We were at Chahue this ast February for about 4 weeks.
Dockmaster is Francisco - WhatsApp +52 1 971 206 0241 He was fairly new to the job which was unusual - other harbor masters we met had been in the job for decades. With Fonatur's ceding control to the Navy, I'm sure things are in flux.
The guy who seems to have much of the dock work concession is Pedro +52 1 958 116 3079. As usual, the dock-person was more responsive than the actual harbor master so he assisted in getting a slip assignment. We had planned to use Pedro to arrange to have our boat washed but his rate was 2x what we paid elsewhere so waved it off. He was going to dive on the bottoms of two other boats we were loosely traveling with - my understanding is the work was not great and very expensive. Pedro is a friendly guy but I guess charges a substantial cruiser premium. I doubt there is much in the way of services there. There are a few restaurants within a 10-min walk but the overall marina is pretty dilapadated. The large concrete building you see in the background was a convention center that was completed a few years ago but never opened. I understand the Cartel's have expanded their business models to include co-opting government services so likely had this built at great expense (likely cost over-runs too) with no apparent reason to do so.
We pitched-in with another cruiser couple and rented a car for 9-days and drove to Oaxaca. Car rental was very expensive - close to $1k (USD!!!) for the period. But definitely worth it - Oaxaca is a magical city; and the surrounding towns are a time capsule to what life was like a couple generations ago.
Did you stay in Marina Mazatlan while in Mazatlan? If so, I assume you met Don and Lena at D6YC (Dock 6 Yacht Club). If you stayed at El Cid, you chose wrong - even though El Cid is a much nicer marina (except for surge), the welcoming party at MM is without peer.
Slip rate at Chahue was about the same - around $1/ft/night for a week or two. One oddity in their charge is you can stay as long as you want, but whatever duration you tell them when you check-in will be the rate you pay regardless how long you stay. So if you get the one week rate and stay for the month, you won't get the one-month discount. It's not clear when you check-in (well, it may have been had my Spanish been better).
Finally, I'll give a luke-warm endorsement to Panama Posse. They offer many benefits, but most aren't very impressive to me (my wife loves it). But it is really nice to have an email group to ask your exact question and get several responses almost immediately, often from someone right there.
Weebles is currently in Chiapas stored on the hard in the yard there. Now that is a nice marina - not much in the way of amenities (well they do have a pool and one restaurant).
Best regards -
Peter
