The Sea of Cortez - February
The Sea of Cortez
2/24 -2/27/21
First leg - Puerto del Escondido
Departed from Los Cabos at 6:15 am on the 24th. It was a smooth departure and beautiful day. We saw so many whales I lost count! There were two hump back whales right next to our boat! There were others jumping out of the water everywhere. We saw jumping rays too. We arrived at Los Muertos and anchored at about 5:45 pm, just in time to take Murf to the beach. There is a small village here. A local family loved Murf, especially the little boy and girl, approx five and three years old. We gave the boy Murf's stick to throw. He loved it.
Departed early on the 25th with calm conditions. This part of the Sea of Cortez consists of volcanic islands with beautiful beaches and mountains. We made it to Isla Partida which Travel magazine labeled as the most beautiful beach in Mexico. The island has three bays and we ended up spending time at all three. The smallest one, El Cardoncito, can only handle a few boats. Nobody was there so we spent the afternoon at this beach for some privacy. We went to shore on the dinghy to play with Murf and explore the island. The water was a beautiful aqua blue and the sand was white. The wind picked up later into the afternoon and we noticed our boat dragging slightly so we bee-lined back to the dinghy and made it back to the boat in time to move onto a larger bay for the night (El Cardone). The winds can get pretty nasty in the Sea of Cortez so planning and watching the weather is essential. Anchoring overnight is wonderful as the sunsets and sunrises are amazing!
Left early the next morning for San Evaristo. It was super windy once we left the bay and I started feeling seasick. After about an hour into the trip we decided to go back to Partida since the weather wasn't getting any better. We ended up in the largest bay, and spent the day at the beach for a long walk and sunning out on the deck. It was so relaxing! There were about five sail boats in the bay and we met Adam on the beach, who sailed up with his girlfriend from San Francisco. Even though there isn't any civilization on this island, one family lives there and sells fish. Murf loved chasing the birds on the beach and they loved following her. One came in so low and practically skimmed her back! We left early the next day for a long day at sea to our marina to join our fellow Nordhavns.
Left at 3:50 am for Puerto Escondido. Conditions were decent and we spent 14 hours at sea to get to the marina. It was sunny so we spent time outside, enjoying the views of the islands. Once we arrived at the marina we were greeted by the workers and a few of our friends, and the beauty of this place! The marina is so clean, quaint and beautiful! This will be our home base for the foreseeable future. We will take off for other islands for both day and overnight trips from here. The marina is about 25 minutes from the town of Loreto. There is a restaurant, market, lounge, pool, etc. We are excited to be here!
We are enjoying the marina. The Nordies (other Nordhavn owners, about 5 other boats) have been here for the past few months. Every day a group of us do a sunrise hike up a mountain close by. It is beautiful! There is a pickle ball court here as well, so we are learning how to play this fun game. A few of our friends have cars so we can go to town to enjoy the great restaurants and shopping. We had a group dinner at Mi Loreto in town one night and it was awesome! Live music and strong margaritas :) Our restaurant at the marina has live music twice a week as well. One of the Nordies, Michele, is a yoga teacher and the morning after arrival I did her class. It was really good! She is a great instructor. This is still the windy season and it isn't super hot yet, but March is the month when things start heating up and calming down.