YELAPA!!

YELAPA

While anchored out in La Cruz we bumped into some people we first met in San Diego, Chris and Shawna on SV Sirena. They are from Texas so we refer to them as the “Texans”.

SV Sirena anchored at Yelapa

We ended up making plans to go to Yelapa for a couple of days and sailing over together with the Texans. We set out Saturday, March 12 for Yelapa. We did not exactly sail with the Texans because they have a 55’ sailboat that far out sails our 37’ sailboat. AND…we were towing our dinghy behind us, which was like towing a drogue. Not a good idea. It really slowed us down. We learned not to do that again.

The winds were pretty light when we first left the anchorage at La Cruz so we had full sails up. BIG MISTAKE. Banderas Bay is a lot like San Francisco Bay in the way that the winds change in an instant from light to extreme and are always unpredictable especially in the summer months. Anyway, as we were half way between La Cruz and Yelapa the winds piped up to 20kts. The rails dipped in the water and we had to reef, which was a chaotic experience with sails flapping and the boat bobbing up and down in the wind waves. Finally we managed to reef and have a more comfortable sail the rest of the way.

SV Sirena (the Texans) arrived about a half an hour before us, which was good because they could tell us how to enter the bay and where to get a mooring ball. The Texans had a crewmember with them, Rob, who was also on board. He joined them in La Cruz to do the Puddle Jump with them. “Puddle Jump” is a term referring to the migration of cruising sailors from the West Coast of the Americas to French Polynesia.

So, we picked up a mooring ball just after we entered the bay of Yelapa with the help of a restaurant owner (also a mooring ball fee collector) and a fellow sailor who was moored next to us, Josh (we met him last year in San Diego and again in Cabo this year. He is originally from Tiburon). There was a fee of 20 US Dollars per night. This is the first time in 5 months that we have had to pay outside of a marina.

That evening the Texans invited us to meet them on the beach for dinner. We jumped in our dinghy soon after the invite and met them at the only restaurant that was still open on the beach. We were the only ones seated at the restaurant. 

Side Note: I have such fond memories of Yelapa. My first time there, I was about 13 years old and I was with my mother, Grandmother, and one of my sisters, Jennifer.  When we were there, which was forty something years ago, there was not much there at all for tourists. I only remember one little Palapa on the beach that had one table with four chairs and we were seated at it. That was it.  The second time I was there was in my late 30’s with our entire family. I was on a trip with both of my parents, siblings, their spouses, my kids, nieces & late nephew, Ian. We chartered a Trimaran from PV at that time and then all swam to shore. The tourist scene was starting to progress at that time with a few more restaurants and activities for tourists but not terribly crowded. Nonetheless, It was one of the fondest memories I have with my family. So I have wanted to stop and anchor in Yelapa since we left San Francisco Bay.

This time the scene was much different. The beachfront was heavy with people and restaurants and small fishing pangas anchored just beyond the surf.  In the evenings though, things quiet down because the tourists are taken back by boat to wherever they came from.  That’s one unique thing about Yelapa and that is that the only way you can get there is by boat. 

After dinner on the beach, we went to our dinghy’s to get back to our boats. It was dark out and the surf had picked up and waves were crashing right on the sand and within seconds of each other. So, Chris, Shawna & Rob offered to help get me, Rick and Harley through the surf and on our way before getting themselves in their own dinghy. I initially thought how great…and was thanking them profusely. But then it turned out to not be such a great idea. They had us get in the boat right at the shore in hopes of keeping us dry, but we kept getting crashed by waves and then we’d start all over again getting into the dinghy only to be thrown out. At one point as we were just meeting head to head with the crest of a wave, and the dinghy was straight up in the air, me clinging to the tip of the dinghy hoping not to be thrown out, Harley got catapulted from the boat all the way back to the beach (I’m surprised she goes anywhere with us anymore!). Finally Rick and I made it into the dinghy just past the breaking waves but Harley was left on shore. Chris and Shawna said they’d bring her, but we said to just let her come swim out to us, which she did. Poor little Harley..such a treacherous journey! She’s such a trooper.

Our friends back on shore had no problems getting in their dinghy because they walked the dinghy beyond the waves then got inside their dinghy. You just have to plan on getting wet, which we should have done. We were drenched by the time we got back to our boat.

