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Island Hopping
by Capt. John E. Rains
Visiting Bahia Banderas’ playgrounds of summer
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By June, boaters who are planning to summer in Mexican waters have decided where they are going to go before those southerly storms grow long legs. Punta Mita and Bahia Banderas lie along the informal demarcation line -- where you either start finding your way around vast Bahia Banderas and the Puerto Vallarta region or you move northward along either side of the Sea of Cortez.
We’ll begin with the first option -- familiarizing our way around Bahia Banderas and Punta Mita. Next month, we’ll stop at La Cruz and Puerto Vallarta.
Later we’ll poke into the anchorages of Chacala and Jaltemba, on our way up the eastern side of the Sea of Cortez to San Blas.
Bahia Banderas
Bahia Banderas is the largest true bay in Mexico, outdone only by the vast Gulf of Mexico and the 700-mile-long Sea of Cortez.
Bahia Banderas stretches about 20 miles north to south and about 15 miles east to west. Open to the west, it encompasses about 300 square miles of fishing, diving and boating grounds.
In 1524, indigenous tribes carrying banners to the shoreline greeted Francisco Cortez, nephew of Hernán Cortez. It was Francisco who first wrote Bahía Banderas (Flags Bay) on his charts as he explored this region.
Punta Mita
The Punta Mita peninsula forms the smaller northern arm of Bahia Banderas, just like Cabo Corrientes, 23 miles southwest, forms its larger southern arm.
Punta Mita’s narrow 545-foot-high ridge with conical peaks provides the northeastern half of Bahia Banderas with protection from the “Screaming Blue Northers” that can ravage the entire length of the Sea of Cortez. In concert with the more mountainous Cabo Corrientes, Punta Mita helps shelter Bahia Banderas and Puerto Vallarta from a direct hit by summer’s curve-ball hurricanes.
Logistically speaking, the anchorage at Punta Mita makes an ideal springboard or landfall when crossing to or from points on the East Cape of Baja California. Punta Mita Light stands ashore at 20 degrees, 46 minutes north latitude; 105 degrees, 33 minutes west longitude and is visible for 11 miles. A red-lighted radio antenna also marks this peninsular headland.
However, when entering Bahia Banderas between Punta Mita and the Tres Marietas islands, I always favor the island side of this 4.2-mile wide passage to avoid three navigational hazards -- two detached pinnacles that rise from deep water in the middle of the passage and the mile-wide reef surrounding Punta Mita’s southern tip.
My GPS positions for the two dangerous detached pinnacles are 20 degrees, 45.61 minutes north latitude; 105 degrees, 32.89 minutes west longitude and 20 degrees, 45.64 minutes north latitude; 105 degrees, 32.16 minutes west longitude.
Punta Mita’s anchorage area begins about a mile northeast of the low seaward point. It runs nearly two miles east and is sheltered enough for dozens of yachts in 40 to 22 feet of water over sand.
The undeveloped point is clad in stubby jungle trees and vines. Two pretty beaches with palapa-roofed cantinas, with a backdrop of small hotels and a new five-star golf resort, ring the developed parts of the anchorage shoreline.
Bus service connects remote Punta Mita to Puerto Vallarta, about an hour away, but the almost constant shore break makes landing a dinghy on the beach a wet proposition -- even if your timing is perfect.
Punta Mita has a small, breakwater-enclosed darsena, or man-made harbor, designed for the hotel’s boats (sportfishing pangas and smaller cuddy cabins) to pick up guests.
When we were there during spring, the darsena had no pier, so passengers had to wade out to board. Some days, the shore break practically closes out the entrance to the darsena -- making it difficult for a dinghy to enter or leave.
Hence, Punta Mita is more comfortable for boaters who don’t wish to get ashore every day. Or, it can be used as a jumping-off point for those going out to the Tres Marietas islands.
Las Tres Marietas
Las Tres Marietas are a 5-mile string of small islands, reefs, shoals and detached rocks that trail south and southwest from Punta Mita. The two large northeasterly islands (Isla Mita and Isla Marieta) each carry a navigation light and each has a small day anchorage off its south side. Due to unmarked hazards off the north side, the safer approach to Tres Marietas is from the south.
The Marietas chain forms an 18-square-mile nature preserve (above and below the water), so no fishing is allowed within the 10-fathom line. However, the islands and reefs provide half a dozen excellent scuba spots for intermediate divers -- from underwater caves to floral garden shelves and sheer walls.
On your first visit, it is recommended you hire a local guide to point out the highlights and hazards. Strong currents make this a bit challenging for novice scuba divers.
Ashore, a multitude of sea birds nest on the wide slopes of Isla Mita, the island closest to Punta Mita. Landing a dinghy is easiest along the northeast boulder beach -- but if it is being claimed as a seal or sea lion rookery, you must land elsewhere.
Wildlife has priority here. Although most of the gap between Isla Mita and Isla Marieta is foul, we’ve seen boats with 5-foot drafts pass through safely by staying close to Isla Mita.
