Yelapa and La Cruz

February 10-17, 2023

After a wonderful dinner at Cata del Mar in the La Cruz fish market, recommended to us by our former dock neighbors in SGYC, we took off the next day for Yelapa.

We had a great sail over from La Cruz, spotting many whales along the way.

Yelapa is a small town across Banderas Bay from La Cruz and about 16 miles from Puerto Vallarta. In 1581, King Philip II of Spain granted the indigenous people of the area property rights and the community still remains part of the Comunidad Indigena de Chacala. Land is owned by the community collectively and the families in the town date back centuries. The town is accessible mainly by boat and there are no cars within the town.

The bay in Yelapa is very deep so it is better to take a mooring than try to anchor. The bay is also exposed to the prevailing wind and waves from the northwest so we had to choose a period of settled weather. When we arrived, we contacted Edgar and he got us set up with a mooring and helped us deploy our stern anchor to keep us pointed into the direction of the swells.

Once settled, we met up with Sonja and Jack from SV Gemini and had a great dinner ashore at Abuela’s Tacos. Sonja has close family friends who live in Yelapa, and it was great to have good food and meet new friends, Brisa and Ellie. No visit to Yelapa would be complete without visiting Brisa’s Cafe Pacifica. The following day, Shelly and I explored the town which is notable for small, cobblestone streets and brightly painted buildings.

Yelapa is located along a river and there are two notable waterfalls in the area. The close one is a short walk through town, however the far waterfall took us about two hours hiking each way. Along the way, we saw the small village and eventually ended up hiking through the jungle until we came to the waterfall where we enjoyed cooling off in the river.

We spent our final day in Yelapa on the beach enjoying the sun and cold margaritas.

We lucked out and had nice calm conditions in the bay while we enjoyed the town. After three great days, we headed back to the anchorage in La Cruz. We met up with friends and celebrated Valentine’s Day aboard SV French Kissing Life. Now it’s time to leave for Puerto Vallarta to meet up with family. We can’t wait to explore Vallarta and show them a glimpse of the cruising life.