| | |  Travel & Outdoors | September 2008 
Mexico’s Pacific Coast a Treat for the Prepared
 Capt. Conor Craig - The Triton
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"You’re cruising the Pacific Coast of Mexico from June to November? It’s hurricane season. Are you crazy?"
Actually we are not crazy, or even big risk takers. With a close watch on the weather and the excellent forecasting available nowadays plus common sense on locations for each month, summer turned out to be an ideal time to cruise this magnificent coastline.
Puerto Vallarta is a sheltered and well established hurricane hole and with a quick run to the northern end of the Sea of Cortez as an alternative, there are options if a hurricane is on the way, especially with the substantial advance notice periods we have available.
I use the following weather sites, both excellent - The National Hurricane Center (nhc.noaa.gov), and Wunderground Weather (wunderground.com/tropical/tracking).
I joined the M/Y Camelot in La Paz ready for an exciting summer’s cruising. Camelot, a privately owned Royal Huisman built in 1983 (115 feet/35m and 217 GRT), is a fast little cruiser and is well set up for diving as the owners are keen divers. With Nitrox and rebreathers onboard, we are set up for some exciting photographic dives. The Cocos Islands are on the cards for later in the year.
La Paz is a sleepy town and a great place to depart for some great scenery and diving around the islands of Espiritu Santo and Partida a few hours steaming to the north.
The most exciting dive is around Los Islotes (Seal Lion Rocks). This small group of islands abounds with seals, big males as well as females with pups. Anchoring on the south side in 15m is safe and sheltered (24’ 35.80N 110’ 24.10W).
Photo opportunities from a tender and good snorkeling are 100 meters away. The seals will approach within a meter or so, close enough that the mothers will herd their curious pups away. Visibility at this time of the year is only moderate though.
Anchorages are great with the best overnight one at Caleta Partida. Anchor on the southern side as evening winds (Corumel winds) can be fierce (24’ 31.5N 110’ 23.0W).
The mountain scenery on the islands is impressive and worth a jaunt. This area is a national park so a permit and small fee are necessary, though only if you go ashore. There are some wonderful sunsets to photograph and at this time of the year very few cruising yachts.
The trip from here to Cabo San Lucas is short but take care passing between Espiritu Santo and the mainland through San Lorenzo Channel. It is worth making two stops on the way, first at Ensenada de Los Muertos, a small bay where silver mining was popular (23’ 58.7N 109’ 45.7W) and secondly 46 miles farther south at Los Frailes, which is a more sheltered headland and could be used as an overnight stop, the northern side or southern side depending on wind direction. Stay 2 miles off until approaching at right angles to the beach as there are reefs off shore. The bay often has small manta rays splashing around and there is great fishing offshore as well as around the point.
Cabo is a lively spot and probably the most expensive marina in the area (similar to Ft. Lauderdale prices) at twice the cost of Puerto Vallarta and four times the cost of La Paz and Manzanillo. There’s lots of activity, however, and good restaurants and watering holes for the young at heart.
With few dive spots and only several day trips around, it’s better to move on to the south, and we headed for Puerto Vallarta. Two hours out of Puerto Vallarta are Las Tres Marietas. These islands, also a national park, have a good anchorage on the southern side (20’ 40.95N 105’ 36.20 W) in 15m. Ashore – with a permit! – there are nesting boobies and frigates wheeling overhead. What superb photo opportunities here. Good swimming and diving but no Jet Skis or fishing. It’s not to be missed. Do not, repeat do not pass between these islands and Punta Mita as there is a shallow rock in the middle of the channel and it’s not marked on most charts.
Puerto Vallarta has two marinas: Marina Nuevo Vallarta and Marina Vallarta within the main port. We chose Marina Vallarta and it offers a well protected berthing area. We had no problems getting a spot and found Adriana in the office to be most helpful. We had spare parts forwarded from the United States and they accepted delivery and held them for us.
