I am a little in arrear with my posting so will try to catch up in the next day or so. We have good WiFi here in La Cruz in Banderas bay making it easier, but I am getting ahead of myself.

The passage from La Paz to Isla Isabel was a 3 day and 2 night endeavor. We actually jumped from Espiritu Santo at Playa Bonanza and went outside Isla Cerralvo straight to Isla Isabel about 300 nautical miles away. The usual route I believe is to leave from Los Muertos or Los Frailes further south, but the wind and waves were somewhat better leaving from the north so we did. We were able to sail about 40% of the time.

The passage was uneventful with only one moment of excitement when around midnight the second day a 650 ft freighter that was passing in front of us decided to pull a U-turn within 2 miles of us and head back towards us. On My Shift. Well I woke up Morris, and we radioed the Skipper to find out his intent as it was initially on a collision course. He ended up passing us about 1 mile away on our port side (left), then turned towards Cabo ½ mile behind us. We figured he had a turn to make and rather than cut us off he turned and went around. Very nice (and unusual) that they did that for us, and one time the rule of tonnage was waived.



Each morning we would have to clean the deck disposing of the 6-8" long Humboldt squid (knows as jumbo flying squid), and flying fish. It was startling to be bombarded by these critters at 2 AM, but hilarious to see the slimy fish body/wing splats on the dodger windows in the morning.

One thing not mentioned in Shawn Breeding's Pacific Mexico Cruisers guide is that you need to stay 20 nm away from the Islas Marias near Isla Isabel, because of a prison on the main island. It is mentioned however in Pat Rains Mexico Boating Guide, our other go to book. We did see a sailboat on AIS sail well within the 20 nm stand off zone that was not stopped by the Mexican Navy, but we were not going to chance it. I even decided that if we came across someone swimming in the water he was going to be dragged behind the boat on the life sling or maybe in the dinghy until we found a Navy boat to unload him on. Let them figure things out. I guess I have watched too many bad American movies and had a lot of time to think on my 3 hour watches.



Isla Isabel is a Mexico National Park and a World Heritage Site that is nationally and internationally protected located 93 nm southwest of Mazatlan. It is mainly a seabird nesting ground, and you will see lots of pictures in the gallery of birds and even iguanas. I took literally hundreds of pictures, and it was difficult to whittle the selection down let me tell you. Birds and reptiles were everywhere and you really had to watch your step for more than the obvious reasons. You could actually squish something.



The anchorage is known as an "anchor eater" though no one lost one or got snagged while we were in residence. It took us 3 attempts to anchor and get a good set. After the 2nd attempt we went snorkeling to pick a good spot, and found some sand between 3 of the boats already at anchor in the small bay. Yeah! Morris later snorkeled the bay shopping for a new spare anchor, but was not lucky so perhaps the island has a bad rap. It was disturbing to hear the chain drag against rocks all night however it was just noise. The books say the anchorage will hold 1-2 boats, though we have proof that it can hold at least 6 boats in the main anchorage and another 4 south of Las Monas on the eastern shore.



There were supposed to be red footed boobies nesting on the island, but we did not see any. We did see frigates, brown boobies (they have green feet so why aren't they called green footed boobies??), blue footed boobies, white tailed tropic birds that lived in caves on the cliffs, Heerman's gulls, brown pelicans, and others I have yet to learn the names of. Each type of the bird would nest in distinct areas on the island though some did co-mingle.



The brown boobies were mainly on Cerro del Faro, the blue boobies mainly near Playa Las Monas, with the Frigates any and everywhere in between. The brown pelicans took the heights of Cerro Mirador. It was all pretty impressive to fledgling bird watchers. You will note that some of the pictures of birds are rather close. No, that was not always a zoom lens. Well sometimes it was, but it was only a 1.4 lens. You could actually walk right up to the birds, and if boobies were nesting on eggs they would rarely move.



The frigates did not seem to move regardless of how close you got, and you really had to watch their back sides as they seemed to be aiming for you. It was weird walking under the short trees with hundreds of these birds right above your head. They were everywhere as was the evidence of their presence.

Namaste Frigate bird


Many thanks to our friends on Scoots who are bird watching enthusiasts. Their insight, shared pictures, and avian knowledge helped us make the most of Isla Isabel.



Humpbacks actually came into the bay here as close as 40 feet away between our boat and the next. What a treat. Of course I never had a camera handy or set up for the action shot. I did capture a couple as we were leaving the island, but these two were further away.



We stayed on Isla Isabel for almost a week. We did and saw just about everything to see there, and if you ever get a chance it is highly recommended. Tourist pongas (open fiberglass boats) would actually come from the mainland San Blas 39 nm away so if you are ever in San Blas take a day trip to the island. You will not be disappointed, but wear your hiking boots as the Cerro's views should not be missed.