IN AND AROUND LA PAZ

We do like La Paz. Having no preconceptions, we enjoyed what we found in our several visits to this friendly city throughout April. Our guidebooks had warned of the infamous “La Paz Waltz” in the anchorage, although – perhaps because we expected a challenge – we found the strong tidal currents that create the waltz weren’t too bad. We did make sure our anchor was well set given sometimes-strong wind over current, and we learned to try to time our arrivals with wind and flood tide together for an easier drop. There is a sand bar midway that runs the length of the anchorage, dividing it into two channels. We favor the further-out Peninsula El Mogote side, usually finding a spot sitting directly off Marina de La Paz. And so, along with the rest of the anchored fleet, we settled into our rhythmic tidal swing – the waltz – enjoying daily visits from the local dolphins hunting their way up and down each side of the sand bar.

The city itself is very pleasant, with lovely old courtyard homes and a large and lively Malecon – which translates as “pier” though here it refers to the paved promenade along waterfronts of towns and cities in Baja – very much enjoyed by locals and tourists alike. Though the La Paz Malecon is quite touristy, one only has to go a couple of blocks back to escape the hustle. There is an abundance of bars and restaurants to choose from, as well as local markets and large grocery stores, decently equipped chandleries, and many other services. We were able to have our fraying genoa picked up at the marina for restitching, it was delivered back to us the next day in perfect shape for a very reasonable price.

Jen arrived a couple of days after we did; we’d provisioned in readiness for her visit and on 2nd April we departed for Bahia Falsa where we planned a relaxing time at a slower pace, enjoying the beach, swimming, and hanging out together. We had a nice day trip up to Puerto Balandra, enjoying the pristine white beach and turquoise water, spending the day on the beach playing, relaxing, and checking out the mushroom rock, its best-known feature.

We do like La Paz. Having no preconceptions, we enjoyed what we found in our several visits to this friendly city throughout April. Our guidebooks had warned of the infamous “La Paz Waltz” in the anchorage, although – perhaps because we expected a challenge – we found the strong tidal currents that create the waltz weren’t too bad. We did make sure our anchor was well set given sometimes-strong wind over current, and we learned to try to time our arrivals with wind and flood tide together for an easier drop. There is a sand bar midway that runs the length of the anchorage, dividing it into two channels. We favor the further-out Peninsula El Mogote side, usually finding a spot sitting directly off Marina de La Paz. And so, along with the rest of the anchored fleet, we settled into our rhythmic tidal swing – the waltz – enjoying daily visits from the local dolphins hunting their way up and down each side of the sand bar.

It was back to La Paz on 5th April for a nice dinner together before Jen’s departure on the 6th. After seeing her off we spent a few days on boat chores (including the Genoa repair), refueling via several trips to the local Pemex gas station with jerrycans, laundry, picking up a few parts we needed from the chandleries, reprovisioning, doing a bit more exploring, and enjoying local cuisine. We had a nice catch up with Aaron and Heidi on SV SonHo, we’d got to know them while living aboard at Marina Village in Alameda and it was good to toast our shared successes in realizing our Mexican dreams.

By the 12th we were ready to do a bit more exploration around Bahia de La Paz and we headed back up to Puerto Balandra for a night, tucking in the southern anchorage out of a blustery sou’wester. With a goal of making Isla San Francisco 40-odd nm to the north, we were up early and had a nice sail, running ahead of a 15-22 kt SSE wind. We made great time with our SOG averaging 6.3 knots, and found decent shelter in the eastern anchorage, dropping the hook just after 4pm. With the wind dropping and moving west, the next morning we motored the short distance over to the iconic west anchorage.

Isla San Francisco is the island vloggers love. It was strangely familiar to us from many of the YouTube videos we’d watched over the years while we planned for our own adventures, and it didn’t disappoint. The large, crescent shaped bay with its white sand and aquamarine water was a treat. We had a beach day swimming and playing on the beach, hanging out and enjoying the warm water, on another we hiked the salt ponds and famous ridgeline where we signed the notebook at its peak, and over another couple of days spearfished along the breakwater and snorkeled in the pretty little bay just to the north of the main anchorage. The breakwater was memorable for an amazing Mobula Ray encounter, with a pair of these beautiful rays swimming with and around us for several minutes, one allowing Shan to kick alongside it on a dive she’ll not forget soon. Andy shot a nice parrot fish, so we had ceviche to enjoy.

On April 19th it was time to head back to La Paz to get ready for our great mate Alex’s visit. On a hot and sunny but light wind day we motor sailed down to Ensenada La Gallina on Isla Espiritu Santo for a night, finding it pretty enough but most memorable for the Bobos (small gnats) that pestered us, though at least they weren’t the biting Jejenes (“hay-hay-nays”) that can quickly drive cruisers out of anchorages. After a morning snorkel along the rock wall, we had a nice sail down to La Paz, the westerly wind providing a lovely 10-12 knot beam reach.

We rented a car and picked Alex up from Los Cabos airport on 22nd April, visiting the picturesque town of Todos Santos for lunch on the way back. Returning to La Paz we had a nice meal, reprovisioned (mas cervezas!), and prepped for our departure to the islands. Alex had brought his spear fishing gear, so we headed first to Puerto Balandra where we tucked into the southern anchorage and swam over to check out the reef at its western side. Sadly, the pickings were slim though we saw a lot of smaller fish.

We were under way by 9am and, passing whales just outside the anchorage, had a nice sail for an hour until the wind dropped and we motor sailed with fishing lines out past the beautiful Isla Espiritu Santos. Unfortunately, the day’s catch was limited to two Skipjack, both released. The wind had picked up as we passed Isla Partida and we had a nice sail, interrupted by a humpback swimming right in front of our bow! It was rather too close, but provided an exciting moment and gave Alex a nice whale close up. We settled into the beautiful bay at Isla San Francisco for a few days, where we enjoyed the beach, hiked the ridge, and spear hunted the adjacent bay and breakwater. Both Alex and Andy shot nice groupers, sadly Alex’s slipped off his stringer and was lost to the depths.

Heading back towards La Paz on the 27th, we stopped for a night at Caletta Partida hoping to dive the rocks at the bay’s entrance, but conditions were too windy so the next morning we headed down to Bahia Falsa, passing another Humpback and stopping for a lunch dive at Caleta Lobos. Falsa is fun, it has a nice restaurant and we celebrated Alex’s “Mexican birthday” with the appropriate amount of tacos, margaritas and cervezas. The next morning his ride back to the airport was scheduled, and we dropped him back at shore and sadly waved him farewell.

We had another night in Falsa and were delighted to see the arrival of SV Zorba. We’d met Tomir and Limor way back at Avila Beach in California and it was lovely to have drinks with them on Tino Pai and catch up while watching the sun set over Baja. We returned to La Paz the next day – though we like it there we were starting to feel that we were indeed succumbing to the infamous “La Paz suck” – to prepare for our move northward to explore more of Baja and our eventual summer stop in San Carlos.