The next morning after a surprisingly pleasant nights rest, I say surprisingly because we’ve heard how Yelapa is only a good place for a day sail due to being so rolly, we met our friends on the beach for a 6-mile roundtrip walk to the waterfall.  This was a very cool walk on dirt trails & cobblestone roads through quaint little villages. We saw lots of horses, donkey’s, cows, chickens, and dogs…always dogs in Mexico. The homes were small and crafted from wood, cinder block and palm leaves and tarps usually with a clothesline attached with colorful laundry drying.  Even though these people have small makeshift dwellings, they were all out raking the dirt or sweeping their doorways taking pride in what was theirs.  The surroundings of these homes were lush and beautiful backing up to a river.

Rob getting directions to the waterfall written in the sand

Crossing the river over to the trail to the waterfall

This cow snorted at me and stomped it's front leg when I took it's picture which had me running away.

The walk was fun for me snapping pictures along the way and just taking in the beauty and observing a minimalistic way of living.  I guess we fall in that minimalistic category living on a sailboat.  No complaints!

Once we got to the waterfall, we all slowly got into the water, which was so cold it sort of took one’s breath away. But after you were in, you got used to it and it felt pretty refreshing!  We were the only ones there for a while, then a few small groups started to appear and enter the water. At that point, we all dried off, ate a small snack and then walked back to the beach.

Rob, Rick, Chris and Shawna

Rick found the gate that leads to the waterfall

Rob

Rick, Rob, Harley and I did a little more exploring through town and had a bite to eat overlooking the water.

This woman walked this horse quite a ways to find a place to climb on

Rob texting Sirena to let them know we took a detour 

Notre Isle is the 2nd boat in

This is at the other end of the beach. It's a view from a small hotel overlooking their pool and the bay.

That night we had dinner on SV Sirena…BBQ’d hamburgers. It’s not what I usually eat, but when in Rome…

As soon as I got back to the boat, my stomach started to bother me. I’m figuring from the burger. But I assumed it would go away by morning.

That evening was a rolly night and VERY uncomfortable! Swells were on our beam repeatedly. We did not sleep a wink. In the wee hours of the morning, Sirena found she had drug her mooring ball half way out of the bay. They cut loose from the ball upon noticing and left the bay and headed out towards PV. We untied from our mooring ball as soon as we woke up and left as well.

We met up with Sirena for a brief moment in front of the Malecon in PV. We rafted up with them for a short time, which was quite stressful!  Sirena went on to Marina Vallarta in PV and we motor-sailed along the coast back to La Cruz. I was feeling a little crummy most of the day.

Stopped at Paraiso on our way back to La Cruz

We arrived at Paraiso on March 5^th in the afternoon. Paraiso means Paradise in English, which makes perfect sense when you see this place.  It’s the most beautiful beach with the whitest softest sand found tucked away in a private little cove. The water is a turquoise crystalline blue that you can see through.  The edges of the cove are steep cliffs.  It’s a tricky cove to get into because it’s narrow and the cliff’s surrounding the entry are being beaten by waves. But once you are in close enough to anchor it’s a peaceful sanctuary of beauty. 

 

SV Rebecca

Cyndi greeting us with a warm welcome!

Our friends Cyndi and Marcus on SV Rebecca anchored between the beach and us. We were the only boats anchored out here.  When we got in and anchored we all jumped in the water immediately and I took Harley to the beach on the SUP board. There was a surprising current and swell as I approached the beach and we got rolled. I was not happy about that! After I got my wits about me after our tumble, I gathered the board and the paddle and brought it higher up the beach and just sat there until I could get over being mad.  Harley did her thing and we returned back to the boat on the SUP.

One thing I did not mention about this quiet secluded beach is that the beach is also part of a resort called Playas Paraiso, which was setting up for some sort of party or wedding reception. We saw this as we first entered the cove and thought “how lovely…a wedding…we will get to hear some music”.  Well, we heard music all right and it played until 4:30 a.m. The music started earlier in the night as soothing and enjoyable. By midnight on it was loud house music. You know…the kind that you just hear…boom boom boom boom boom boom… and nothing else. You feel it in your chest.  Needless to say, we did not get too much sleep that night.

As soon as the sun came up and we took one more swim, we pulled up our anchor and left.

We headed towards Chamela and decided to stop there for the night (to catch up on some rest) before our overnight sail to La Cruz the next day.  Not much going on in Chamela except that it was a rolly night. Our boat got pitched sideways in the swell so it was an uncomfortable night sleeping.

We got up bright and early and left with SV Rebecca on our overnight journey to La Cruz.

