Pto. Magdalena
18 February 2020 | Mag. Bay
Chip | 70 air, 70 pool - good solar day
Pto. A. Lopez Mateos was a great 3 day stopover. Entering the bay through the Boca de Soledad entrance, with the surf pushing us through the shallow waters loaded with whales, is absolutely on the top 10 boating experience list! The town was a typical small Mexican town with little tiendes and restaurants. There is also a very large whale watching facility with an amphitheater, restaurants, bars and a very well organized panga dock. The gigantic parking lot always had a good number of cars but on the weekend a caravan of tour buses came to town - hundreds of people speeding across the bay to visit the ballenas gris. This morning we followed our pilot boat from Mag Bay Outfitter through the 40 mile channel to Pto Magdalena. Sometimes the channel was very wide but only 10 feet deep (unmarked) and at other points it was a narrow creek like waterway meandering through the dessert - we could of stepped off our swim step to the white sand beach. During the 4 hour journey we saw more whales, dolphin and 3 pangas with huge outriggers fishing for shrimp. As we passed the pangas one of the fishermen held up a fist full of very large shrimp. Just beyond the "curva del diablo" (devils bend) a good sized Mexican sardine net boat roared up behind us - our guide suggested we follow him for a short while so he (the guide) could fish - no problem. About 10 miles from what the locals call Mag City, the channel is well marked and easy to navigate to our desired anchorage so our guide sped off. We'll be here a few days looking for a good weather window to head onto Puerto Los Cabos.