Anchorage· Banco Chinchorro· Mexico

Cayo Lobos Anchorage (Banco Chinchorro)

18° 23.5′ N · 87° 22.8′ W · approximate

A sandy speck of a cay near Chinchorro's southern end with a small aluminium-frame light - the atoll's most remote corner and a tern nesting colony.

Practical

Coordinate is approximate and NOT a sounded anchorage: placed about 370 m west of the tiny cay mapped in OpenStreetMap (18.3916-18.3933 N, 87.3761-87.3770 W) and listed by GeoNames as 'Lobos' (18.39307, -87.37802). GeoNames also carries a second 'Cayo Lobos' entry at 18.48245, -87.31355 - treat that as a gazetteer error; OSM, the GECI catalogue and Wikipedia put Cayo Lobos at the southern end. Cayo Lobos is only 0.38 ha (GECI). Terns nest colonially here May-August and approaching the cay is prohibited during the nesting season (GECI); landing without CONANP authorisation is not allowed in any case. Access rules: Noonsite (2015) reports the anchorage and moorings at Cayo Norte are no longer open to yachts and the Navy uses the area for drug interdiction; the Majahual Port Captain (January 2019) said cruising boats are not generally permitted to land, though permission might be sought from CONANP (Cozumel or Cancún offices) or the park rangers. Arrange written CONANP permission before you sail and expect a Navy boarding (a January 2009 yacht was boarded - politely - as soon as it picked up a mooring). Reef hazards to the west and north-west (GeoNames): Arrecife Blackford about 2.1 nm W, Cayo Blackford about 2.2 nm WNW and the Secos islets about 2.8 nm NW. The 2020 INAH survey of a 200-year-old wreck at the atoll's south-eastern corner described strong currents there (Mexico News Daily). About 27 nm from Xcalak or Majahual.

Cayo Lobos Anchorage (Banco Chinchorro)

Practical

Best for

Season

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