We have finally arrived in the paradise we have been dreaming about for over 15 years. Although everything we have seen so far has been great, this is the best. We are in Tenacatita Bay. It's a destination that Ian and I have been to twice on land based holidays and it had a lot to do with fueling our desire to go cruising in Mexico. We are anchored in sheltered calm water which is warm warm warm. We have a great beach with a palapa restaurant/bar, a river that we can ride up and do a jungle tour, and there is a hotel at the very end of the beach where we can go and use their internet apparently although we haven't tried that yet maybe this afternoon. Within this same bay, there are several options for anchoring. There is what they call the 'Aquarium' right by the town of Tenacatitia, but that is at the moment a less desirable option because the land is in dispute and there are armed guards stoping you from going ashore. There is also a town called La Manzanilla which is a wonderful place built on the hillside at the end of the bay. We will probably go anchor there for a few days at some point. And there is also a small anchorage across from where we are that has a secluded and high class resort with a golf course. So something for everyone. WE LOVE IT!!! We just spent a couple of hours snorkeling this morning and it was pretty good. Lots of variety of fish and no jellies. I thought I saw a moray eel but it turned out to be a puffer backed into a crevice in a rock. There were lots of giant damselfish, butterfly fish, puffers and lots that I can't find in our book. Wonderful. We left La Cruz on Sun morning at 3am in order to round Corrientes in calm conditions. It's about 5 to 6 hours from La Cruz and we got there around 9 am and there was a good chop happening. Once around, the NW swell was running pretty good and there was a good breeze in the same direction. We had only intended on going as far as Ipala but as we were going by we decided the swell would be too big for a comfortable anchorage there and so we kept going with the next stop to be Chamela. We had thought since it is a big bay that we could get into it in the dark but when we got there, good sense prevailed and we decided to keep on going to Tenacatita where we would arrive in the daylight. It was way too dark to even approach the coast at night especially with the big swell that was running. So what was supposed to be an 8 hour trip turned into a 30 hour trip but that's okay cause what we missed coming down, we will see when we head north again. We plan on spending about 10 or 12 days here and then head down to Barra-de-Navidad which is only 14 miles away. We will be there for several weeks as my dad and his partner Kathy are coming down for a couple of weeks. We are going to go to get them in Puerto Vallarta (by bus) and then rent a car and drive back down to Barra. We will have the car for the whole time they are here and we can do day trips to various places around the area. Really looking forward to their visit. Dad will celebrate his 83rd birthday while they are here. Well I'd better wrap this up as there is lunch beckoning me from the palapa on the beach. Later... Posted via Ham radio.