Topolobampo

Topolobampo is the port of Ahome municipality, set on a sheltered bay of the Gulf of California a little over 20 km from Los Mochis. Only 6,198 people lived here in 2020, but the town matters far beyond its size. Ferries leave from here for La Paz in Baja California Sur; it is the starting point of the La Entrada al Pacífico trade corridor that runs to Midland and Odessa, Texas; and its docks handle oil, cars and other cargo. The old railway station still stands by the port, with a steel plate on its canopy naming the line's original route, Ojinaga to Topolobampo; local families live in it now. The Chihuahua al Pacífico railway itself was only completed in 1962, and its passenger terminal is in Los Mochis.

The town has a strange past. From 1884 to 1894 it hosted a colony of American utopian socialists led by the engineer Albert Kimsey Owen and inspired by Henry George's economics, with Marie Howland and John W. Lovell among its backers. They printed an English-language paper, The Credit Foncier of Sinaloa. Porfirio Díaz's government supported the project, yet every venture failed; the settlers ran short of food and clean water, and in 1888 the US Navy sent the USS Iroquois to take them home, an offer nobody accepted. The historian José C. Valadés called it the socialist metropolis of the West. In 1914, during the Revolution, a Constitutionalist plane attacked federal warships off this coast, an engagement often called the first air-naval battle in history, and the state congress later declared Topolobampo a Heroic Port.

Visitors spend their time on the waterfront and the Pablo Neruda promenade, with lookouts, prepared coconuts, snacks and crafts. From there the Las Hamacas tourism cooperative runs boats every day from 9 am to 7 pm. The favorite trip is to see Pechocho, a lone dolphin that has lived in the bay for more than 30 years and often swims up to the boats on its own. Other routes go to the Bird Sanctuary, a cactus-covered island; to Las Hamacas, Las Copas, Santa María and El Maviri beaches; to the Casita del Ostión, a floating seafood restaurant; to Farallón island and its sea lions; or out sport fishing, also offered by the port's yacht clubs and marinas. The bat cave at El Maviri is about 8 km away, and foreign cruise ships call in the bay. The local specialty is pescado zarandeado, fish butterflied and grilled over coals.

The Baja Ferries boat to La Paz leaves Monday to Friday around midnight and reaches La Paz at about 9 am; it carries passengers and vehicles and has cabins for an extra charge. The climate is hot and dry, with the hottest months from May to October and most rain from July to September.