Entering the Sea of Cortez

Los Muertos, El Portico, Caleta Partida, Isla San Francisco, San Evaristo, San Telmo, Agua Verde, Puerto Escondido, and Isla Danzante

April 23 – May 10, 2023

These last few weeks have been packed with new places and old friends, forcing blogging to take a back seat. Here is a review of what we have been up to.

We left El Cid Marina in Mazatlan in the evening just after sunset. We chose this time for a variety of reasons including allowing us to arrive at our destination in daylight and timing for slack high tide which would minimize the risk of crashing on our way out of Mazatlan’s tricky channel. Little did we know but all the sunset charter boats were coming in as we left. There was a nonstop stream of party boats and jet skis passing us in the channel that feels tight for just one boat. It was crazy! Unfortunately we were too busy staying alive to get any good photos or videos. The rest of our trip was a relative breeze. We crossed with two other boats, SV One World and SV Kopai. It took us about 36 hours to get from Mazatlan to Los Muertos anchorage on the Baja side of the Sea of Cortez. We had calm seas and good wind which allowed us to sail a good portion of the trip. Thick fog greeted us on arrival with 200 yard visibility. We anchored using radar and couldn’t see anything around us. When the fog cleared a few hours later we were in a great anchorage with clear water and a wonderful beach. There is a restaurant on one side of the bay named 1535 with excellent food and margaritas. On the other side is a great restaurant inside of a cool beach resort. There were several people camping along the beach and we enjoyed comparing our lifestyles and shared a bonfire one night.

We spent two days relaxing in Los Muertos after our passage and went scuba diving one morning. The water was a bit chilly but there were a lot of cool fish to see and the visibility was pretty good. After two nights, we headed over to Isla Partida. Our first stop was an anchorage on the east side of the island where Isla Espiritu Santo and Isla Partida meet. There were some strong westerly winds overnight but this anchorage was calm as a lake. When we first arrived we shared the large anchorage with a 500 foot long luxury cruise ship. They left that evening and along with One World, we had the anchorage to ourselves to explore. There are some cool sea caves just south of the anchorage that we explored. The next day we went around to the other side of Isla Partida to Caleta Partida where we met up SV Tambourine and SV Jus Rocking. These boats are from Silver Gate Yacht Club and we had seen them last in La Cruz. It was cool to meet up and hang out with them again. We would be spending some time with them over the following weeks.

Our next stop was Isla San Francisco. This was a big stop for us. I had been dreaming about this bay since we first started thinking about cruising. It is a spectacular bay with white sand beaches, crystal clear water and stark mountain cliffs. We also finally met up with our close friends Adam and Jackie on SV Aiya. They had sailed down from San Diego and taken a bit of a beating on their way down. Perhaps March is not the best time of year to head down the Pacific Coast of Baja. It was great to see them. We were anchored up in the bay with One World, Tambourine, Jus Rockin, and Aiya. There is a great hiking trail along a steep bluff that we did. It has incredible views even if it is a bit sketchy in parts. Unfortunately it was a weekend and the anchorage was packed with charter boats so we only spent one night. We will definitely be back.

Leaving Isla San Francisco our group of boats, now five strong, headed to the small fishing village of San Evaristo. This is a cool little fishing village that also has some small rental cabins for visiting sport fishing tourists. The anchorage was well protected from the strong westerly winds and we enjoyed good seafood at the small restaurant and did some hiking in the hills around the anchorage.

After two nights in Evaristo, our next stop was San Telmo. This was a great down-wind sail. After setting the anchor, we explored the beach and found it was covered with driftwood. So of course we had to have a bonfire.

The next day our group took off and had another killer day of sailing. Westerly winds for a beam reach in calm seas had us flying to our next destination of Agua Verde. This is another iconic Sea of Cortez anchorage with great protection, tons of sea life, a good restaurant, and excellent hiking and diving. We made the most of it over several days.

After several amazing days in Agua Verde, we headed up the coast to Puerto Escondido. This super nice marina is close to the great little town of Loreto where we could explore and stock up on food. We enjoyed the marina pool, did laundry, and feasted on pizza from the restaurant. We were on a mooring since the marina was full but it was very calm and worked out great. No need for a slip in Puerto Escondido. Our friend Jason arranged for a rental car. We packed it to capacity and explored the town of Loreto, hiked Steinbeck Canyon, and traveled inland to the Mission of San Javier.

After several days in Puerto Escondido, we said goodbye to Tambourine and Jus Rockin as they were preparing for the “Baja Bash” back up to San Diego. We fueled up and headed over to the Honeymoon Cove anchorage on Isla Danzante with Aiya and One World. This anchorage is spectacular. We bow and stern anchored Tasi in a small bay with room for only one boat. Aiya could only stay for a few hours as they also had to leave to start heading back south to La Paz. It was so fun spending time with Adam and Jackie. We wish it could have been longer. Together with One World we explored the island around our anchorage.

Next stop… Isla Carmen