Don’t confuse Las Tres Marietas near Punta Mita with another similar sounding island group nearby, Las Islas Marias (the Maria Islands), because the latter is an active prison colony. Boaters are prohibited from coming within 20 miles, and this is enforced by armed patrol boats.
Banderas Getaways
Boaters will find eight popular anchorage areas spread around the north and south shores of Bahia Banderas, as distinctly different from one another as chunks of natural turquoise strung on a necklace.
Along the north shore, besides the Tres Marietas and Punta Mita, is the most popular anchorage at La Cruz de Huanacaxtle -- known simply as La Cruz. We’ll cover La Cruz and Puerto Vallarta marinas next month.
Along the south shore, the anchorages are Mismaloya, at Boca de Tomatlán, Las Animas, Quimixto and Yelapa. Since Los Arcos became a popular underwater park just south of Puerto Vallarta, anchoring is no longer allowed, for the safety of recreational divers.
As far as anchoring goes, the following eight getaways provide enough space for more than 100 yachts in fair weather:
Mismaloya: Located about a mile south of the giant boulder collection called Los Arcos (the Arches), Mismaloya is a small cove packed with high-rise hotels, a landmark arch and a pretty beach.
On the southwest point of this bay is the ruin of the house in which motion picture director John Huston filmed “Night of the Iguana,” staring Richard Burton and Ava Gardner. Tours are given, but you can climb around on your own.
Like all the south shore anchorages, Mismaloya is a narrow shelf that forces you to anchor close by -- within range of intrepid swimmers off the beach.
Tomatlán: About 2.5 miles west of Mismaloya, you’ll see the deep cleft in the green hills where Rio Tomatlán cuts through and joins Bahia Banderas. Because so many of these clefts appear similar, look on the east flank for a split-level dwelling that climbs the rocks.
Tomatlán anchorage is at about 20 degrees, 30.8 minutes north latitude; 105 degrees, 19.4 minutes west longitude in almost 70 feet of water about 50 yards off the middle of the beach. Lots of small sportfishing boats operate out of here, close to the best fishing in Bahia Banderas.
A bus runs tourists up to the freshwater falls and kid parks of Chino’s and Chico’s Paradise. But the road from Puerto Vallarta turns inland and continues no farther along the bay.
Las Animas: Las Animas, or “The Spirits,” is where John Huston built his private fishing-hunting lodge (east end of the village).
Deep water close in makes Las Animas a good fishing destination but another narrow anchorage. However, a pier in the center of the village helps dinghy passengers get ashore.
A small ferry runs villagers between Puerto Vallarta and Yelapa.
Quimixto: About 2.25 miles west of Las Animas is Quimixto (pronounced “kee-MEEKS-toh”).
Another small river flowing down from the mountains of Cabo Corrientes has cut this pretty valley and formed the seasonal lagoon behind the Boca, or river mouth.
Quimixto has a slightly wider anchoring shelf and less boat traffic than Las Animas. My GPS position in the anchorage at Quimixto is 20 degrees, 30.36 minutes north latitude; 105 degrees, 22.19 minutes west longitude, in 25 to 30 feet of water.
As we move farther west, this south shoreline is more vulnerable to north wind that carries past Punta Mita.
Yelapa: “A palapa in Yelapa beats a condo in Redondo,” was the 1960s refrain when hippies thronged to this remote beach in tie-dyed t-shirts.
Yelapa is even more popular with tourists today, despite its noisy trinket hawkers and uncomfortably coarse sand. Panga ferries bring tourists out the 14.5 miles from Puerto Vallarta in the morning and take them back about sunset -- suffering from sunburn and skinned feet. Can a condo in Yelapa be far over the horizon?
Yelapa’s half-mile-wide bay is indented nearly a mile into the steep hills, which should be more sheltered than any Bahia Banderas anchorage. Unfortunately, the bay opens to the northwest, so north wind can blow right in -- as it does almost every afternoon during cruising season. The most reliable shelter is found in the southeast corner near the concrete dinghy landing, in about 25 feet of water, over sand and gravel on Yelapa’s irregular bottom.
In long periods of settled weather, you might try anchoring bow and stern just outside the panga moorings area at the village, in the south corner of the bay -- but remember that local pangas have the right of way. From the village, you can hike up a short distance to a pleasant waterfall.
Logistically, Yelapa may be more useful as an aid in rounding Cabo Corrientes during the less boisterous nighttime hours, because it’s only 17 miles away.
Summering Over
Those who plan to summer in the Puerto Vallarta region will have plenty of nearby boating excursions and waterborne diversions. Besides scuba and snorkel diving, there’s offshore and coastal fishing, waterskiing, local sailing regattas and dinghy races.
Add the new and active Vallarta Yacht Club and the three marinas inside the ports of Puerto Vallarta and Nuevo Vallarta Inlet, and -- voila -- you’ve got Mexico’s largest boating destination.
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This article first appeared in the June 1, 2003 issue of Sea Magazine. All or parts of the information contained in this article might be outdated. |
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