By the way, to receive spare parts without paying customs duties you must fill out and obtain a "Temporary Importation of Vessel" paper at your initial port of entry. It’s worth the inconvenience as without it you will pay duty at about 50 percent on all items coming in.
In this marina, it is cash only as berths are privately owned and managed only by the office. We also organized fuel here through Global Yacht Fuel in Ft. Lauderdale, which manages to get fuel to us in the most isolated places. Fast, efficient service and a free T-shirt, too.
Close by is a large and well-stocked chandlery store that has a good selection of items. In the marina is a wonderful sail maker who produced high quality canvas work for us as well as stainless rigging we needed. Karin and Mike offer a truly professional service. Canvas Connection on 322-221-0927, cancon(at)pvnet.com.mx .
The Bahia Banderas has some good day anchoring spots, Punta Mita on northern tip and Yelapa and Roca los Arcos on southern side.
We did several trips from Puerto Vallarta to Manzanillo in the south. As a one-week round-trip, it is hard to find a more pleasant and spectacular voyage. Take care as charts are sparse and the coastline can be one and a half miles to the west of its charted position. Also, parallel index with your radar two miles out from the coast when navigating at night, and it’s not a bad idea in the daytime also as there are offshore shallow rocks.
First stop is 10 hours south of Puerto Vallarta in Bahia Chamela. It has a mile-wide entrance but stay close to the islands on the southern side. There is a superb anchorage in 10 meters and sandy bottom just behind Isla Passavera with the white cliffs (19’ 26.70N, 105’02.20W). This is a sheltered spot from swells and good for swimming and Jet Skiing, and the island is a nesting area for frigate birds.
Next, two hours farther south, is Bahia Careyes. Careyes is a gem on this coast. Words cannot fully describe the beauty of the coastline on this rocky promontory. Developed since the 1970s by Gian Franco Brignone, it is a masterpiece of development with artistically perfect villas and hotels perched on cliff faces. It is visited by film stars, artists and rock stars. It’s one big party, though somewhat exclusive.
We anchored in the bay with two anchors and a stern line to the rocky shore. It is a delicate maneuver but a safe anchorage for one vessel to 40m. There are no jetties and it’s a beach landing to access the hotels for drinks or dinner. There is a huge wilderness reserve close by with large cats and myriad wild species. A world-class polo club lies back from the beach with serious competitions from time to time.
Two hours to the south is Bahia Tenacatita. Anchor off the El Tamarindo Hotel in Punta Tamarindo as it’s a good overnight stop. With a friendly phone call you may be able to book lunch or dinner at this exclusive resort hotel with the red umbrellas and beach lounges that contrast so well with the clear blue of the ocean and the darker blue sky.
One hour further south is Bahia de Navidad where the marina offers one or two spots for large yachts. The marina has good Internet access and a hotel with pool that crew can use. Here you need to check in with the port captain and check out again prior to departure.
Last stop is Manzanillo, a commercial port with a marina on the coast in the center of the bay. Sadly there is only one spot where a 40m vessel can moor with two anchors and stern lines just inside the entrance. A continual swell makes it a borderline comfortable stay and anchoring outside would be acceptable only with zero speed stabilizers.
The Marina Las Hadas, however, is spectacular with whitewashed houses and a hotel where the movie "10" was filmed. There’s good Internet access in the hotel lobby and excellent service. I inadvertently left my wallet in the lobby. Within half an hour they contacted me by cross-referencing the receipt for the Internet access in my wallet to the boat and obtained my cell phone number.
It was truly remarkable, and not a dollar was missing.
We have done this trip three times with different guests of the owners and each time is more wonderful that the last. Of all the spots I have taken yachts over the years, this area has yet to be surpassed.
Hurricane season, yes. No other yachts, yes. Safe with proper weather precautions, yes indeed. The best time is, of course, July as later in the summer the risk of hurricanes curving to the coast increases.
Now we head north to the Pacific coast of Baja California and a refit for Christmas in San Diego.
Capt. Conor Craig skippers the 35m M/Y Camelot. Comments on this story are welcome at editorial(at)the-triton.com. |
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