La Cruz to Paradise Village

Painted on a wall in San Pancho

From the 14^th of March till the 21^st of March we were out at the anchorage in front of the Marina at La Cruz. During that time, some good and not so good things transpired.

The good part was that we bumped into our friends Kirk and Heidi on SV Due West who were docked at the Marina. We spent a little time visiting with Cyndi and Marcus on SV Rebecca and we met up with Marilyn and Steve on SV Tocatta briefly.

The not so good, was that I was feeling horrible! My stomach was in major pain and I felt nauseated non-stop.  I have not been feeling well ever since.

Backing up a bit, we did manage one day, our first day back from Yelapa to walk into town with Kirk (Heidi was in Sayulita with some girlfriends at the time) to have a bite to eat. After our lunch we walked back to the Marina and stopped off at this tree where there are usually lots of Iguana’s living. We walked around there for a bit of oohing and awing at all of the Iguana’s in the trees. That was our big excursion for the day.

We got back to the boat and I really felt miserable. Rick suggested that we go to the doctor in town the next day.

So I woke up the next day and as I was getting dressed I felt something on my side. I thought it was a piece of peeling or some crumb that got stuck to me. So I swiped over it and ended up having to pull it off. It was a TICK!!! I was so grossed out! It was a small critter but it had latched onto me pretty good. Glad I was able to get the entire bugger out and off of me! I immediately put the tick in a plastic Ziplock bag and decided to take this to the doctor with me.

Rick, Harley and I walked in town to the local doctor, Dr. Pimiento aka Dr. Pepper (Pimiento is Pepper in Spanish). He was very nice and spoke English pretty well, enough that we could communicate. He took one look at the Tick and wrote a prescription for Doxycycline (a strong antibiotic to cure Lyme Disease).  He was not sure that I had Lyme but as a precaution he put me on the antibiotic for it. As far as my stomach issues, he just said to watch what I eat and gave me a verbal list of what to eat and what not to eat.  He prescribed pain pills and acid reflux pills for that issue.  We left the office with a total bill of $15.00 US.

We walked back to the boat and I took the antibiotic immediately, which made me feel even worse than I was already feeling. I felt so horrible for several days that I was on the antibiotics. I never did take the pain pills and occasionally took the acid reflux pills. It took me a few days after I completed the antibiotics to actually feel like walking around. Up to that time, I just wanted to lie down, close my eyes and pray that I didn’t throw up. I was constantly fighting that feeling. 

The evening after the doctor visit, Rick and I had plans to join Marcus and Cyndi to Philo’s to listen to Luna Rumba. It was Marcus’ Birthday and they had never heard Luna Rumba, so we had suggested the outing to them. We had even purchased tickets days before. There was no way I was going, so Rick tried to find a date to take my place, with no luck, and went anyway. 

I obviously did not take this picture. But this is our Marina in Paradise VIllage. We had access of the entire property. 

On March 21^st, we got off the anchorage and sailed over to Paradise Village in Nuevo Vallarta. I still wasn’t feeling quite up to snuff but was happy to get to someplace that didn’t move. Being nauseas and bobbing up and down in an anchorage don’t go well together. 

Rick and I were both pleased with our new home for a while. It was calm and peaceful and our slip was tucked in the back of the Marina near the lagoon.  A big plus at this Marina is that you get to use The Paradise Village Resort and Spa facilities…the Gym, the Spa, the swimming pools (there are several), the restaurants and anything else you want to use on their grounds. Another big perk is that the price to dock here is the cheapest we have seen yet at a Marina-- .65 cents per foot per night.

The next day there was a farmer’s market right behind the Marina close to where our boat slip was that we decided to check out. There was great food, live music, arts and crafts, and fresh fruits and vegetables.  We also got the boat ready for Danielle’s visit the following day.  That’s one of the reasons we came to this Marina was so that we would be close to the airport and it would just be more convenient. 

We picked up Danielle on Wednesday afternoon at the airport in Puerto Vallarta. It was so great seeing her! She arrived with just a backpack and a leather bag around her shoulder.  She had just come from a few days in Hawaii prior to getting on the plane to Mexico. 

RIck and Danielle

As soon as we greeted her, we rented a car and drove in to Puerto Vallarta and beyond to Mismaloya which was along a windy road along the coast. We ended up finding a cool place to have dinner just off the road on a cliff overlooking the ocean, called Le Kliff.  This was a beautiful restaurant with spectacular views. The food was exceptional too!

Le Kliff 

After dinner we drove a little further down the road and walked around a small village that led to a beach. The beach and town was full of locals and very few tourists.

 

Sunset in Puerto Vallarta

We drove back to Paradise Village Marina shortly after, but stopped in Puerto Vallarta near the Malecon. It was so crowded everywhere in town and along the beach. It just so happened to be Semana Santa or Holy Week, so all of the locals and college students from Guadalajara come to the shore for their break. It is overrun with crowds of people and not fun to be around.

