Moving onto Banderas Bay and Punta de Mita

Moving onto Banderas Bay and Punta de Mita

1/4/2018 & 1/5/2018

We had spent enough time in Chalaca and both felt it was time to move onward.  We did our usual of storing the dinghy and SUP boards on the deck and planned to head out in the morning.  Dan’s hip was feeling somewhat better after his rest and my massages of course.   This was a shot taken on our last evening.  

We experienced light winds at first and tried to sail the Code One.  Eventually, the wind died completely and we had to motor a couple hours which is not our favorite thing to do.  

Eventually the wind started and we ended up having a fabulous sail for this 36 nautical mile trip. There were some dark clouds hovering over the land, but no bad weather occurred,  unlike the East Coast that experienced a blizzard at the same time.   

We saw a few whales and once we thought they were too close to us, or we were too close to them, we would lightly hit the stainless steel helm with the wrench handle and that would make a high pitched sound we hoped would travel and alert the whales.  We never hit one, so I think it works.  

Punta de Mita forms the northern point of the Bahía de Banderas or Banderas Bay.  This is one of the largest natural, deepwater bays in Mexico.  We sailed along the coast of the famous Four Seasons Resort and golf course.  Our anchorage is nestled inside the cove and there are what appears to be high-end condo’s, some palapa restaurants as well as some more fancy.  

The following morning, we rigged up our water toys and headed to play in the surf waves.  There were already some stand-up-paddleboarders there surfing the modest waves.  We anchored the dinghy and started out, but did not really catch any waves.  Apparently, the surf protocol is not to take another surfers wave if they are there first. Tomorrow we have spotted another location and will try that.  

We had brought our snorkeling gear as well, so we continued around the point and found a nice rocky outcrop area for some snorkeling.  (The picture is a little cloudy, as it was taken through my waterproof case).  We enjoyed the snorkeling and swimming over some interesting rock formations with fish swimming around.  

We finished the day, with a dinghy trip to the shore and a nice lunch.  We were bombarded with people selling their wares.  I did soften and buy a few things from these nice individuals, but I also declined many.  

Even though this is a high end tourist area, I noticed a few building projects happening. As we walked along, I snapped a few shots for those people I know who are interested in building projects.  I believe Mexico has different building standards than we do in the USA.  Here are those photos.

That is all for this blog.  Dan and I tried surfing our stand-up-paddleboards this morning.  It was fun, but I was not too successful.  No worries, I will leave it to my girls to figure out when they come for a visit.

We rowed the dinghy to a wonderful palapa to post these blogs and use their WIFI.  Meanwhile after a few drinks and a lot of sun this morning, we are still able to send warm wishes to all our followers and family members who are in the cold, winter climates.  Come to Mexico!