Champagne sailing was how the Grand Poobah of the Baja HaHa described Banderas Bay, a place where cruisers get stuck for months if not years! This large bay along the central Mexican Pacific coast is highlighted by Punta Mita and La Cruz in the north, Puerto Vallarta in the east, Yelapa in the south and we spent a good month here exploring many corners of this beautiful bay.
We started in La Cruz, joined by Ellie and Aaron for the holidays. For a small daily fee, Marina Riviera Nayarit offered a convenient dinghy dock to access the town and surrounding area. This easily walkable and friendly town had a few paved but mostly unpaved roads, several small local shops and restaurants. Our favorite restaurants were Masala’s where we celebrated the kids’ arrival with a delicious meal and Mexican wine, Tacos On the Street, and Lusty’s on Land, a favorite cruiser hangout where we enjoyed live music, New Year’s Eve festivities and watching Notre Dame play in the CFP. A large grocery store was a 20 min bus ride away, but La Cruz had a good selection of produce and grocery staples available at the local fruiterrias. A real treat was the daily fish market, supplied by local fishermen who would bring in hauls of mahi mahi, yellowfin tuna, shrimp, and other fish every morning. Aaron and I had a fun time picking out fresh fish for our Christmas dinner.
The surrounding area had lots of beaches which we visited (Mexican beaches are all open to the public). We enjoyed a beach club at Manzanillo Beach, where for a minimum food/drink fee, guests can stay all day and enjoy the lounge chairs, umbrellas, towels, and service. On Christmas afternoon, on the beach near the anchorage, we enjoyed our books and flying a kite until an unfortunate entanglement with a palm tree. We also had a nice family hike to a nearby pocket beach, Playa Las Viudas—no people, good tidepooling, beautiful views and interesting rock formations. Popular Sayulita beach was another highlight, where boogie boarding and watching the surfers were fun. A rigorous hike up Monkey Mountain (Cerro del Mono) took us to a high peak that offered a great view of the overall area and coastline, along with a close encounter with the resident coatimundi!
The bay itself was alive in many ways. It is a destination for migrating humpback whales to mate and give birth. We saw and heard so many whales!!—every time we went out for a sail and even in the anchorage. They were spouting, breaching, slowly swimming about, often in mom/baby pairs or males showing off by slapping the water with their tails or fins. In shore, the water itself was quite silty, and the bottom of our boat became a home to many plants and barnacles which we had cleaned off just before leaving the area. Given the silt, we had to make several day sails out into the center of the bay where the water was clear to make water and avoid clogging up our watermaker filters. These were indeed champagne sailing days!
Lastly, the bay was alive with swell! The storm that caused destruction and huge surf in California at Christmastime led to unusually large swell finding its way into the bay and the typically calm anchorage became quite rolly. Needing to do something to make everyone more comfortable, we tried for the first time our “Flopper Stopper” that had come with the boat. It turned out to be easy to deploy and did a lot to steady the boat, helping us all sleep and feel better. The flopper stopper is a flat piece of metal that folds lengthwise, held out by our spinnaker pole, dropped into the water on the side of the boat. It pulls against the resistance of the water when the boats rocks, acting to slow the motion. Now we use the flopper stopper almost every time we anchor!
We had arranged for a family scuba diving day at Los Arcos, a marine park southwest of Puerto Vallarta. Our reservation fell right amid the big swell event, so the scuba itself was less than ideal with limited visibility, but we were all glad to refresh our scuba skills with the experience. The area was beautiful, with the waves crashing against the small granite islands, arches and caves. The other upside was a wonderful, close whale watching event just before we entered the water. We enjoyed the moment watching breach after breach of the active whales. Afterwards, we were dropped off at the famous Puerto Vallarta pier, where we took in the high energy and crazy crowd at Los Muertos Beach, the Puerto Vallarta malecon and central square with its beautifully artistic mosaic architecture. It was a fun afternoon, but we were glad to be staying in a quieter spot in La Cruz.
Ellie was able to stay long enough to join us for an overnight visit to Yelapa, on the south end of the bay. This village, only accessible by boat is charmingly built into the jungle hillside, with a waterfall nearby to visit. Arriving in the cove was interesting—we were quickly approached by pangas vying with each other to rent us their private mooring ball for the night. We later learned that renting the ball also came with transportation by that particular panga driver to/from shore, which was difficult to reach otherwise due to high surf. Once we figured out the system, we understood why all the other water taxis and pangas were ignoring us, and that our man would take care of us. We enjoyed a drink and dinner under a palapa on the beach, chuckling at the local phrase, “A palapa in Yelapa is better than a condo in Redondo!”
In January, after having been on the boat since August, we were ready for a little break, and were pleased to be able to join friends, Glenn and Hallie, for a week in Punta Mita resort while the boat rested in the marina. It was a luxurious week filled with the comforts of a nice condo, beautiful beach clubs, delicious meals, pickleball, getting around with a golf cart, and a great time with good friends. While we were off the boat, we hired local dockworkers who did a terrific job cleaning and waxing the hull, polishing the stainless, and the growth off the bottom of the boat. We returned refreshed to a shiny, clean boat. The following week, we anchored off the coast of Punta Mita on our last night before heading south, enjoying an evening out with Michael and Sally of SV Sweetheart. We will fondly remember our fine month of cruising adventure in beautiful Banderas Bay.
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