LA CRUZ TO ZIHUATANEJO

We arrived at La Cruz on Saturday 23rd December 2023, just in time for Christmas and to see in the New Year on the mainland. In this update we enjoy spending time with Jen & Ron, catching up with our Baja buddy boats, and meeting new cruising friends. Through January and February we explored La Cruz and neighboring Puerto Vallarta, then made our way south via Tenacatita, Barra de Navidad, Ensenada Carrizal and Las Hadas (Manzanillo), arriving at the cute town of Zihuatanejo on the 1st of March. Cruising mainland Mexico south of the Gulf of California is quite different to Baja, with lusher greenery, palm trees, crocodiles(!), the Pacific swell rolling into warm, algae-rich anchorages and larger, much busier towns.

Reunited with Shelly & Rodd on Tasi, we explored La Cruz, Bucerias, and Puerto Vallarta. It was good to spend time and reconnect over the 'occasional' margarita!

Puerto Vallarta is a pretty, bustling city. We explored the old town, hills and gardens via the famous "SV Sancerre Walking Tour" route as recommended by Tasi's crew.

Every seaside city and town in Mexico proudly states its name in large, brightly colored lettering. It's almost obligatory to take a "look where we are!" photo!

After a few rolly days at anchor, we settled Tino Pai into Marina La Cruz in time for the Holidays.

Christmas Eve arrived, and with it this spectacular sunset. It's a very different Holiday feel to our time in Tahoe! The marina breakwater hosts a great farmers market every Sunday.

Jen and Ron arrived to spend some time with us on New Years Eve, and we walked down to the beach to watch the sun set on 2023. It was a great way to see out a very full year.

Heading out into Banderas Bay on Tino Pai with Jen & Ron, we watched Humpbacks feeding. This wasn't even the closest breach!

Jan 4th saw the four of us in Yelapa for an overnight stay to explore this pretty town, accessible only by boat.

We arrived at Tenacatita Jan 10th with our expanding buddy fleet, enjoying the view over social sundowners at the beach bar.

Beach bonfires are a lovely part of cruising with friends, and we gathered ashore under a Tenacatita full moon.

No stay at Tenacatita is complete without experiencing the local Raicilla tasting! Raicilla is the local tequila variant, it's very tasty.

Tequila is social! We enjoyed the tasting with friends from vessels Tasi, Starr E, Rest Awhile, One World, Rio Salado, Liahona and Caribana.

It was lovely to see our friends Kent & Sarah, who are getting their boat Metanoia ready for 2025 and just happened to be in Yelapa!

Arriving at Barra de Navidad on 26 February we anchored Tino Pai in the shallow lagoon behind the marina.

Barra was most memorable for us both getting Covid and being stuck on the boat, though we did enjoy this sunset in town!

February 18th saw us at Ensenada Carrizal, our favorite mainland anchorage. It has excellent snorkeling, and other R&R (in)activities...

We dropped anchor at Las Hadas on 16th Feb and visited the nearby port city of Manzanillo with its artsy waterfront.

"Raft Ups" are another fun part of the cruising community, and the Carrizal fleet had a good time rafted up with sundowners & snacks.

The crews of Tino Pai, Tasi and Starr E hiked up the hill behind Manzanillo port and took a summit groupie to prove our stamina.

After an overnight from Manzanillo, we were delighted to watch Humpbacks feeding outside of Zihuatanejo as we followed Tasi in.

We dropped anchor at Zihuatanejo on 1st March, our southernmost port in Mexico. We were looking forward to exploring this iconic town.

In our next instalment, Tino Pai's crew explores 'Zihua' and makes their way back northward towards the Gulf of California...