Recap: Bahia de Banderas to Mazatlan (w/pics and vids!)

We spent 4 nights at the La Cruz Marina, and really enjoyed the thriving cruiser community:  morning yoga at the yacht club, traditional Mexican music at La Cava restaurant with Prairie Seashell, La Vita, and Snowaway, meeting and getting to spend some time with other young cruisers from Lilo, Crazy Love, and Four Sisters. We also took a day trip to Sayulita to do some surfing with the throngs of other beginner surfers – Sayulita is definitely not a ‘sleepy’ surf town, as there were tons of tourists, locals, and businesses.

It's a beautiful thing when the dream becomes marina

Tacos on the Street carne asada!

Sayulita carne asada tacos, a close second...

Not what we look like on our surf boards!

When we were able to finally get ourselves off the dock at La Cruz, we headed to Chacala for a couple of nights. There we had our classic mainland coast cruising day: swimming to shore, seafood lunch at a palapa restaurant, a walk through town and along the beach, followed by the swim back to the boat. You just don’t get tired of this life!

"No gracias..."

Our next stop was Matanchen Bay, where we anchored for several nights. Amidst all the socializing in La Cruz, we managed to forget to refill our propane tanks and ran out upon arrival at Matanchen. We arrived on Sunday afternoon and the beach was packed with locals, seemingly undeterred by the mosquitos and no-see-ums. Without propane, we were forced to have a really tasty shrimp and fish dinner ashore. The next day, we took a cab to Villa Hidalgo (apparently the nearest propane) about 30 km away. After filling up the tank, we took it sightseeing around San Blas and up to the old fort named La Contaduria. The fort was used as the Spanish base in Mexico for managing trade and transport of goods between Europe and Asia. Also, boats built there were used for exploration expeditions up the West Coast to California. San Blas was probably one of the more authentic Mexican towns we have visited. 

Taking our tank around town...

Templo de la Virgin del Rosario church behind La Contaduria

La Contaduria

Giant historic photos of San Blas on display

On our third day at Matanchen we took the La Tovara jungle tour through miles of a lush estuary. We saw several crocodiles, turtles, and various species of birds. The cocodrilario had several giant crocodiles in addition to other interesting animals from around the jungle region. Lunch and a swim for Matt at the freshwater spring rounded out the tour.

Boat-billed heron

Is this picture in the cruising guide!?!

Matanchen, one of the more ghetto rustic beach towns

Rowing as fast as possible from the no-see-ums near shore!

 
Our final stop before heading to Mazatlan was Isla Isabel, a fantastic isolated island about 20 miles from the mainland coast. Due to its isolation in the Pacific Ocean, there are few natural predators and huge populations of boobies (blue-footed and red-footed) and massive frigates (wing spans up to 2.5 meters). The abandoned research center and crazy amount of birds gives the place an unreal feeling, certainly very different from the other islands we have visited in the Sea of Cortez. We hiked around the entire island: up to the light tower, to the lake caldera in the center, and over to la Punta Rocosa. We were also able to snorkel from the boat through clear waters over some very active coral. Isla Isabel is arguably our favourite stop in all of our Mexican cruising.

Mother and baby frigates

Abandoned research center... creepy...

The Birds!

Chick with crazy hair..

The elusive blue-footed booby

Male frigate trying to attract a mate with his inflated red gular pouch

Huge schools of tropical fish!

Departing from Isla Isabel for Mazatlan, a pod of probably 4 humpback whales crossed the boat and we saw 3 breaches up close. We had been seeing lots of fin and tail slapping in our travels, but these breaches were definitely the closest we have been to active whales, AND we caught it on video!

After a gloriously uneventful overnight run (minus all the dodging of fishing nets on approach), we arrived in Mazatlan in the mid-morning, tired but ready for some Carnival festivities!!

Banderas Bay to Mazatlan Album