Isla San Fracisco, BCS

Just a short 40ish miles north of the town of La Paz, BCS sits Isla San Francisco.  It's beauty and protection from north or south winds makes it a favorite amoung the local cruising community.  The anchorage is very large and can hold many boats over a great holding sand bottom with plenty to do on shore as well.  Snorkeling and diving is excellent and there are a couple of trails that lead up the ridgeline of the rocky southeast side culminating at the top offering a stunning view of the anchorage.

The downside to the island is that large superyachts are rumored to be banned in the National Marine Park of Isla Espiritu Santo to the south and so they wander the extra 20 miles north to Isla SF making the anchorge sometimes crowded and busy, especially during the weekend in peak season.

A sunrise in the eastern anchorage.

If you find the anchorage void of the big boys, you won't be disappointed.  Here's a look from above. Enjoy.

Click on the pic to see the video. (mostly drone footage)

Until next time,

Bret and Marne

SV Liahona

A secret cave near a lightly visited anchorage...with lobster!

I won't be disclosing the location of this particular anchorage because it is just too good to disclose.  I will say that it is in the beautiful Sea of Cortez. It is passed over by most cruisers and is therefore it sits high on our list of favorites.  I discovered this unique cave about 4 years ago while snorkeling along the coastline with my youngest son.  15' into the cave it was pitch black so we had to go back to the boat to get a dive light.  It goes in a total of maybe 150' with several small spurs leading to other caverns along the way.  Along with some nocturnal fish and a few morray eels there are lots and lots of lobster.  The first time we went into the cave this year we saw maybe 200+ of them crawling along the floors, walls and crevaces of the cave.  The GoPro footage in this video was taken on day 3 into the cave and it was a bit stirred up and defintely less populated as many of the bugs must have wandered off into deep crevaces that I couldn't see.

 Underwater looking toward the entrance.

This was taken about 80' back into the cave looking out.

Anyway, here's a look at the video. Enjoy!

Click on the pic to watch the video.

s/v Liahona
Bret and Marne

San Juanico, a top 3 anchorage in the Sea of Cortez.

We have a lot of favorites when it comes to anchorages in the Sea of Cortez.  At or near the top of that list is San Basilio, or as most cruisers know it, San Juanico.  It is a short 20-25 miles north of Loreto and a fantastic stop along the route from Loreto to the Bay of Conception.  It is a  large anchorge and can hold many, many boats with excellent holding over a shallow sand bottom. San Juanico provides extremely good protection in almost all directions excluding the east.  

There is wonderful hiking along the dirt roads including possible stops at a couple of local ranchitos that have goat cheese and offer burro rides.  Snorkeling is excellent along many of the close by rocky shorelines and we often see turtles, octopus and a wide variety of fish.

Here is a video from way above and slightly below sea level.  Click on the pic and enjoy.

s/v Liahona

Bret and Marne

A hike through the beautiful Steinbeck Canyon in Baja California Sur

While in Puerto Escondido we took the opportunity to walk up Steinbeck Canyon with Nicki from s/v Seychelles.  It is about a mile or so walk out to Hwy 1 from Puerto Escondido then on the dirt road from there up the canyon.  All told it was about 3-4 hours round trip.  The canyon itself is breathtaking.  Huge boulders are strewn through the narrow canyon, deposited there over hundreds of years of flooding, most likely from the hurricanes during the summer months.

The hike is generally not terribly strenuous nor technical, depending on how far up the canyon you venture.   We visited in late October and there was still water flowing through the deep pools and over the ledges.  Interestingly, in many spots the water disappears undergrouond only to reappear a little further down the canyon, spilling into yet more pools.  The water was clean and refreshing.  We loved it and will definitely go back.  Enjoy the video.

Click on the pic above to watch the video

s/v Liahona
Bret and Marne