving it another twist.

Maybe there is hope for it!!! I'll post any more information that appears.

[silversand]

I was heartened to hear this morning that Pfizer, Kalamazoo, Michigan will now be shipping their Covid vaccine directly to Canada by the millions of doses; this commences next week. We finally have our vaccine appointments firmed up, magically, for next Wednesday. The US Cavalry to our rescue 😄

IF Canada can become "fully vaccinated" (this means 2 doses) for majority of our population (my guestimate would be in excess of 60% of adult population), only then will the north/south and south/north land borders open to/from Canada for normal 55 million crossers a year non discretionary travel. With only an estimated 1st dose to majority Canadians by roughly mid summer, full doses to the whole country up here is still roughly 1 year distant.

The only hope I have for limited international land travel, is perhaps the oldest Canadian cohort double-vaccinated by this summer (maybe 5 or 6% of Canadians) could petition for admittance to the US by personal vehicle. Fingers crossed....

[qtla9111]

The Mexican president announced on Monday that Mexico is returning to normalcy 🙂

[Tequila]

mexicoruss wrote:
I think we will see everything open up by 2021 summers end.

My gut feeling as well, but what is happening in India is alarming. It shows what can happen if the guard is let down. The rate of increase there is incredible and it shows what happens if you open up everything all of aa sudden. I hope Mexico is taking note. The uS is oding well with vaccine supply, I suspect it will feel it is in its best interest to help get Canada & Mexico secured ASAP. Regardless every country has to do what it can to help India get under control.

[mexicoruss]

I think we will see everything open up by 2021 summers end.

[Tequila]

Well my partner will be in trouble if it is not. He has 3 full Quebec caravans and 3 Enlgish ones plus 2 airstream ones with canadians in them. 2 lost seasons could finish him. I suspect by late summer most Americnas and Canadians are vaccinated, this should die down to an acceptabel level, but you neve rknow. The next 2 months will tell. The big unknown is mutations. For me it's a hobby, for him it's his income.

I want to drive down in October, but flying may be the only option. I can absolutely see proof of vaccination being required to cross the US/Canada border once it re-opens for awhile at least.

[silversand]

mexicoruss wrote:
We miss our Canadian friends though and hope that restrictions are lifted for season 2022. I already have 6 caravans scheduled for 2022

....IMO, I think that a 2022 opening for Canadians traveling south (and US citizens driving north) through the US/Canada land border sounds reasonable, based on forward-projections of the Canadian vaccination rollout. I can't envision a January to May 2022 opening, but a summer of 2022 opening would probably be a reasonable guestimate. I can't see any implementation of "vaccine passport" (too controversial) for US citizens wanting to come into Canada by land, nor a vaccine passport needed for Canadian non-discretionary travelers heading south as an customs entry law. Just a question about "your vaccines status" by land-border agents.

I think that across North America, the "entry" requirement to be "fully vaccinated" will be left to individual businesses as a precondition or not.

Again, this is just my opinion, observing North America's Covid situation up till today.

[northsloper]

Tres Amigos parks on Isla de la Piedra outside of Mazatlan were booked full for the season. Of course Canadians couldn't get here (with a couple of exceptions). Many Americans also chose not to come. Parks ended up with maybe 20% capacity in both parks. Upside is all that wanted had beachfront sites. Island life was pretty quiet until Semana Santa. Warmer weather is bringing out many more nationals on the weekends tent camping the beach. The parks have survived & hope for next fall is high. Life is good here on the Playa

[Tequila]

mexicoruss wrote:
Thanks for this post. As some of you know I am in an RV and tourism related business here in Mexico. My tour company has been shut down since March 17th 2020, that is for private tours in my vans. I have little to no overhead, and am debt free. So we are going to be able to ride it out. When the market comes back... and it will, I will be glad to see it. This year we did have 4 RV caravans come to Puerto Penasco for a combined 54 rigs over a 3 week period. All sanitary protocols were followed by everyone who came here plus all of my vendors on the ground here and it was good to see these folks travelling safely again. We miss our Canadian friends though and hope that restrictions are lifted for season 2022. I already have 6 caravans scheduled for 2022 (close to 100 rigs) so there is a big demand. Hasta la vista, hopefully next year!