We actually had a nice sail most of the day and were able to put up all of our sails for a while anyway. We motored during the night.

 

SV Rebecca - a 37' Tayana

We had some issues with our tiller pilot (automatic steering), so we had to hand steer and follow our friends closely, which is not so fun at night. It’s hard to really judge your distance in the dark.  One minute we seemed right in line behind them, the next we were right on top of them. At other times they got way ahead of us and we could not see their running lights or make them out from the lights along shore.

Sunset on watch

We made it around Cabo Corrientes about 1:30 in the morning (the point that is crucial to time just right otherwise you get high winds and waves) and into Banderas Bay. It was very rolly so we had to go slow.

We arrived and anchored at 6:20a.m. in the dark, at the anchorage in La Cruz. There were a lot of boats anchored there (we heard later that was because of the Banderas Bay Regatta that was happening over the next few days). It was tough finding a spot in the dark, so we anchored as far away as possible from the other boats planning to re-anchor in the morning closer to the Marina when it was light out.

The anchorage at La Cruz

Ensenada de Carrizal

Ensenada de Carrizal

We ended up staying one more day in Santiago but left the next day, February 27th for Carrizal bright and early. Carrizal is just 4NM from Santiago. So it took us less than an hour to get there and to get anchored. 

This place is so gorgeous! It’s a small-uninhabited cove surrounded by lush green jungle covered mountains. The water is a crystal blue aquamarine color. There are no palapas, restaurants, houses or hotels in sight, just water, sand and mountains.

Notre Isle anchored

While we were there in our newfound paradise, there was only one other sailboat anchored in the cove…our newest friends, Cindy and Marcus on SV Rebecca. We met this couple in Santiago just the day before. They are from Grass Valley and have been cruising for the past 7 years.

During our stay in Carrizal, we mostly swam, snorkeled and took little trips in the dinghy exploring the banks of the bay. Snorkeling was SO much fun! It’s my new favorite thing! I have never REALLY snorkeled before.  I’ve attempted a few times with girlfriends or family but it always turned into a laughing fest and I ended up choking and getting water in my facemask, so I gave it up. This time, I had all the right equipment, which really seems to have made a difference! Before Rick and I left Sacramento, we went into a dive shop and bought new fins a new mask and snorkel. They weren’t cheap, but I’m seeing you definitely get what you pay for when it comes to diving gear.

Harley asking permission to go swimming!

This is Harley swimming back to our dinghy. Since the shore was so rocky we had to toss her off the side of the dinghy and instruct her to "go potty" on the shore and then call her back to us.

As we snorkeled we saw some super colorful fish. Not too many different types, but loved the variety that we saw. One small yellow fish in particular took turns following Rick and I around. It would swim right next to our face masks almost as a permanent fixture. It was like having Dory (from Finding Nemo) follow us around. One day Harley joined us snorkeling. She would swim right by our sides not getting in our way like she does when we try to surf or body surf.

 

Mr. Pelican perching on the cliff 

Watching the fishermen casting their nets. What an art!

Our tour guide :)

What I loved about snorkeling besides seeing brightly colored fish was the weightlessness that I felt as I just let myself float and observe, swaying back and forth with the tide.

Sunrise at Carrizal

After 3 nights in Carrizal we buddy boated with SV Rebecca over to Barra de Navidad. The winds were super light and on our nose as well as the swells. So we were unable to sail and just motored. It was a beautiful day out and I was enjoying just staring out at the blue water and the sandy shores.

Just rounding the corner to Barra de Navidad

 

SV Rebecca anchored behind us at the anchorage in the Lagoon

We arrived in Barra around 1:40 p.m. This time in Barra we did not dock at the marina, but we anchored out in the Lagoon. The Lagoon is just beyond the Grand Isla Resort & Marina. Mangroves surround the edges of the Lagoon. There is a small village on the south side of the Lagoon, which we plan to check out one day while we are here.

Later in the evening Rick and I took the water taxi into Barra and had dinner.

Took a walk the next day to the other side of the golf course on the beach. A long walk that takes you to a stone stairway that's carved into the cliffs. We climbed the stairs and to the other side of the cliff to a beautiful little cove with waves crashing on the rocks. So pretty!

Spent a few days in Barra. Took the bus to Melaque one day with Cyndi and Marcus for dinner and a little provisioning.

We left Barra buddy boating again with SV Rebecca - Cyndi and Marcus, on March 5th.