BajaNomad - SAN CARLOS, SONORA 1954

SAN CARLOS, SONORA 1954

Vince - 2-21-2012 at 08:37 PM

A bunch of us high school kids decided to drive down to Guymas and go scuba diving in 1954. We heard that San Carlos was the best place to go diving. So we camped on this beach during Semana de Santa and fished, dove and explored the area for a week, what a great time we had. We were the only people for many miles around and there were no houses or inhabitants. Sorry the photo is so small. Maybe someone will recognize the beach, not too far south of the Bahia San Carlos and Tete de Cabra.

Vince - 2-21-2012 at 08:48 PM

Here is a shot of us just north of Teta de Cabra mountain.

Vince - 2-21-2012 at 08:58 PM

Maybe this one is easier to see to identify the beach.

Hook - 2-22-2012 at 05:45 AM

It looks like that's the beach where the arroyo that drains down from Nacapule Canyon (and goes past the existing Marina Seca San Carlos) meets the ocean. Because it is an area where this large arroyo meets the ocean, there is still no development there. Most people call this Posada beach now, as the Posada condominiums and the La Palapa Greek restaurant are just south of this spot on the same stretch of beach. Those businesses are far enough away from the arroyo mouth.

Your photo appears to be taken on the rise that is now the Villa Hermosa sector. Almost completely filled in with houses up there.

dtbushpilot - 2-22-2012 at 07:37 AM

Cool Vince, what an adventure that must have been. Thanks for sharing.....dt

Tbone - 2-22-2012 at 08:23 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Vince

What was the drive like back then?

Vince - 2-22-2012 at 09:54 AM

We drove over to Nogales in the US, then down thru Hermosillo. The roads were paved, except the turn off from the main road to San Carlos was dirt. I remember we were in an old Dodge woody station wagon and it kept vapor locking. We hauled a trailer full of the scuba gear and extra tanks (big ones) of air. The duck hunting was exceptional and we cooked them over the fire on the arbalette (spear gun) shafts. A great adventure.

David K - 2-22-2012 at 07:02 PM

Looks kinda like the coast near where they filmed Catch 22. :cool:

Vince - 2-22-2012 at 09:31 PM

Yes, I think it is near there the Catch 22 set. Years later we visited the area where they filmed the movie. The runway was falling apart as were the buildings. Back when the photo was taken, I remember climbing over a huge sand dune behind which was a forest of palm trees. Nobody within 20 miles that we could see.

dean miller - 2-22-2012 at 11:15 PM

San Carlos in 1954...Your tribe were one of the first to dive that location.

In the summer of 1955 Ernesto Zarazota whose family were rather wealthy in the Guymas area promoted the first "Inter-American Spearfishing meet." A number of Spearfishing teams from SoCal participated. As I recall the Douglas AC of LB won the event--the team consisted of the late John Gaffney & Howard Patton. At that time I was completing my service obligation in the USAF and did not attend. However several months later I did manage to slip across the border and dive San Carlos..

The only indication of its location was a small sign at the side of the road indicating Bahia San Carlos, down a very very dusty road. There was no signs of civilization from that point on --just dust and ruts. We camped at the very end for several days, living off the fish we shot with pole spears and the French arabletes and discovered our guns were no match for the San Carlos fish.

After separation from USAF I returned a number of times..It was the closest location for warm water "tropical" diving, and we could drive to it..

Our guns increased in size and power to match the size and power of the fish. I used a Samson and later on my beloved Bottom Scratcher.

The last trip probably 1965-6 civilization had arrived - buildings began appearing and a fish club was established on the point. It was on that trip I shot a 38 (+-) pound Pargo,which I dressed and shared with my camping buddies. The next day went to the club and discovered they were sponsoring a fish contest and so far that year the biggest pargo was about 15 pounds--oh well

Many trips, many fish and many woderful memories,

thanks,
sdm

Loretana - 2-23-2012 at 12:02 AM

When I lived in San Carlos from 1984-1986, we called that "Honeymoon Beach" or "Luna de Miel". It is to the south of the Catch 22 Runway, which was later abandoned when The Club Med was built. There was really good quail hunting in the arroyos out there.

I worked at Club Med for two years as a dive guide, taking French tourists out to the Island to snorkel.

That photo of the Tetas de Cabra mountain peak brought some great memories flooding back!!

[Edited on 2-23-2012 by Loretana]

Hook - 2-23-2012 at 07:02 AM

Absolutely right, Loretana. The small pic is well south of the Catch 22 areaby a few miles.

The larger pic is on Playa Algodones or Catch 22 beach as some call it.

Catch 22

David K - 2-23-2012 at 08:53 AM

Here is the runway as shown in Senterfitt's book:

You can still see most of the runway in a 2005 satellite photo: