We have spent the past 4 weeks in the Banderas Bay area meeting new friends, visiting with family, and getting ready for the “puddle jump”. It has been a whirlwind!
Chakala and Coral Island
We motor sailed the short hop from San Blas to Chacala. Aside from the rolly anchorage, we loved this town. It is a quaint beachside town popular with Mexican tourists. We swam from the boat to the beach and enjoyed sitting under the palm trees enjoying sweet coconut juice from green coconuts we purchased from street vendors. After two nights we moved along to anchor off Coral Island – a park popular with day visitors. Gavin fell ill so we laid low, did our school work and did a quick snorkel. The water clarity was not as good as we’d enjoyed in the Sea of Cortez, though we saw a number of fish. We realized that we may have been a bit spoiled with the good snorkelling we’ve had to date when, despite numerous and large fish in the area, Nathan proclaimed the snorkeling “was terrible” and promptly swam back to the dinghy. Hmmm…
La Cruz – A kid boat and cruisers gathering place
We have thoroughly enjoyed our time in La Cruz. The daily cruisers net, cruising seminars, kids net, activities, and nearby provisions, markets and restaurants have kept us entertained and busy during our time here. We have loved meeting numerous other kid boats and the kids (and adults) have enjoyed afternoons at the pool, a kids camp sleep-out, kids running a restaurant, morning runs with Cat, movie nights in the outdoor amphitheater, and more. A highlight for me was having the kids get their morning exercise while Gavin and I could do our beach workouts, then head back to the boat to finish school with the motivation of afternoon kid activities to encourage the kids to move through their school work quickly. We also enjoyed a girls trip to Sayulita, some amazing talks by inspiring women hosted by the “Women Who Sail” facebook group, and a wonderful hike to nearby Monkey Mountain.
Wildlife – “I didn’t expect that…”
The wildlife, especially the humpback whales cruising through the anchorage and near the northern shore of the bay, has been an absolute treat with their songs and calls being heard through the hull in our boat while at night and in the early morning. This was yet another thing we didn’t expect on our trip. We feel so fortunate to have coincided our visit here with breeding and mating season for the humpacks in the Bay. We keep finding ourselves saying, “we did not expect that” and this was another one to add to the list. We also saw multiple dolphins stingrays jumping in the surrounding waters.
Punta de Mita – wait, are we turning into a surfing family now?
A short 6 miles from La Cruz is Punta de Mita. With its clear water, nearby waves and nice beaches, we were hooked! We met some other kid boats (fun families from California who love surfing) and ended up alternating our time between La Cruz and Punta de Mita where both Gavin and Nathan got bitten by the ‘surf bug’. We purchased three more new to us surf boards (!) and we all enjoyed surfing at La Loncha and other spots surrounding Punta de Mita. All of us managed to catch waves, including Julia! The water is so warm and there are waves to suit all levels. Gavin loved sunset surfing on his stand up paddle board and long board and Nathan enjoyed surfing his new short board with his friends. Nathan even finished two days worth of school in one day so that he could go out early the next ‘school day’ and surf. It is nice to have flexibilty with home school so that he can do this! And Gavin was even talking about how surfing is so simple as compared to kiting. Hmmm… I can see us seeking out more waves in future! I certainly need more practice.
Family – wonderful to have family come visit us!
Nana came to visit and the kids enjoyed swimming lessons from Nana in the gorgeous pool at the condo she rented nearby while Gavin and I did some marathon provisioning sessions. Nana even took over school lessons for three days with the kids which was a huge help and the kids did great! We had a great time catching up and heard all about Nana’s adventurous kayaking trip in the Sea of Cortez. We enjoyed dinners on the boat and at her condo as well as a delicious breakfast at El Ring. Then Uncle Duncan arrived and we all enjoyed catching up with him and having a surf session at La Loncha, before dinner in Punta Mita and then an overnight trip to Yelapa.
Yelapa
We had a beautiful sail the 20 miles across the bay to the small town of Yelapa. It is boat access only, with cobblestone roads wide enough only for horses and donkeys. We tied to bow and stern moorings in the 170 feet of depth in bay. Then Julia and I enjoyed a swim in the clear water while Nathan, Duncan and Gavin took turns sailing the byte. Gavin had worked with Mike from PV Sailing to repair the Byte’s mast that we’d broken in the sea of cortez, this time with a reinforced bottom section and Nathan was happy to have it fixed. He has had a great time sailing with friends around the Bay.
Then we met up with two other kidboats, Sur and Blue Heron for dinner on shore at Gloria’s, one of the restaurants serving the small number of tourists that spend the night. The restaurant did well to accommodate our large group and boisterous children! After a rolly night, we all met on shore for a picturesque hike to a waterfall. We left from the East Beach and meandered through the valley until we reached a waterfall after 1.5 hours of hiking. The water was so refreshing and we all played in the clear fresh water and enjoyed lunch before heading back. We were lucky to have another great sail back to La Cruz, close reaching this time, and making good time back across the bay. After reaching a high score on “Bop it!” Duncan treated us all to dinner at the La Cruz Inn. Another great day!
Where to next?
We will be heading down the coast to visit what is known as the Mexican Rivera – some of the best cruising grounds Mexico has to offer, prior to heading across for the puddle jump. My sister will be meeting us in Manzanillo on March 2 after which time we will be looking for the first weather window to head West! We are so excited to have Gill join us! First to the Revilligedo islands, then our biggest jump yet, to the Marquesas. It is hard to believe we will be taking off on this epic adventure across the Pacific in two weeks. Stay tuned!
So nice to see Duncan down there with you.
Obviously you are all having great time, particularly the kids, say hullo to them for me.
If you can try and give me a call before you finally leave.