Playa Principal CLOSED

The canal that drains into the bay is an obvious problem. Putting a bed of gravel along the bottom for the last 400 metres or so would go a long way to help filter the bacteria - and a very cheap remedy. Are the sailboats out in the bay permitted to dump their waste into the ocean?

The ten thousand or so hillside squatters are also a major problem, but the "responsible authorities" keep allowing them to remain because they represent VOTES. They give new meaning to the old saying "when it rains, it pours." The sludge that washes down the hillsides from their open-air bathrooms is literally sickening.

The canal is apparently receiving discharges from clandestine sewage hookups to the pluvial drainage system as well as from the obsolete wastewater treatment plants by the Unidad Deportiva. Millions have been budgeted by the federal and state governments to fix the treatment plants, but though the money disappears no noticeable changes can be seen in the operation of any of our sewage plants beyond perhaps a coat of paint. It is criminal and some public servants SHOULD be prosecuted for it.

The Capitanía del Puerto is supposed to assure that the boats in the bay abide by the rules and do not discharge into the bay, and many boat operators have claimed they sail well outside the bay to discharge their tanks, pero no me consta.