We shut down our RV Caravan business for the 2020/2021 season entirely. It has been tough on our local Mexican tour guides all over Mexico. Our nightmare scenario would have been a customer crossing asymptomatic and infecting the entire group. Just not worth it. We also have a large demand for 2021/2022 with some of trips already full. French Canadian ones are, which could be an issue if the US/Canada border does not re-open by Fall. It is still pretty uncertain. We have decided to require proof of vaccination and we may have to modify things like restaurant meals if protocols are still in place. We have 4 regular English language caravans, 4 French and 2 Airstream club trips planned for this upcoming season, so we are hoping Covid is a minor issue by late Fall. At least PP is close enough to the border you can hightail it back in case of an outbreak

[Wm_Elliot]

It's a shame there's no practical way to know where there is camping in Mexico's state and national parks... at least that I have seen.
The places you describe sound awesome.

[qtla9111]

There was a KOA just down the road from our house. It's a resort called Bahia Escondida on the Presa de la Boca. Huge timeshare and they opened the KOA right on the water.

It's no longer a KOA but the cabins are still rented, the showers and laundry were in good shape last time I went to check. I don't recall if the power was 30 or 20 amp but many rvers stayed there over the years.

It's now about 600 pesos a night but you can usually talk them into a 2 for 1.

There are some wonderful non-developed state parks throughout Mexico and we have used many. Some have palapas with electricity and some with very strict rules such as lights out at 10 p.m. and purposely without electricity so as to keep the music down.

Some good national parks as well and Sierra de Organos comes to mind. I am not or have not been a big fan of iOverlander as there are lots of places I wouldn't stay overnight such as a PEMEX. But this last week I have been checking and there are some interesting places. Quite a few around San Cristobal de las Casas for one.

It's almost time to get back on the road, two more weeks and we get the second jab here in Nuevo Leon. Of course we do it differently in the north, we don't listen to the federal government we do it our way 🙂

[Wm_Elliot]

We stayed at the Creel KOA in 1999 - a very nice campground that we mostly had to ourselves. There may have been 2 or 3 other sites occupied in mid-April - but at that time many visiting Americans and Canadians had already left for home. There were Kamping Kabins, full hook-ups, a store, a small bar/restaurant, and a laundry room. The flatbed RV train from Los Mochis had either stopped hauling RVs or was in the process of ending the RV trips and road access from the west coast was not for everyone.
A few years later the KOA was up for sale and I assume didn't succeed. The Creel KOA was expensive to stay at and was probably financially ruinous for the owners.

[moisheh]

Forget the NOB style of rv Park. Too expensive to build with no ROI. I once suggested that the small villages should utilize their school grounds. Most are fenced. The children could provide some entertainment. Boondocking. It would provide some income in places gwhere there are no jobs. Think of Harvrst hosts.The gov. Couldhelp the villages with a small amount of money to get started. FONATUR could advertise. Rv'rs would love it. Dirt cheap and lots of fun.

[qtla9111]

I guess it would be great to see some Canadians and Americans come to Mexico and open rv parks for the rush that will be coming. We could always use the investment.

[robatthelake]

That particular facility is as ugly as they come. It personifies what was considered desirable by most American style RV parks 20 Years ago. sterile concrete and full hookups that worked. It was also way over priced compared to what was and is available elsewhere in the area!
I’m glad that the management has realized the problem and is now catering to the growing RV / Camping industry that is flourishing in Mexico!

[qtla9111]

I couldn't imagine giving up the rv although it's only been used a few days in the last year.

That said, the last couple of years we have taken car trips staying in Airbnb. The prices run the gamut but we've never paid more than $50 a day and gas savings on a small car is incredible.

Other trips have been taken (prior to the pandemic) via Mexican airlines and Airbnb. We've been to Ensanada twice using Vivaaerobus at $100 r/t (three-hour flight) rented a house for the week at $30 a day. A 24 hour car rental took us to the wineries and the next morning La Bufa and the rental was 800 pesos with insurance and a full tank. Same price structure with Mazatlan and the hotel was on the beach and we don't stay in dumpy places but we're good deal shoppers.

Boondocking still tops the list. I've never stayed in an rv park in Mexico that I liked with the exception of Hacienda Contreras in Jalisco.