The next day, we drove to Sayulita along the coast to show Danielle around. Sayulita is such a cute beach town and usually a little crowded most of the time. But during Semana Santa……It’s wall to wall people on the beaches and in the streets.  We were hoping to share one of our favorite places with Danielle. She enjoyed herself anyway but was not thrilled with the crowds.  We left a few hours later and drove to San Pancho thinking it might be a little quieter. It was a little quieter but still packed on the beach. I’d never seen it that way. Last time Rick, Harley and I were there, we were practically the only ones on the beach.

The beach at Sayulita

A horse running loose on the highway on our way to Punta de Mita

We did not stay long in San Pancho just long enough to eat lunch.  Then we drove to Punta de Mita from there. Punta de Mita was equally as crazy as everywhere else we had been so far so we just stopped to use the banos and drove back to Paradise Village.

Mobile BIke Rental

We were so wiped out from our day of driving around and fighting our way through crowds, that we decided to spend the next day just kickin’ it by the pool. I was happy with this decision because I was still feeling ill, fighting off throwing up.

The following day we wanted to go sightseeing again but to a place that wouldn’t be too crowded. So, we decided to drive to San Sebastian, which is a 90-minute drive along a windy road west from Puerto Vallarta.  The drive along the way was extremely beautiful with lush mountain scenery.

Love the Bougainvillea!

Church in the center of town

Typical style home in San Sebastian

We saw a lot of police in full dress and gear on our way to San Sebastian and in the town.

  

The town of San Sebastian is buried deep in the heart of the Sierra Madre Mountains. It was originally a mining town in 1605 with 30,000 residents but now it solely cultivates Coffee and Agave and populates 600 people. It has a charming cobblestone plaza, and a church in the center of town and 18^th century Haciendas tucked in the mountainsides encompass it all.

 

Danielle

Poor sleepy little pooch tied up on a short lead. Water at one end, bathroom at the other.

A horse tied by a piece of yarn to a truck in town. I guess horse owners are pretty confident the horses will not go anywhere.

Dog tricks

Cute little restaurant we walked into. Unfortunately they only served dinner.

Father/Daughter

Cute little window display in one of the shops

We had a very enjoyable time there wandering around and seeing all that we could see. We had a delicious lunch in a small little restaurant with just two or three tables situated on bare tile floors surrounded by bare walls.  Not much to look at except to watch the fabricante de tortilla (tortilla maker). She made tortillas non-stop one after the other the entire time we were there. Even though this seemed like a monotonous task, she always had a smile on her face. In the other table across from us were four older men seated, talking intently, who seemed to be fixing all of the worlds problems. This was Rick’s take on it. He envisioned these men coming in daily, sitting at the same table, eating the same meal and spending hours talking, leaving the restaurant with their own coffee mugs in hand.

Restaurant we ate in is right next to a cute little Art Gallery

Hostess and Cook

 Fabricante de la tortilla

After our lunch we walked through the plaza one more time because we saw a small market of various goods being sold. They had delicious home baked goods, Agave and Coffee, jams and jellies. We ended up with a bag of Coffee and a few baked goods to snack on in the car. Funny they didn’t make it that far.

A cute little boy wanted to pet Harley when we were at the market

We took a little tour in this coffee processing plant (which was basically someones back yard)

On our drive back, we took a wrong turn and ended up in Mascota which was a charming little town as well. This wrong turn added about an hour to our drive but added some adventure to our day.

That night we came home and went to a nearby Pizza place called Ciao. The pizza was to die for but the entertainment that night was not as good. In fact, it was pretty bad. It was Elvis night and they had an Elvis impersonator perform. The only resemblance to Elvis was that this person was the same gender.

Walking home on full bellies Rick suggested that we get in the dinghy when we got back to the boat and toured around the Marina and the Lagoon.  So we did.

The dinghy ride was fun at first as we tooled down the river through little slough’s seeing very glamorous homes and fancy boats. Then we moved down the river stopping to look at Iguana’s in the tree branches that were hanging over the edge of the water. There were tons of Iguana’s in all sizes living in the trees. We continued on looking for more Iguanas and came across a dock with a boat tied up to it and a 6-7 foot CROCODILE sunbathing! We motored over to the dock where the croc was and it zipped off of the dock, into the water and up onto the muddy bank. It was pretty exciting and scary all at the same time. After all we were only in an inflatable dinghy and I’m sure a croc could quickly deflate it if he wanted to, taking us all in the water with it for a snack.  After the sighting, I was a little nervous. Rick was eager to find more and started to go into places that were tight, dark, covered with vines and that didn’t have much of an easy escape.  I was ready to go back to the boat, but Rick wanted to keep going in hopes of seeing more crocodiles. I had to practically beg him to take me back to the boat.  I was seriously scared. I think Danielle started to feel the same. So, FINALLY we made our way back to the boat in one piece.

March 28, Easter Sunday, Danielle was to go back to San Luis Obispo. We couldn’t believe the day for her to leave came so fast. So for part of the morning Danielle wanted to go back to the pool to even out her suntan she got a couple days prior. Sounded good to me. Relaxing by the pool was nice before we had to get into the car and head to the airport.

We got her to the airport a couple of hours earlier than her scheduled flight. We said our goodbyes, gave our hugs and shed a few tears.

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.