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Cabo San Lucas to La Paz

We arrived in La Paz, Mexico (about 100 miles up from the southern tip of Baja California on the Sea of Cortez side) on November 17th after a leisurely week-long trip up from Cabo San Lucas. It is so nice to be on a more relaxed schedule where we can spend time in spots we like as long as we like - quite a change from the hurried pace of the Ha-Ha and the hustle and bustle (not to mention rolly anchorage) of Cabo San Lucas.

On the way up from Cabo, we stopped at Bahia Frailes (the Bay of Friars, so called because the rock formation on the point looked to mariners of old like Friars climbing the hill) where the snorkeling and scuba diving on nearby Cabo Pulmo Reef (the only living hard coral reef on the west side of North America) was wonderful. We saw sea turtles, blue puffer fish, purple dragon eels and of course the many varied and assorted tropical fish a healthy coral reef supports.

We also spent 3 days at Bahia de Los Muertos ("Bay of Dead Men", so named for the giant “dead-men”anchors used here to moor barges in the early 1900 while offloading ore from the silver mines at El Triunfo) . This wonderful bay with a wonderful beach has nothing else there, absolutely nothing else except there, in the middle of nowhere at one end of beach all by itself, a Giggling Marlin restaurant. Seriously, this dirt road comes in from the desert and ends at the beach, long used by the occasional RVer or camper, but now with nothing but one lone building. We are talking miles and miles of desert which although surprisingly green with growth and beautiful in it’s own way, has nothing but millions of cactus and rattle snakes and the occasional head of cattle or two. No houses, no town, just desert. Eric went for a run one day on the road and it literally goes on and on towards LA Paz, 45 miles away, out into the desert with nothing around for miles and miles. But there at the end of the road at this beautiful bay all by itself is this good sized restaurant, part of a chain out of Cabo, where the kids can get pancakes or French toast any time of the day, the fish tacos are super fresh (caught by local Panga fishermen in the bay itself) the cervas are cold and no one cares if you wear shoes or even a shirt because you are more likely than not, the only customers there with the possible exception of one or two other cruisers off the few other boats in the anchorage and maybe the occasional fishermen or Gringo in an RV. Seems that at the other end of the beach a developer is attempting to get a 400-home up-scale vacation home and golf course community going and the restaurant jumped the gun a little early. There are admittedly, 8 homes there, but you can’t play golf yet and there were certainly no signs of a housing boom while we were at anchor. If the developer does succeed, it will be a shame of sorts because the beauty and serenity of this wonderful little bay will likely suffer. But we have to say it was very nice to watch the sun set from the open-air restaurant, sipping a margarita with real ice cubes while the kids played on the beach.

La Paz is the opposite of Los Muertos, thick with cruisers and ex-pats and all the things a boater could want. It’s the capitol of Baja, a town large enough to have real supermarkets, boat chandleries, good restaurants and night life and the like but without the sterile, cruise-ship induced tourism veneer of Cabo. Things are less expensive also. There’s a real community here, a lot of art and culture and history but with a pace one or two notches slower than Cabo or the states. We’ve only been here a week, but it has that fly-paper feel to it - the kind of place where people end up staying for months or even years. We’ve already met all the other boats with kids. Some came down last year, cruised the Sea and down the mainland coast to Z-Ha and back and ended up here.

Click here for a video of the cruising kids having fun on the La Paz playground.

As always, click on the photos for larger sizes. 

 
 

The "White Hotel" in Cabo San Lucas as seen from our achorage. While in Cabo, we would dingy or swim ashore to the beach and use their pool.

While cruising, the VHF radio is your phone. The kids have become highly skilled and professional in using the radio to contact other "kid" boats

Bahia Los Frailes with Cabo Los Frailes to the right.

Kelsey all geared up for snorkling on the north side of Cabo Los Frailes near Pulmo reef.

Its a kid's snorkling party!

Kelsey at the edge of the desert, on the beach at Los Frailes. The combination of ocean and desert ladscapes here are breathtaking.

Kelsey with friend "Yvette" from S/V Aquamarine in Bahia Los Frailes, doing crafts and making bookmarks for Yvette's Dad's B-day.

Kelsey's 8th Birthday party in Bahia Los Frailes, Pulmo Reef Anchorage.

Make a wish!

Beading supplies were the main theme for this newly turned 8-year old.

Sunrise on passage from Los Frailes to Bahia de Los Muertos.

Sunset from the beach looking out over the anchorage at Bahia de Los Muertos.

Pelicans on the beach in Los Muertos, waiting for handouts from the Panga fishermen cleaning a recently caught marlin to the right.

Relaxing on the beach in Los Muertos. The Giggling Marlin resturant can be seen in the distance to the right.

Cold beer, pancakes, margaritas with ice and fresh fish tacos with a view!

RJ's experinces first hand what it feels like to be a landed Marlin or a tourist in Cabo (without the requisite tequilla shot of course).

Kelsey giving it a try.

It's not a leaf, its a butterfly of some sort that stopped by to say hello on passage to La Paz from Bahia de Los Muertos.

Melissa helping RJ with math on the way to La Paz.

Kelsey working on her schoolwork below.

We caught this 20lb Mahi Mahi while sailing to weather through the Lorenzo channel on the way to La Paz. No wonder we were going so slow!

Pangas on the beach in La Paz.

The main drag in La Paz at sunset.

Dock party at Marina Palmera, where we kept the boat for our first few days in La Paz. We later moved to Marina de La Paz to be nearer town.

Mike from S/V At Last, another Ha-Ha boat.

Roma from S/V Trinity sampling the fine munchies at the Marina Palmera potluck.

Kids get to party too!

Mel with "Bad Aunt Janus" from S/V Ayu, a Hallbery Rassy 46 and fellow Ha-Ha cruiser. There is something about an HR owner. We became fast friends.

Doug and Kumi from S/V Kanaloa, jamming for the cruisers at the Dock Cafe at Marina de La Paz on Doug's birthday!

We include the kids in everything and they seem to have fun where ever we go and whatever we do.

Kelsey with friend Dana (age 7) from S/V Desiderata. RJ also loved to hang out with Dana's older brother Fletcher (age 8).

Mel sipping a cold on at the Giggling Marlin, Bahia de Los Muertos (Bay of Dead Men). BTW, they are trying to change the name to "Bay of Dreams".

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