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Angels Flight
by Capt John E. Rains
Why trailerboaters and cruisers are heading for Bahia de los Angeles
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Bahia de los Angeles, known to many boaters as "L.A. Bay," is a popular destination for trailerboating because of its great year-round fishing and many nearby anchorages. Many cruisers also spend the summer here in the Sea of Cortez, thanks to its location near the region's best hurricane hideout.
The 20 square mile Bay of the Angels is located about 150 nautical miles southeast of San Felipe and 130 nautical miles northwest of Santa Rosalia. It is sheltered by the 40-mile-long Canal de Ballenas, or Whales Channel.
Trailerboaters get here from the Arizona border along 160 miles of paved (but pothole-filled) Highway 1, turning off just past Lake Chalapa, where the Pemex filling station is sometimes closed. There's another 40 miles of paved road across the San Felipe desert leading to the town of Bahia de los Angeles, where the Pemex station almost always has fuel.
Many of Bahia de los Angeles' 1,500 year-round inhabitants are English-speaking retirees from the U.S. and Canada, who came for the fishing, desert beauty and laid-back lifestyle. Here, visitors will find several small grocery stores, cafes and restaurants, motels, RV parks, a bakery, a museum of local and natural history, an ice house, a paved airstrip and a Mexican navy outpost. Excellent bottled water is available locally, if it's time to replenish your stocks.
Trailerboaters will especially appreciate the two launch ramps that are provided here, located near the center of town.
No Shortage of Anchorages
For boaters, there is much to explore in the adjacent Sea of Cortez cruising waters.
From the wrap-around protection of Bahia Refugio on the north tip of Isla Angel de la Guarda down to Bahia de las Animas, which is the northern limit of the mangroves, visiting boaters will find more than 20 islands with unusual names, such as "lock and key" (Islas Llave and Cerraja), "the twins" (Islas Gemelos), "horse head" (Isla Cabeza de Caballo), "window" (Isla Ventana) and "crown" (Isla Coronado). Each island has anywhere from one to a dozen anchorages available, depending on the weather.
Los Islas de Medio (also called the Midriff Islands), form important steppingstones that allow small boats to cross the Sea of Cortez to Bahia Kino in short hops between lees off Isla Tiburon, Isla San Esteban and the smaller islands in the Canal Salsipuedes (meaning "leave if you can" channel).
The Bahia de los Angeles region provides some of the most interesting small boat angling in Mexico, thanks to strong currents (sometimes over 10 knots) that draw nutrients up from the cool underwater canyons to feed diverse species. Year-round, anglers reel in cabrilla, seabass and grouper -- and the warm waters of August through October bring up marlin, dorado, yellowfin tuna, roosterfish and spectacular yellowtail.
The place to fish for the latter favorite is "Yellowtail Alley," named by the late Mexico cruiser and author Tom Miller. This area runs east of Bahia de las Animas and down Canal Salsipuedes.
Talk About Yellowtail
In mid-June, I visited the new La Unica Wilderness fly-in fish camp, just a few miles from Bahia de los Angeles. While awaiting a 22 foot panga and a local guide, some friends caught their limit of yellowtail right within the bay -- from sport kayaks, no less.
Accessible only by boat or plane, La Unica's pristine little basin (at 28 degrees, 48.5 minutes north latitude; 113 degrees, 22 minutes west longitude) lies 4 boat miles northwest of Bahia de las Animas and is the nearest bay to Isla de la Guarda's incredibly productive south end fishing areas.
When a late norther puffed up, I caught some very tasty cabrilla and grouper right in La Unica's bay, sheltered by Punta Pescadero. This spot provided some enjoyable snorkeling for my wife, Patricia Miller Rains.
To preserve this desert wilderness, La Unica's 12 palapa-roofed cabins have toilets that flush with sea water, noiseless propane refrigerators and oil lamps for lighting -- no electric generators. With all that silence, the squeaks of osprey chicks and the braying of baby sea lions are the only sounds drifting across the turquoise-colored water from two nearby rookeries.
When you're not fishing or eating, there's boardsailing, kayaking, beachcombing and trail hiking here, to keep you entertained.
Operated by Baja Air Ventures of Chula Vista, California, the wilderness camp flies down a limited number of guests in six-seat Cherokee planes -- a 2.5 hour flight from San Diego -- for four-day fishing retreats. Visitors can fish aboard the resort's own cabin cruiser or local fishing pangas.
While we were there, after the outboard-powered pangas headed out for distant fishing grounds, we watched a local coyote who has learned to fish like a Labrador retriever come splashing into the water from the beach, in broad daylight.
If you've never savored Bahia de los Angeles' incredible fishing and natural beauty, this is a quick, reasonably priced way to sample its delights firsthand. Reservations are required, whether you fly in from San Diego or visit the resort in your own boat. For details, call (800) 221-9283.
Boating visitors can anchor in 18 feet of water between Isla Pescadero and a 2-mile-long white sand beach.
Hurricane Hideout
With hurricane season still upon us, larger boats summering over in this region should remain somewhat close to Puerto Don Juan, the landlocked bay that serves as a popular spot to escape approaching hurricanes.
Even though few full-fledged hurricanes have scored a direct hit here, visiting boaters monitor the progress of local storms on ham radio through the Chubasco Net (at 7.94 kHz lower sideband, starting daily at 0745 Pacific time). Such storms should not be ignored, since they have been known to bring 50 knot winds, drenching rain and flash floods sweeping across the Baja California peninsula.
The entrance to Puerto Don Juan lies 6 miles east of downtown Bahia de los Angeles, by boat. Inside, there's room for 50 or 60 boats to swing at anchor in 20 to 35 feet of water. The maximum tide is 11.5 feet.
A beach on the eastern lobe uncovers at low tide and a small spring keeps the nearby flora green.
A low land bridge called "The Window" closes off the west side of the hurricane hole. The bridge is made of uniform chunks of shale that seem to have been rounded by wave action. There's deep water right up to within 25 feet of the edge of The Window.
Along the west side of Puerto Don Juan, a shallow side bay called "The Bathtub" provides the most attractive turquoise-colored water outside of La Unica. Unfortunately, a 50 foot Pesca boat that was gutted and abandoned inside The Bathtub several years ago still hasn't been cut up or towed out into deep water beyond Punta Don Juan.
Remain watchful of these few hazards, but take time to enjoy the many scenic pleasures of this unique cruising region.
Whether you arrive by sea, land or air, you'll probably think you've found a bit of heaven when you arrive at Bahia de los Angeles.
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This article first appeared in the September 1, 1996 issue of Sea Magazine. All or parts of the information contained in this article might be outdated. |
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