Punta Mita and La Cruz de Huanacaxtle

January 29 – February 9, 2023

After a great stay in Chacala, we raised anchor late in the morning and set sail for Banderas Bay. As the morning progressed and we got offshore, the wind picked up and we raised the spinnaker for a great broad reach sail. Several other boats had the same idea and we were joined by SV Coconut, SV Gemini, and SV Kite. As we rounded the point to enter Banderas Bay, Gemini caught up to us and we were able to exchange great photos of one another.

We dropped anchor just off the town of Punta Mita as the sun was setting. There were several boats in the large anchorage and we were surprised to see a whale swimming around the boats the next morning. We dinghy’d to the beach with SV Kite and enjoyed a day of exploring and surfing mellow waves just in front of the town.

After two somewhat rolly nights in Punta Mita, we moved on to Marina Rivieria Nyarit in La Cruz de Huanacaxtle; aka “La Cruz”. On the way we were literally surrounded by Humpback Whales and had a great sail. This is a fantastic marina filled with many cruising yachts moving up and down the coast. It was packed but somehow we got lucky and got a slip. Many cruisers anchor just outside the marina in the anchorage. There is a great sense of community here with frequent seminars, a large market on Sundays and movie night on Thursdays. We had a chance to catch up with several boats we’ve met along the way as well as meet new friends. We re-joined Phillip and Michelle from SV Sancerre who we first met on Catalina Island last summer. They took us on a great tour of Bucerias and Puerto Vallarta complete with delicious late night Indian food. We caught up with SV Finally, a fellow Island Packet who we met in Mazatlan. Interestingly, their boat was on our dock in Silver Gate Yacht Club in San Diego before Herman and Ingrid bought it this summer. Illustrating how small the cruising community is, they sailed down the coast with our former Shelter Island Marina neighbors Chris (SV Ginger) and Frank (SV Watermark). Baron and Charlie (SV Jus Rockin) from Silver Gate Yacht Club joined us in La Cruz for a few days on their way south. We also caught up with SV Kite, SV Gemini, and SV French Kissing Life. La Cruz is a great place to have work done on the boat and we took full advantage to have the bottom cleaned and the teak re-done while we were here.