Two Weeks in the Sea of Cortez

By Zuzana Prochazka

A getaway-from-it-all charter strips the tourist right out of you, and that’s a good thing

The Sea of Cortez is real cruisers’ territory. Chartering here gives you a taste of what it would be like to cruise on your own boat full-time with a lazy schedule and few worries. That sounded appealing so we set out on a two-week charter in the Sea which turned out to be an exercise in remote sailing with spectacular solitude and amazing vistas.

Dream Yacht Charter is the big outfit offering powercats and sailboats for hire in Mexico. They’re located in La Paz near the bottom of the Sea of Cortez, which Jacques Cousteau called the “Aquarium of the World”. In winter you can watch whales breaching for hours and in summer, pods of dolphins play off the bow in a non-stop dance.

Heading out

We provisioned at the giant Chedraui store and headed out to nearby Isla Espiritu Santo and its neighbour, Partida, both of which in 1995 became part of the UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. These islands look like one from a distance but are separated by a narrow cove called Los Islotes, a must-visit place at the northern tip with stark rock formations and a sea lion rookery. Normally, there are a dozen pangas here that ferry snorkelers from La Paz hotels, but in July, we had the place to ourselves.

The next day we continued up to Isla San Francisco. Coming into the circular anchorage ringed with white sand, I noticed that our chart plotter had lost its fix and by the next day, it became clear that our plotter had given up. It was inconvenient but not a deal breaker, so we dug into old-school navigation, pulled out paper charts and binoculars, and from there, we came into every anchorage slowly and with eyes peeled.

Carefully picking our way north

We stopped at the bottom of Isla San Jose at Bahia Amortajada, a mangrove lagoon that you can tour by dinghy. We found the entrance to the channel tucked in a corner of the beach and slid in. There must have been a dozen species of birds and turtles all around. With the exception of one superyacht tender, we were once again, alone.

Over the next few days, we bounced our way up via San Evaristo on the peninsula and Isla San Jose up to Los Gatos Cove. Finding Gatos turned out to be challenging without a plotter. After 20 miles of northward progress, we picked out a few landmarks and anchored in what we thought was our targeted destination, a gorgeous anchorage with a red rock formation and sand beaches. After studying the photos in the cruising guide, I realized we had passed Gatos two miles back, putting my dead reckoning about 10% off. We had instead found San Telmo, another unbelievable spot so we stayed a while and scrambled among the funky rock formations.

A few hours north of Gatos is a spot that’s a mecca for cruisers. Agua Verde, literally translated as “green water”, lives up to its name and is often packed with cruising boats. Coming from the south, we picked our way past two reefs lining up on rocks we could identify and then dropped anchor in a circular bay that’s protected from everywhere except easterlies. We met a local on the beach who led us past a goat stockade (which they called a farm) to the tienda, or store, where we stocked up on Pacifico beer and tried for WiFi without success.

Party in Caleta San Juanico

Heading out of Agua Verde, I noticed the plotter had come to life again. There was no explanation but I wasn’t going to argue and we could once again navigate with confidence. We checked out Bahia Salinas on Isla Carmen for a night and then arrived at Caleta San Juanico on the peninsula joining a few other cruisers anchored around a spectacular rock that was the centrepiece of a pelican playground. Up on the hill was the Sanctuary of San Basilio, a sort of conservation headquarters with accommodations for an exclusive investing clientele. It was hard to tell what was actually going on up there as it seemed to be “managed” by a couple of hippies who were well into their stash of edibles.

San Juanico is a favourite with cruisers, so it wasn’t long before a dinghy came by to announce that bocce ball was starting on the beach. We joined a dozen people, many of whom clearly already knew each other. Some headed off to a nearby farm to buy cheese while the rest of us played. I learned that I suck at bocce, but I made up for it by inviting everyone back for a happy hour aboard since our cat was the biggest boat in the anchorage. The cruisers couldn’t get enough of our boat and we couldn’t get enough of their sea stories.

Turning back south

Sadly, it was time to turn around and head back but not before a stop in Loreto, a historic town with great provisioning, restaurants, a mission, a small anchorage outside the marina, and most appreciated – WiFi. We spent a full day in Loreto and visited Misión de Nuestra Señora de Loreto Conchó and then took a guided tour up into the surrounding Sierra de la Giganta mountains and the Misión San Francisco Javier de Viggé-Biaundó, established in 1699 by the Jesuits. This mission is said to be the first on the El Camino Real mission trail that leads up into and through the state of California.

We got lucky with the westerly wind and covered the rest of the trip in two long days of sailing or motor-sailing back to La Paz. On our last night, we anchored in La Balandra Cove with its famous mushroom rock. It’s a great shallow anchorage perfect for swimming with bat rays and watching the sunset behind the mountains one last time. It had been a hot trip with the hinges on our engine room hatches so toasty that we defrosted vegetables on them. The hiking was hot in the month of July but jumping in the water for a swim was bliss and that’s where we spent most of our time. And although July is part of hurricane season, the West Coast is less prone to big storms than the Caribbean, so our gamble with timing paid off and we were nearly the lone charter boat among dozens of cruisers.

A real cruise

You can fly directly into La Paz or opt for one of the more frequent and cheaper flights to Cabo San Lucas and then hire a car to drive you north – about 90 minutes. A stop at the Hotel California in Todos Santos along the way is a must for the shopping and the to-go margaritas. Provisioning in La Paz is easy, the restaurants are excellent, and the margaritas are strong. You can charter a power or sailing cat for a week and lose yourself in this vast land and seascape.

The Sea of Cortez is stark and remote and that’s its main attraction. You won’t find many places like this anymore where whales outnumber restaurants. Of course, with that comes a bit of inconvenience like having to provision for the entire trip in advance because the bodegas and cafes are few if any, and have no coverage or WiFi for the duration. For vital information like weather, we talked to cruisers who are well equipped with satellite information. Beyond weather info, however, befriending cruisers led us to feeling like we were kindred spirits sharing their lifestyle and not just vacationers on a weeklong run between bars. Best of all, once we nudged our way into this community, we never felt like tourists again.