Snorkeling from Cabo San Lucas to La Paz

Hello from La Paz,

After several days in Cabo, we left as soon as we had all the laundry done.  Cabo San Lucas was far too much like Las Vegas for us.  We happily sauntered around the Baja peninsula up towards La Paz – anchoring in several places to explore the beaches and snorkel.  We first attempted to stay in Las Frailes (the Friars), but the anchorage was too “rolly”.  The next stop was Ensenada de Los Muertos (or Los Suenos) – cove of the dead (or dreams).  This was a beautiful stop.  We enjoyed snorkeling in the northeast corner of the cove and walking along the beach.  We don’t know whether its from hurricane Odile, but on several beaches, we have seen pockets of one particular thing washed on shore.  For example, Turtle Bay was replete with sand dollars.  Los Muertos had a collection of rocks on a swath of beach about 30 yards wide.  A 10 yard-wide patch of beach at the next anchorage, Bahia Ballandra, was full of large, broken shells (some kind of spiral type that I’m unfamiliar with).  They were about 6-8 inches long and at least 4 inches in diameter. 

Bahia Ballandra was also quite beautiful and contains a landmark for the La Paz area: Mushroom Rock.  We didn't photograph it because we thought we would get it the next day and ended up leaving early due to a very rocky/uncomfortable anchorage from wind and seas that were at odds with each other.

 

David helped one of the other sailors by ferrying his passport from the previous boat to the one that would take him to La Paz.  In so doing, he had a preview of a protected, calmer anchorage called Caderna Lobos which was only about 10 miles or so from La Paz.  There we anchored for another night and snorkeled the southwest corner.  We saw our first sea cucumber there. Our theory is that the water was murkier than other places due to the nearby mangroves.  But it was still quite pretty.  In Bahia Ballandra, we zipped over in the dinghy (dink as some sailors call it) to a cave etched out of the rock.  Much of the rocks, hills, mountains that we’ve seen are made of what looks like concrete with other rocks compressed into it.  Basically, very crumbly looking and so the cave wasn’t a surprise.  Inside, at the foot, were all the rocks that had fallen as the sea-water carved out the material that held the rocks together.  

Not sure if this was Bahia Ballandra or Caderna Lobos.  Regardless - this was the first time I'd seen cactus and mangroves in the same scene.  Unexpected.

Loved this view of the spiky mountain behind the mangrove-lined beach.  The water was too murky near the mangroves to go snorkeling.

Darling daughter sitting on the bow of the dinghy.  Our sailboat is off in the distance just to the right of the left hill.

One of the views while snorkeling.

 The only starfish we saw.

Let's go to school!

We arrived in La Paz on November 18^th and have quite enjoyed our time here.  We’ve done the usual provisioning (we were out of fresh fruits and vegetables, milk and eggs), filtered 110 gallons of water for the boat tanks, had some laundry done and explored the open rooms in the anthropology museum.  Unfortunately, much of the museum is closed for painting.  We’ve also strolled along the Malecon – a wide, 3-mile long walkway between the street and shore dotted with sculptures.  Thursday evening, the local cruisers club, Club Cruceros, hosted a dinner for the Baja Ha Ha fleet.  This was a very nice affair at a local restaurant.  Local high schoolers performed Mexican folkloric dancing (with the girls’ dresses each using at least 2 yards of material) and after them, a mariachi band performed.  The kids were awesome dancers and probably had 5 costume changes throughout the show.  I was impressed - both with the dancing and costumes.  The mariachi band consisted of 2 trumpeters, 3 violinists and 3 guitarists (guitars of various sizes).  Several of the musicians were also excellent singers and one of the guitarists whistled a very realistic bird-call.  The trumpeters were amazing – sweet, pure tones demonstrated by a piece where one trumpeter was hidden in a different courtyard and we could hear the echo.  Again, I thoroughly enjoyed the entertainment. 

From here, we plan to anchor in coves and harbors of nearby islands: Isla Espiritu Santo, Isla Palmira, Isla San Francisco and Isla San Jose.  We will then return to La Paz to provision before heading to Mazatlan.

The kids are great about trying new food: they’ve discovered they love Oaxaca cheese but are becoming more adventurous in other things, too.  Perhaps its because eating out means they don’t have to eat what I cook.  8-)  It helps that the desserts are fabulous, too.  Not that any of us have a big sweet tooth....