A whale of a time
10 December 2009 | puerto Vallarta
Andrew
We've lurched our way down the coast to Puerto Vallarta - or more correctly, Nuevo Vallarta - another marina where an anchorage has been created out of whatever existed naturally before. No eco-fanatics here, protecting wetlands or mangroves from the developers. We are staying at Paradise Village, sharing a dock with Carlos Slim's mega yacht (although I'm not sure how it stacks up against other mega yachts, as its replacement cost is apparently a measly $60 million). Off course all this is top secret - billionaires are a shy lot.
We ended up in Paradise Village, after the previous recommendation of staying in La Cruz, s few miles around Banderas Bay didn't gell with us. The best of the anchorage has been taken over by a new marina, which is only partially used, and with no amenities (or none that appeal to three boys). The town may be a lure for itinerant cruisers, but not us. The only cruisers we met were wandering the town with open beers, so maybe that's the main attraction.
From Mazatlan we had a 120 mile run down to San Blas - although "run" may not be the correct operative word, as the nasty weather we tried to avoid made an unwelcome reappearance, so we spent the first 123 hours lurching our way southwards in the pouring rain. Hah, first time we've got wet since leaving Blaine, and it made us feel at home, almost. We avoided the town of San Blas in favour of anchoring in Matanchen Bay, which after the first night, we had to ourselves - that is, if you don't count the bugs. The beach was lined with palapas - one of which we patronized for lunch, but with each having seating for at least 60 people, they must be expecting a deluge of tourists any day. Sadly, it appears that the beaches which attract Mexican holiday makers, must have been devastated by summer storm surges, as there was scant evidence of the beautiful stretches of sand the tourist guides and postcards promote. Our highlight was a jungle tour in the mangrove swamps, complete with a stop at a crocodile farm where they have a breeding program to try and repopulate the croc population, which has suffered from developers and hand bag and shoe enthusiasts. We happened to be there at feeding time, witnessing the demise of numerous chickens!
Our next, and most favouritisic stop to date was the bay of Chacala. Again we had hopes of having the bay to ourselves, but some late arrivals spoiled the uniqueness (although being first to arrive, we had the best anchoring spot is the relatively small bay). Chacala is also well endowed with palapas, but they are for day trippers, as we found out the hard way when we decided to treat ourselves to a dinner out. By necessity it became lunch out the next day. Surprisingly, this picturesque town has not been over-run by developers (yet), and the scattering of vacation homes are obviously owned by well heeled Mexicans, rather than foreigners, and are therefore tastefully designed and decorated, adding to the charm of the bay rather than detracting from it.
The jaunt to Banderas Bay should have been a delightful reach, if the prevailing winds had prevailed. Unfortunately they didn't, so we motored through northwesterly swells and a mild southerly breeze, dodging fishing nets strung in half-mile lengths across our course, with little more than clear plastic coke bottles every 100 metres to mark the location - and some Mexican fisherman in a panga frantically waving at us! The other aquatic hazard were the whales, and while most sightings were a comfortable distance away, one pod cut across our bow by 100 metres, causing such an anxious moment that we didn't even have the time to snap any photos. The rules have it that private vessels are not allowed within 80 metres of the whales, but I'm not sure anyone has told the whales.
Did a big provisioning today at Walmart, and will leave, weather permitting, on Saturday, harbour hopping our way towards Bahia Navidad. It has some appeal to be in Christmas Bay for Christmas, but is also has some appeal to shy away from the cruiser hordes, who also hang out there for the same reason!