Topolobampo is a small port town in the Mexican State of Sinaloa. Boasting a deep water harbor, the town sits at the terminus of the Chihuahua-Pacific Railroad, or ChePe, which passes through the scenic Copper Canyon. The population of Topolobampo is only around 6,500 people.
The economic importance of Topolobampo is dwarfed by its much larger neighboring city of Los Mochis, with a population of over 230,000 residents. Los Mochis is located in the “Valle del Fuerte,” a principal agricultural area of Mexico. The irrigated farms grow an abundance of crops, including sugar, cotton, rice, flowers and mangos.
The Topolobampo/Los Mochis region enjoys an arid, almost desert-like climate, with average summer temperatures in the high 80s F (about 33° C). Total annual rainfall is less than 2 inches.
Tours Covering this area:
Yacht Cruise to Bird Island and Dolphin Encounter and a Los Mochis City Tour. Topolobampo was founded by American settlers in the 1800s looking to stab;osh a Utopian society.
Deep Sea Fishing Expeditions
Deep Sea Fishing Expeditions in the Sea of Cortez
Come aboard a fishing yacht for a wonderful fishing trip leaving from Topolobampo Bay. This magnificent cruise is fishing for game fish with lines set for trolling offshore. Fishing species include marlin, sailfish, snook and red snapper.
Marlin fishing is done in the Sea of Cortez, with boats departing from Topolobampo Bay, and includes sports yachts and all fishing equipped with a professional team.
Snook and snapper are caught around the inlets of the bay formed at the mouth of the river El Fuerte and the Gulf of California.
For the last several years, Topolobampo has been a boutique port for Holland American’s 10-day Mexican Riviera and Sea of Cortez cruises from San Diego.
In 2014, Topolobampo is slated to host just 1,260 cruise ship passengers sailing on 1 ship–the Statendam, which is scheduled to arrive in December.
Some History about the Port of Topolobampo Bay
Bay lies on Mexico’s western shores on the Gulf of California in the State of Sinaloa. About 211 kilometers northwest of the Puerto de Mazatlán, the Puerto de Topolobampo is a busy ferry port for passengers moving to and from La Paz in Baja California Sur. It is also at the southern end of an international trade corridor that begins in the Midland-Odessa, Texas, region. It is the fourth-biggest town making up the Ahome municipality and had a population of about six thousand people in 2005.
The Puerto de Topolobampo is one of the youngest in the State of Sinaloa. It was established in 1991 to boost commercial development of México’s northwest region. The Puerto de Topolobampo was home to a utopian colony that lasted over a hundred years (from 1894 to 1994) and influenced urban planning concepts.
In 2008, the Puerto de Topolobampo handled 865.5 thousand tons of foreign commercial trade cargo, including 452.6 thousand tons of imports and 412.9 thousand tons of exports, and 1.5 million tons of cabotage. Of the total 2.3 million tons of cargo passing through the Puerto de Topolobampo in 2008, 2.4 million tons was petroleum and derivatives, 1.5 million tons was general cargo, and 938.2 thousand tons was agricultural or mineral bulk cargoes.
A total of 700 vessels called at the Puerto de Topolobampo, including 461 commercial cargo and 221 petroleum vessels. Eighteen cruise vessels brought carrying over 20 thousand passengers called at the Puerto de Topolobampo, and 358 ferries transported almost 280 thousand passengers.
In 2008, principal exports included iron ore (338.7 thousand tons), corn (52 thousand tons), and wheat (22.2 thousand tons). Imports were dominated by Urea (carbomide) (279.7 thousand tons) and various fertilizers (99.3 thousand tons). Other imports included phosphate, complex crystals, and calcium nitrate.
The Puerto de Topolobampo is fully equipped with infrastructure and facilities to handle containers, grains, and minerals and to accommodate the largest ocean-going vessels. Its trading partners surround the globe: Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Korea, Australia, New Zealand as well as countries throughout the Americas.
Located in one of México’s richest agricultural regions, most of the Puerto de Topolobampo’s activities center around handling cargoes of agricultural products (corn is 49% of all agricultural products moving through the Puerto de Topolobampo). The Puerto de Topolobampo serves four Méxican states: Sinaloa, Sonora, Chihuahua, and Baja California Sur.Foreign trade includes exports of bulk agricultural cargoes to South Africa, South and Central America), mineral bulk to China, and commercial products to Asia and the eastern United States. Puerto de Topolobampo imports are dominated by oil products (65%), general cargo (21%), and agricultural cargo (14%). The Puerto de Topolobampo is well positioned as a commercial port serving the interior region by exporting industrial, farming, fishing, and mining products.
The Puerto de Topolobampo’s Terminal Transoceanica de Topolobampo is a multi-purpose terminal offering logistics services for agricultural and mineral bulk cargoes. Its located on México’s northwest Pacific Coast offers a connection to world markets. The terminal covers an operating area of 46.9 thousand square meters, including 33.3 thousand square meters of land zone and 13.6 thousand square meters of maritime zone. The dock covers an area of 1.6 thousand square meters with a maritime operational area 220 meters long with alongside depth of 12 meters. The wharf has capacity to handle 1.3 million tons of cargo. Warehouses cover 4.2 thousand square meters and have capacity to store 480 thousand tons of bulk agricultural and mineral grains. Vessel discharge capacity at the Terminal Transoceanica is seven thousand tons per day, and railcar loading capacity is 200 tons per hour.API Puerto de Topolobampo also operates a Container Terminal with one berth of 240 meters and alongside depth of 11 meters. The container terminal has capacity to handle 1.5 million tons of containerized cargo. Warehouses cover 2.2 thousand square meters with capacity for 149.9 thousand tons of cargo. Sheltered storage space of 2.2 thousand square meters offers capacity for 118.1 thousand tons. Open yards of 144.8 thousand square meters have capacity for 128.2 thousand TEUs of containerized cargo weighing 1.9 million tons. The Container Terminal handles containers, general cargo, and mineral and agricultural grains.
API Puerto de Topolobampo operates the general cargo wharf with one berth of 99 meters and alongside depth of 9.45 meters. The API terminal includes warehouse space of 1.6 thousand square meters with capacity to store 105 thousand tons of cargo and open yards of 6.6 thousand square meters with capacity for 179.3 thousand tons.
API Puerto de Topolobampo also operates the ferry wharf with one berthing station of 150 meters length and alongside depth of 6.5 meters. With capacity to handle 960 thousand tons of cargo, the ferry wharf handles containers, general cargo and mineral and agricultural grains.
Petróleos Méxicanos (Pemex) operates a wharf in the Puerto de Topolobampo that handles petroleum and derivatives. 
The wharf has two berths of 400 meters with alongside depth of 11 meters. Semantur operates a ferry wharf in the Puerto de Topolobampo with a berth of 62.7 meters and alongside depth of 8.8 meters with capacity to handle 1.2 million tons of general cargo and passengers. Cemex operates a wharf for handling mineral grains. It has one berthing position of 70 meters with alongside depth of four meters and capacity to handle 288 thousand tons of cargo.
The Puerto de Topolobampo has five fishing wharves, all handling fishing products, with a total length of 537 meters and alongside depths from 3.6 to 4.0 meters. Propetopo operates two fishing wharves of a total 137 meters in length and alongside depth of 6.5 and 8.5 meters. The Yacht Club operates a 56-meter long wharf with two berthing stations and alongside depth of 2 meters. Finally, the Puerto de Topolobampo contains a vessel repair wharf of 15 meters length and alongside depth of two meters.
