An Hour on Playa Cochorit

We took a field trip Friday to a place that felt like Old Mexico.  I'm constantly wandering Playa Algodones in front of the condo picking up shells, so we decided it was time to check out some different beaches in the area.  A neighbor down the beach had told us about some 'wild' beaches south of the town of Empalme in Sonora.  She said one, Playa Cochorit, was loaded with amazing shells.  I had to go!

I wrote down instructions I found on Trip Advisor to help us find the location.  We followed Highway 15 down through Guaymas to Empalme, then started looking for the road that would take us west to Playa Cochorit.  After wandering for awhile and dead ending into a port area, I finally decided to turn on my phone data and use Google maps for directions.  Lo and behold -- it worked!  We had turned off the main highway 5 kilometers short of the location, so we never would have found it without the wonders of Google.

When we finally arrived at Playa Cochorit, we found a windswept abandoned beach destination on the Sea of Cortez with one remaining palapa bar.  Someone else had arrived before us and created this happy face in the sand with clam shells for eyes. 

It appeared that the palapa bar El Tiburon might still be in operation, but the rest of the Cochorit fishing village looked like the photo below. 
 

 

 

Several fishermen's pangas were pulled up onshore.

And a gull was perched on this fisherman's truck.

 

 

It was a windy day with rough surf, so I imagine that's why the fishermen's camp was uninhabited.

 

Love this fish mural on the wall of the one remaining palapa restaurant.

 

 

After snapping some photographs, we busied ourselves with the main event.  Playa Cochorit is shelling/beachcomber nirvana.  I've never happened upon a beach like this!  As far as the eye could see, the beach was littered with a huge variety of spectacular finds, including murexes, augers, towers, olives, scallop and clam shells, limpets, and on and on.  The photo above is just a sampling.  We spent less than an hour plucking all the shells we could take with us, leaving thousands behind.

 

 

The patio coffee table is completely covered with piles of shells.  I've collected shells for years, but I've never seen anything like this.  No words!  I'm in love!

 

As we were headed back up the beach to the car, a couple roared by on a moto -- the first humans we'd seen.  Nearing the car, a little girl ran out of the empty palapa restaurant carrying two black murexes.  She wanted to know if we'd buy her shells for 7 pesos.  Craig dug all the change out of his pockets, a little over 20 pesos, and handed it to her.  She was thrilled with the pesos (for me???), and I was thrilled with the shells!  We'll take more pesos with us next trip!