San Blas - A Hidden Gem
04 March 2014 | San Blas, Mexico
Ellen
Photo: This is our waiter Jose Luis, this morning at a newer restaurant in town where we had the best breakfast ever!
We hadn't meant to come here to San Blas, but I'm glad we did. We were on route to Mazatlan from La Cruz and stopped in Matanchen Bay for the night. The next morning when I saw the weather I thought it looked like too much wind on the nose and so we decided to go into San Blas just around the corner.
Although we have been here before and enjoyed it, we have reconfirmed what a great little town this is. It's very un-touristy. There are a few hotels and lots of great restaurants, but it dose not seem to be the main source of income for the local people. So when people are friendly to you (as we find them here) you know they are genuinely friendly not just being nice because you are their bread and butter source.
Prices are better here too especially for the budget minded cruiser. The marina is only 5 pesos per foot per day. For us this works out to about $14 dollars a day. Today we had the best breakfast I think I've ever had in Mexico all for a total sum of 50 pesos which is a whopping $4 dollars. I had to see a doctor the other day and it only cost me 300 pesos as opposed to 500 pesos that I've paid in the bigger towns like La Paz.
There is a jungle tour which only cost about $12 dollars and takes you up the estuary to see birds and crocodiles, there is several beaches, there is a surf break for the surfer types, the town square which is a great place to sit in the evenings and enjoy the sight of families out together and the children running around playing.
I think the biggest negative thing to say about San Blas and probably the reason more cruisers don't stop here, it that there are no-seeums. That's those teeny weeny little bugs that you almost can't see but they do pack a powerful bite. We deal with them by keeping the screens on the boat, we stay indoors in the morning until about 9:30 or so when the sun has enough heat in it that the bugs disappear until the evening hours around 5pm. If we want to go out in the evening we wear long sleeves and pants and put bug repellant on our necks and hands. It really isn't that bad. I can imagine the summer months may be less tolerable but in the winter they are there but it should not stop you from coming here for a visit.
All I can say is San Blas is worth going off the beaten path for and enjoying an authentic Mexican town.