Isla del Carmen, Mexico, the rural island that is home to the ghost town of what used to be the world’s biggest salt mine. But But

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2 years ago Nathan

Located on Isla del Carmen, an uninhabited desert island in the Gulf of California and only accessible by a two-hour boat ride from Loreto, this is the site of what used to be a massive salt mine and pink salt lake.
Island’s history basically revolves around a salt deposit located at its north end, in an area called Bahia Salinas, and began in 1698 when the Jesuits arrived to establish the mission of Loreto.
They discovered the area by accident, and began stocking up on salt for themselves, as well as future Jesuit missions as they were established.
It remained so for many years until 1875 when the Viosca brothers from La Paz took control of the salt. They built a railroad track of about 600 meters where a steam locomotive moved the salt to a small pier.
Eventually, the control of this resource came under the Santa Fe Railroad and then the Pacific Salt Co. Limited of London, that improved extraction methods and renewed the railway equipment.
Around 1945, the company began operating under the name Pacific Salinas, SA and obtained a permit allowing 99 years of extraction.
It seems most members of the company were Spanish, owning several salt mines. Subsequently, the salt became part of the of the Monterrey Cellulose and Derivatives S.A de C.V Conglomorate (CYDSA) which extracted the salt of Isla del Carmen until 1983.
It’s rumored Isla del Carmen was abandoned after the saltmine of Guerrero Negro opened.
The production was much higher and its location in the Pacific Ocean was a major savings in distance and transportation costs for customers. Reaching the island required going around the State of Baja California Sur from the Pacifc Ocean. Japan is the main customer of Mexican salt and the Japanese found it more convenient to buy salt from Guerrero Negro.
The salt plant closed in 1984, but what remains provides an idea of what the island once looked like.

Along the seashore, in fact, are the dilapidated remains of a pier, a partially submerged ship’s hull, a crumbling stone lighthouse, offices, a silo, the cemetery, a schoolhouse, and the standing ruins of a bank with some files in it, typewriters and even a safe which content is said “to be ignored” are preserved.
There is also is the Chapel of Our Lady of Carmen in perfect condition, with a beautiful image of the Virgin on the altar.
The buildings contain some of the original items used when the mine was in operation.
All the buildings are constructed using coral as their base.
Further inland in the Bahia Salinas area is a pink salt lake surrounded by rusting tractors and bulldozers.

Today, the island is home to a private business and a protected area for the conservation of wildlife. Guards and guides are the sole inhabitants.