Legal Battle Continues Over Playa Tenacatita; Boaters Still Locked Out

Byline: Capt. Pat Rains PLAYA TENACATITA, Mexico — Legal wrangling still surrounds Playa Tenacatita, a small resort destination on Mexico’s Gold Coast, but lawyers for 200 local residents say they expect a new and more favorable ruling from the state supreme court in December. In August 2010, residents at El Rebalsito, Jalisco, were evicted before dawn by an army of private police, while dozens of small cantinas on federally owned Playa Tenacatita were either chained closed or demolished — a surprise attack in a land dispute that had smoldered behind the scenes for decades. Today, chain-link fences and armed guards still prohibit visitors from stepping more than a few feet ashore on Playa Tenacatita. And on the lagoon of Rio Boca de la Iguana, fences and patrols in pangas still prevent tourist dinghies from entering the west end — where boaters used to take their “jungle river” dinghy excursions to the inland side of Playa Tenacatita. Formerly, both the lagoon and oceanfront beach were popular destinations for hundreds of cruising yachts, dinghies and panga tour boats from nearby hotels. Several of the palapa seafood restaurants had been in business at Playa Tenacatita for 40 years, according to El Journal news service. Until tourists are legally...