Although the trip from Chacala to Bahia de Jaltemba was short and sweet the overnight stay in the anchorage of Isla Pena was long and rolly! The island did provide protection from the wind but the swell finds its way around the rocks and makes it pretty hard to sleep. The reasons I wanted to go were because I'd read about what a great beach there was, delicious shrimp on skewers, and great snorkeling. Although the shrimp was good and watching a little boy chase roosters in the town square was fun and something I'd never seen before--roosters in a town square that is, I'm not sure it was worth the loss of sleep. We decided to skip the snorkeling the following day and head into to La Cruz instead.

Kevin spotted whales along the way but none were close enough to get any great shots. We also were visited by dolphins for the first time since we've been on the main coast. These were much larger than some of the other dolphins we've seen with more pronounced spots. They are beautiful creatures.

La Cruz is a small fishing town in Banderas Bay with a newer marina just about 15 miles north of Puerto Vallarta. It is within a short bus ride of all the small towns and large cities around the bay so we plan to spend a couple of weeks here to explore the area, take some hikes, and it sounds like Kevin is going to try his hand at surfing. Banderas Bay is Mexico's largest bay with 100 kilometers of coastline many of which are beautiful sandy beaches and over 60 spots to choose from to surf. We'll see if any of those waves have Kevin's name on them.

Today was the farmer's market which had some prepared foods and one fruit/veggie stand and then about 100 or so various artisans. There were some pretty cool things such as jewelry, pottery, straw art (yes, straw art that was interesting and colorful), baskets, etc., and in many cases the artists were working on a piece as we walked by. Although things were at bit on the pricey side it was still interesting to see so many different things in one spot. The photo is of the market which sets up every Saturday right by the marina. I held off on buying all but just one gift and nothing for us but since we'll be here through at least one more Saturday I may need to change my mind!