La Paz, Mexico (I)

Cruising Log of La Paz, Mexico (I)
Cruising the Sea of Cortes from the La Paz Moorings® Base

1. Travel to La Paz

Flew via Los Angeles (LAX), connecting with Alaska Airlines- a Mexican carrier based in La Paz. Possibility to investigate: charter flights direct from New York to Cabo, then use a rental car or taxi to get to La Paz. It was a long trip!

2. Provisioning

We generally do our own provisioning (everywhere), & just buy bottled water & drinks from Moorings®, to save on lugging the heavy stuff around town. Moorings® have a provisioning store at the Marina, and there is also a combination ship chandler/fishing supplies/supermarket at the Marina. There are a few supermarkets in town, the best (apparently) being the "CCC" which is a taxi ride away. We did most of our perishable shopping at CCC & topped up with odds & ends at the Moorings® store, which has a pretty good selection & prices seemed pretty reasonable. Once you leave La Paz, however there is pretty well nowhere to buy anything, except perhaps some fish or lobster from local fishermen. I suspect store bought bread will not stay edible for long unless you keep it on ice. You need to plan on drinking a lot of water - we (2 adults plus 2 kids) planned on 1 gallon per day - and it was not enough - we had to buy another 6 gallons in Porto Escondido. You can drink the water in the tanks, but our preference is not to, if we have an alternative. Moorings® put 2 blocks of ice in our freezer, plus 1 bag of ice cubes - the blocks were still intact (albeit reduced) at end of 2 weeks - but we did motor more than we would have liked!In a recent post Jerry asked....
<< For those of us going to La Paz, can you include information on provisioning.
<< Did you do your own, or did you have Moorings® do it? If you did it yourself, how far did you have to go, etc.? Are the grocery stores open in the evening or should we allow one full day before the start of the charter to provision, etc.? Are there locals or other things to see in La Paz that we should take in while there?>>

I'm afraid I don't know how late CCC stays open - I'll try to find out. On our charter start day we did the chart briefing, bureaucracy, boat check out & provisioning mostly in the morning (hectic!!), and left the dock sometime mid afternoon - bags unpacked on the cabin sole. If your plans allow a full day for local visits & provisioning before start of charter you will be less stressed than we were - we had a full day available, but used it to relax & enjoy the swimming pool, etc.

There are several close by anchorages (on the mainland) which are fine for a first/last night. A realistic plan for the second day would be to sail to the beach at north end of the mainland for a lunch stop, and then sail north to one of the several anchorages on Espiritu Santo or Partida, continuing on day 3 to Isla San Francisco/Evaristo area.

3. Bureaucracy

Before you leave La Paz:

No longer do you have to clear out with immigration or check out with port captain. 
You need only call port captain on VHF and inform of arrival or departure except for international arrival or departure. IF you intend to go further north than Agua Verde (e.g, so you can replenish water so you can engage in extremely bourgeois luxuries such as taking an occasional shower you also need to request clearance to the Loretto Port Captain's area of authority. For a 7-day charter you probably don't need to do this, but if you have 2 weeks it's probably better to have the clearance, even if you don't end up going there. There is no cost for this clearance, but you need to request it from Moorings®, and you will need to repeat the La Paz bureaucracy mentioned above when you get to Porto Escondido (& if you want to do this on a Saturday or Sunday you have to have $140 overtime payment in your hot little hand too!!).

5. Fishing

I use very basic gear - a hand line & a trolling lure, but I have had good results, particularly in the San Jose Channel. You need to buy a fishing permit, which you can get at the Moorings® provisioning store for a few dollars. Best time for fishing seems to be early morning & early evening. You know the food is fresh (I had my doubts about the chicken we bought at CCC & I had an upset stomach for 3 days at start of trip). You can also bring fish back to USA without any problem - the sports fishermen bring back large coolers packed with fish fillets!

6. Navigation

Navigation is straightforward with few hazards, but charts are inaccurate & have very little detail.

7. Other Things To Do & See

7.1 Whale Watch
February should be good for gray whale watching. These behemoths inhabit a couple of lagoons on the Pacific coast at that time of year. You may see whales in the Sea of Cortez in February (we have seen them in both our trips), but they are generally at some distance, whereas the gray whales can apparently be petted from the "panga" boats. According to Moorings®, it is possible to "do the whales" in one day, with an early start (4 or 5 am) by taxi from La Paz, breakfast en-route, whale watching, lunch & return same evening.

7.2 Sea Lion Watch
A large colony of sea lions can be visited at Los Islotes at the north end of Isla Partida. You can swim with the sea lions, but there have been reports of aggressive bulls confronting snorkelers, so it's up to you if you wish to take the risk. There is another colony of seals (or sea lions?) on one of the few navigational hazards.... "Seal Rock"....between Isla San Francisco & Evaristo.

7.3 Hiking/Walking 
Probably nicer in February than in July!!!! There are apparently some nice trails near Moorings® base, and at Isla San Francisco & Isla San Jose (Cactus forest). There is also a nice walk between the Evaristo anchorages – where you can observe one of the local industries - salt evaporation. A large area is subdivided into salt evaporation pools - interesting!! Closer to La Paz there is a nice trail across Isla Partida at the El Cardonal anchorage, and our personal favorite is Porto Gato (or Los Gatos) which has beautiful sandstone rock formations & sand dunes to explore.

7.4 Dinghy Exploration 
There is a lagoon/mangrove swamp on Isla San Jose, which looks well worthwhile to visit. Apparently it is possible to go clamming in the lagoon, so that may be a bonus too.

7.5 Beaches/Restaurants
Some beaches are not as attractive up close as from a distance. The local fishermen have a tendency to fillet their catch on the beach & leave everything but the best cuts for nature to dispose of. There are also some mangrove areas which are very bug infested. There are some nice sand beaches at Porto Ballandra (close to La Paz) including one with a nice sand dune for the kids to play on. This anchorage receives mixed reviews in the cruising guides - Moorings® doesn't recommend it for overnight, but we stayed overnight there with no problem - it shallows rapidly to the east, however, so caution in anchoring is advisable. It is also the site of the famous "Mushroom" or balanced rock. On the northern end of the "mainland" – before reaching Isla Espiritu Santo, Partida & all points north, there is a nice broad beach with a few restaurants and commercial activities such as PWC rental, "banana" rides & suchlike. It is nice for a lunch stop & for a farewell frozen Margarita Grande before heading away from civilization.