The real story of the FONATUR Marina

[Brules]

What does the EP plan to do with the old Caleta?

 

[cvchief]

Speaking of the new marina, here are some pics. I first thought it was cool they finished it finally and opened it. Apparently they just opened it. Finishing is still to come. Loading tanks and customers is still in old Caleta. Someone from DP was telling me that it is a pain as other boats are now using their old spots so they have to jockey to find a spot to load. Not a lot of parking or shade in the marina.

But hey it is 'open' right?

 

[Christi]

Look this is as crazy as any stuff gets in Mexico, but for us to get rid of the boat wrecking mess in the old Caleta is a God Send. We work really hard to keep our boats clean and respectable but the jostling in the old Caleta made that near impossible. Fix up a boat with new paint and cosmetics then find it the next day all beat up from the trash boats surrounding…we won't miss that at all. There seems to be many "hangers on" in the old Caleta but I can't believe that they will be able to stay without paying slip rent or being thrown out.

Dave Dilehay
Aldora Divers

ALDORA DIVERS

It's not about being "hangers on" Dave - and it is not about not wanting to move - there are some real issues and there is a legal contract backed by SCT and the terms of the contract have not yet been met. This is about protecting our interests now and in the future and holding them accountable for fulfilling contractual obligations. If we don't do it now, that marina will never be functional. You did not join the owners group (over 100 of us) back in 2010 and don't seem to be aware of some of the real issues. There is a meeting tonight at 6pm among owners - if you would like to join us shoot me an e-mail and I will give you the address.

 

[Ron Lee]

If we don't do it now, that marina will never be functional.

I will repeat that I am not a boat person or a dive op person but my view is that they did not design the place to be easy to load and unload tanks efficiently. There may be other serious shortcomings such as parking, easy access by customers, etc.

It will be interesting to see how things develop over the coming months as people adapt to the new facility.

Will there be significant negatives?

 

[ggunn]

I will repeat that I am not a boat person or a dive op person but my view is that they did not design the place to be easy to load and unload tanks efficiently. There may be other serious shortcomings such as parking, easy access by customers, etc.

My take on it is that the design was not thought out well and not executed effectively. Someone saw it as an opportunity to make a boatload of money and a design was thrown together without considering all the ramifications that would result from the shortcomings of the design. My guess (I have no way of knowing for sure) is that the person or persons responsible for the problems got their money and are long gone. Somebody else's problem now.

Much of the blame, of course, should be laid at the feet of whichever Authority Having Jurisdiction generated the permits for construction and was responsible for vetting the design.

 

[Ron Lee]

My take on it is that the design was not thought out well and not executed effectively. Someone saw it as an opportunity to make a boatload of money and a design was thrown together without considering all the ramifications that would result from the shortcomings of the design. My guess (I have no way of knowing for sure) is that the person or persons responsible for the problems got their money and are long gone. Somebody else's problem now.

Much of the blame, of course, should be laid at the feet of whichever Authority Having Jurisdiction generated the permits for construction and was responsible for vetting the design.

Very likely. I do not know how the design should be but ideally trucks should have easy access to many docking locations. Perhaps you cannot do it for all slips (such as internal slips) but in that case you have adequate locations where boats can load and unload tanks. Whether that is viable is something that needed to be worked with the dive shop owners before a design is even put on paper.

Time will tell.

 

[Christi]

You guys are correct - I've been saying that the peope who designed this marina not only have never worked in a marina, I don't think they've ever even stepped foot in one - there are so many things wrong - but there are solutions - they just need to make them right.

 

[ggunn]

You guys are correct - I've been saying that the peope who designed this marina not only have never worked in a marina, I don't think they've ever even stepped foot in one - there are so many things wrong - but there are solutions - they just need to make them right.

I was told that one of the problems is that it's not deep enough for some boats like the oceangoing sailboats. That would be a hard problem to fix at this point.

 

[gopbroek]

I was told that one of the problems is that it's not deep enough for some boats like the oceangoing sailboats. That would be a hard problem to fix at this point.

I believe from earlier reading the depth problem is at the existing Caleta entrance and the fact that it is protected by law.

Right or wrong, IMO, if Carnival could get a permit to cut Paridise reef to put in a pier and then to expand it even further south then Fonatur will get a variance or permit to dredge the Caleta entrance. The paper work might be done at 02:00 on a Sunday morning by an outgoing politician, but in the end I think it wll happen.

 

[Brules]

The difference is though that I don't see FONATUR bribing the people that would need to be bribed, whereas Carnival just prints money to get what they need done lol.