Central America has a relatively new facility for yachts of all sizes that want to make a stopover to refuel, resupply or just use as a headquarters to travel Central America. Barillas Marina Club has a Texaco station, restaurant, pool, bar, private airstrip and company owned aircraft for rent, exclusive tour operator for El Salvador and othe destinations in the region, 24 hour security, onsite immigration and customs, duty free delivery of spare parts, business center, papalas with high speed internet access and more. The place has been featured several times in John Rains' books and is highly recommended for yachts and cruisers. The place is truly spectacular and can accomodate small and large super yachts. Check it out at www.barillasmarina.com Hope it helps all who wish to travel Central America.
Central America Thanks Arnold, The second part of our cruise will be to Central America. Thanks for your help. Would love to get more info on crossing the Gulf of Mexico and Carribean. If you have plans of fishing the East Coast I would be happy to provide information and help. Thanks, Mike
Barillas Marina, El Salvador You are correct, it is a very good place to stop and relax. It is also safe to leave your boat unattended and fly home or whatever. Heriberto sp? is the manager and can be a bit of a pain but he runs a tight ship considering. Usulatan is the closest town and provisions are readily found there. The marina's microbus takes you there twice a week. I had a stroke while shopping in town... no, not because of the prices, which are similar to USA. The marina bus took me to the main hospital which was unuseable due to an earthquake... so it was just like visiting a MASH unit with all the army tents in the parking lot. The doctors provided great treatment for me, albeit without frills. There were plenty of big bugs on site to observe the Dr. Love type wanderings of my right hand... that insisted on attacking me repeatedly. Yes, both the bugs and my hand attacked me! The bill that was presented to me when I was released was for one can of bug spray! The hospital did not actually want the money for it but just a replacement for the one they had used to defend me during my stay. I will always be thankful to the hospital staff. My wife, bless her heart, took care of the bill with some additional goodies and off we went back to Barillas to recover... which I eventually did. As you depart Barillas heading back to sea, just before the outlet there are some islands/peninsulas on your port side. There are people with 550+ kids living there with virtually nothing... if you can drop off any goodies on your way out, they would appreciate it enormously. Thanks Graham