From the calm waters of the Ensenada de La Paz, Manglitours has succeeded in merging the tourism with conservation and local tradition, offering a unique experience of sustainable and community-based tourism.

Founded in 2019 by the Fishermen's Organization Rescuing the Inlet and with the accompaniment of NOS Sustainable NorthwestThis venture connects tourists with the richness of the biodiversity and the story of resilience of the neighborhood's residents. El Manglito.

Manuel Higuera is one of the fishermen who has put the most heart into this venture. In spite of being a very serious man, since he started his Manglitoursis one of the guides and likes to tell visitors the stories that have given his town its identity.

"We welcome the tourists, we give them a sketch of the Ensenada de La Paz and along the way we tell them what we do. We visit some points and at each point we explain what we have, what we do and what the tour is," he explains.

After leaving by boat from El Manglito o La PosadaTourists are taken on a tour of various points of the city. Ensenada de La Pazwhere you will live for approximately four hours new experiences and hear stories that will make you want to come back.

Punta de Palo is the first point. In this area lie the remains of a ship and it is important because vestiges of the ancestors who inhabited this area in the past have been found.

History and conservation

Manglitours is not only a journey through history, it is also a lesson of marine conservation. The islet of Las Malvinas is another important point of the tour. This area was formed by the dredging that was done decades ago to the navigation channel. The sand extracted from the seabed created this space that has been taken as a refuge for regional and migratory bird species such as the white pelican and the diving duck.

Higuera says that in 2014, the government authorized a new dredging of the navigation channel, so they requested permission to extract the callo of axe before the work, in order to reseed it in another area.

"Before they put the machine to work, we made a census of the evaluation of the hatchet callus and there were approximately 29,000 hatchet callus in the canal. We asked for permission to extract and replant it in another place, so that it would not be killed by the dredging. We extracted approximately 31,500 corns that we took out of the navigation channel, and we obtained 95% from which we extracted and reseeded it," he says.

That is another of the stories he proudly tells tourists on every tour he takes, he says.

The tour includes a visit to the points where OPRE cultivates the ax callus and the oystersexplains the guide. They also visit a sunken ship where tourists can snorkel and see sea turtles and other fish.

"We take equipment to the tourist so that he can take his own callus, so that he has the experience of knowing it under the sea so that he knows what it is like. We take one out so that he can see how it is done and we lend him the stainless steel hook, we tell him which one it is and we teach him to take his own callus and taste it there in the boat, fresh, or we take it to prepare it on the beach", he indicates.

A different tour

Before returning to the starting point, the boat will take the passengers to the Mogote beachwhere Manglitours sets up a camping area before leaving for the ride. There they are offered a ceviche or fried fish, hydration, shade and a resting area. The clean beach invites tourists to go into the sea to complement the experience.

"All the people have left happy. They leave with a very good taste in their mouths, they leave with something they didn't know well, because many say that seeing turtles or knowing the callus is a new experience for them. Some say that in other parts there is no bird watching or that they don't get it that way on the beach, or that the oysters or the callus," comments Manuel Higuera.

Coming from a family of fishermen, Higuera reflects that Manglitours has become a economic alternative for many families in El ManglitoThe fishing effort in the area has been reduced, as have the projects for planting scallops and oysters, which takes pressure off the fishing effort in the area.

"It supports us more, not only economically, but we support the species, it strengthens the Ensenada and we support ourselves with other activities we do, taking pressure off fishing," he says.

To those who visit La Paz y Baja California Surcalls for the release of this community entrepreneurship which he describes as a different tourThey will take with them experiences they have never lived and will never forget.