We thought we should do a summary post on our cruising experience in Mexico, for those planning a visit in the near future. As we never made it over to the mainland, this summary is only about Baja California and the Sea of Cortez, and, naturally, only represents our very objective impression.
2.28.2013
We intentionally skipped Cabo San Lucas the first time we came around the cape. With her reputation as a tourist party town, Cabo San lucas didn’t seem to be our cup of tea. As fate would have it, Gray Matter has been sitting at Marina Cabo San Lucas for the last three days, and potentially through next week. This is going to be our longest stay at dock.
The reason is that we wanted to equip Gray Matter with solar panels. The best option is to build a new bimini for the aft pilothouse and put the solar panels on top. We found out that the Cabo Yacht Center has the best expertise. So Cabo San Lucas, here we come.
The famous cape. Jetskis, charter boats, parachutes, it never rests.
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2.28.2013
We intentionally skipped Cabo San Lucas the first time we came around the cape. With her reputation as a tourist party town, Cabo San lucas didn’t seem to be our cup of tea. As fate would have it, Gray Matter has been sitting at Marina Cabo San Lucas for the last three days, and potentially through next week. This is going to be our longest stay at dock.
The reason is that we wanted to equip Gray Matter with solar panels. The best option is to build a new bimini for the aft pilothouse and put the solar panels on top. We found out that the Cabo Yacht Center has the best expertise. So Cabo San Lucas, here we come.
The famous cape. Jetskis, charter boats, parachutes, it never rests.
Continue reading
2.18.2012 18:00
We saw many whales on our way down the pacific side of Baja, but haven’t had much luck once we turned into the Sea of Cortez. Now we realized that whales, just like us, prefer warmer water. Starting at Los Frailes on the east cape, we started to see the action, and up to another level this time. They were showing up in groups, swinging their tails and breaching!
2.12.2013 12:00pm
The south anchorage at Isla San Jose is a large bay, with open exposure to the west. Since the forecast looked very calm for the night, we decided to head there for the night. In particular, we’d like to explore the mangrove jungle with dinghy, highly recommended by the guide book.
Beautiful open anchroage at Isla San Jose
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2.7.2013 6:00pm
We enjoyed the hospitality from Dave and Bobbi so much that we invited them for a small outing on Gray Matter. Bobbi told me that they have never been to the north portion of the sea, the Midriff islands, the most remote and mysterious islands in the Sea of Cortez. I looked up on the guide book, Punta San Francisquito, an anchorage close to Midriff regions, has an airstrip. As Dave and Bobbi are both private pilots and have their plane here, a perfect plan is taking shape — We can run Gray Matter up to Punta San Francisquito, pick up Dave and Bobbi from their plane, and then enjoy 3 days cruising around Midriff together. I never thought we’d make that far north into the Sea of Cortez, but here we go.
We visited Isla Tiburon, the biggest island in Mexico, and then another day at Isla Salsipuedes. It is significantly colder up here, especially water temperature dropped to barely above 60F. Lucky for me, Bobbi loves to jump into the water, just like me. So the two girls jumped in for snorkeling and hunting. We harvested mussels, rock scallops and sea snails. Mark also did good on fishing — he traded four freshly-caught cabrilla from the local fishermen with four cokes. We enjoyed seafood dinner every night.
The tip of Isla Salsipuedes.
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A sea lion colony resides at the northeast cove at Isla Coronado. We dove in 50 feet away and approached the colony in the water. Sea lions are amazing creatures. They were very curious and playful. They flew right by us to check us out, and performed beautiful dances underwater. I never thought I would enjoy diving with sea lion this much. Highly recommended.
1.26.2013 18:00pm
So far, we’ve done 10 dives/snorkels at the Sea of Cortez — all on our own, based on recommendation from cruising guide and dive book. They were pretty good, but nothing spectacular. After we anchored at Isla Coronoda, a well-known dive site, we deicide to pay up for professional service for a change. We called up Dolphin Dive Center, the dive shop at Loreto. Divemaster David, a very professional and friendly mexican diver, picked us up the next morning and lead two dives around north Isla Coronado. It was so worth it. The dives were outstanding! We saw sea turtles, giant sea bass, and played with sea lions! Big difference when you have local knowledge. This trip significantly changed our diving experience at the Sea of Cortez. Here is the video made from the first dive, and the second one, which is even better, is coming soon. Enjoy!
A ballonfish in its normal form.
1.21.2013 20:00pm
We have been thoroughly enjoying our trip in the sea of cortez, and it keeps getting better. Isla Danzante is one of the five islands that make up Islas de Golfo group, which is protected as a National Maritime Park. Honeymoon Cove, one popular anchorage on Isla Danzente, was a much anticipated stop. As we pulled into Honeymoon Cove late afternoon yesterday, our eyes widened. It is absolutely gorgeous. A secluded cove with three lobes, providing excellent wind and wave protection from N, E, S. Turquoise water, sandy beaches, with dramatic mountains in the background, “Honeymoon” is surely a deserved name for her.
1.19.2013 21:00pm
As we headed deeper north into the Sea of Cortez, 3G signal became sparser. Finally we got some connection outside of Puerto Escondido. So a quick update on last week.
We had another experience with the cruelty of the winter northernly blow in the sea. For three days, we have been trapped in Marina Cortez at La Paz due to the continuous N wind. They even closed the whole port. Worse of all, Marina Cortez, being a nice and new marina, does not have any break walls. Big swells rolled right into the marina, and all boats were rocking madly, just as the docks that they tied to! One of our dock lines broke off after bearing too much tension.
Witness “La Paz Waltz”, a well-known phenomenon where boats swing into each other at anchor inside La Paz harbor.
