Editor's note: This story first appeared Sunday as an exclusive for our print readers.
Dubbed "the world's aquarium" by French explorer Jacques Cousteau, the Sea of Cortez is getting renewed attention from fans as diverse as a Beatle and Mickey Mouse.
Continued expansion at the Port of Guaymas has allowed the city to lure more commercial ships, cruise ships and luxury travelers.
The Octopus - a 414-foot mega-yacht owned by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen - recently docked at the port, as did a boat owned by Ringo Starr, port officials said.
And next year, Mickey Mouse and his crew will sail into the Guaymas port, about 260 miles south of the border, said Guillermo Von Borstel, marketing manager of the port.
Disney Cruise Line will include Guaymas on a pilot sail of its Disney Wonder ship around Mexican waters. The family cruise will also stop in Puerto Vallarta and Cabo San Lucas, said Arturo Musi, port agency coordinator for Holland America Line and Disney Cruise Lines on the west coast of Mexico.
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Since receiving its inaugural cruise ship in 2008, Guaymas has attracted more than 10 cruises from Holland America and Royal Caribbean. Ocean Star Cruises, the first Mexican cruise line, will soon sail the Sea of Cortez.
"This is a big sign of the interest that companies have in the Sea of Cortez," said Arturo Romero of the Sonoran State Tourism Department.
largEST CRUISE YET
On April 27, Guaymas greeted its largest cruise yet with more than 1,600 passengers aboard Holland America's Oosterdam.
Travelers, most of them seniors, spent seven hours in the port in activities including a visit to Guaymas' colonial downtown, San Carlos, the Dolphinarium, the pearl farms or kayaking, said Diana Bojórquez, with the visitors bureau in Guaymas-San Carlos.
Cruise passengers were enthusiastic about Guaymas' architecture and historical downtown as well as the beauty of the desert and mountains along the coast, Musi said.
"It's one of the prettiest cruise terminals in the country, and it has changed the image of Guaymas," he said. "Guaymas had been always promoted as a tourist destination, but the only attraction was pretty much San Carlos."
Before welcoming its first cruise ship, Guaymas built a two-story cruise terminal with a restaurant and 30 shops. The city did its part with a makeover of the waterfront, downtown, the road that connects the port with the city, and of the businesses along the way.
Those improvements are already paying off. Sonoran officials said travelers spend an average of $100 in the Mexican port.
"We see the benefits in our city," Bojórquez said. "We've noticed tourism agencies and restaurants are doing better, but it also shows even in places like the drugstores. A lot of travelers get here and buy their medicine."
For a century the port was a strategic point for mission settlement, military invasions and even pirate attacks. Today its economy is based primarily on fishing and agriculture, but tourism is a growing industry.
According to Banco de Mexico, in 2010 cruise travelers spent $489 million in Mexico, the most ever spent. And more than 6 million cruisers visited the country, 10 percent more than 2009.
PLENTY OF POTENTIAL
Cruise companies see plenty of potential in the Sea of Cortez, said Musi.
"It's an excellent destination with unique attractions for travelers," he said. "Its flora and fauna … are found nowhere else in the world."
Besides Guaymas, government and cruise industry officials are working together to build a cruise port at "Arizona's beach" - Puerto Peñasco. It is to be ready in 2013, said Peñasco's mayor, Alejandro Zepeda.
The Tucson tourism industry is already capitalizing on the ports to the south. Felipe García of the Metropolitan Tucson Convention and Visitors Bureau said representatives of his organization travel to Guaymas to welcome cruises and promote the Old Pueblo.
A port in Peñasco and more cruises sailing in the Sea of Cortez would mean more tourism for Tucson as well, he said.
"Any project in Sonora, whether commercial or tourism, has an impact in Southern Arizona," he said. A good chunk of the money injected into the Sonoran economy, he said, eventually is spent in Tucson.
Contact reporter Mariana Alvarado at 573-4597 or malvarado@azstarnet.com
Huge port expansion adding container-handling capacity
Because the cruise business is seasonal, Guaymas officials have doubled their efforts to bring more commercial trade through the port.
Tenants include Luxembourg-based ArcelorMittal, the world's largest steel maker; Australian mining company BHP Billiton; and Cortez Transfert, a subsidiary of Yuma-based Dune Company, which operates two terminals.
The port also is working on a massive container terminal connected to a railroad line that will be able to handle 175,000 containers a year. With this terminal the port could move up to 2.5 million containers to markets in Chihuahua, Sonora, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas. Two more terminals are under construction, which will bring the total to eight, including the cruise terminal.
West of the Port of Guaymas, in Empalme, a checkpoint and distribution center are under construction next to the railroad and the highway that connects Sonora and Arizona.
It's being built in Empalme because growth at the Port of Guaymas didn't leave room for it, said Guillermo Von Borstel, marketing manager of the port.
In 2009 the Port of Guaymas handled 3 million tons of commercial cargo, and last year the number reached 5 million. In 2011 the port is expecting to handle at least 7 million tons, he said.
That growth could benefit Tucson and Southern Arizona as trade cargo is stored in local warehouses for transfer to trucks for delivery.
"It's a very good thing for this region and for the rest of the country. … It creates a train movement from the Port of Guaymas or Empalme up to and through the Nogales gateway," said Al Altuna, president of Southern Arizona Logistics Education Organization. "That's very important to establish ourselves as a global connection. … It's a very good alternative to Southern California."
About Guaymas
• It was a territory originally occupied by the Guaymas, Seri and Yaqui tribes.
• In 1701 the missionaries Eusebio Kino and José María Salvatierra founded the Jesuit missions of San José de Guaymas.
• In 1811, commercial maritime traffic was authorized in the port. Currently it's the most important port in Sonora, 83 miles from Hermosillo and southeast of the popular beach town of San Carlos.
• Its famous beaches include Miramar and San Carlos. Ecotourism, fishing and golf are the most popular activities.
• Its colonial architecture downtown includes San Fernando Church and the Three President's Plaza to honor the Mexican presidents born there: Adolfo de la Huerta, Plutarco Elías Calles and Abelardo Rodríguez.
SOURCE: City of Guaymas, Sonora.
