Blog Post 35 – Mazatlán to La Cruz via Isla Isabella

03/05/16-03/07/16

21:50.48N – 105:52.98W

The run to Puerto Vallarta from Mazatlán is about 170 miles. I had read about a remote island in the guidebook called Isla Isabela. It sounded amazing. It was a UNESCO World Heritage site and was a sanctuary for migrating birds and supposedly had the clearest water and best diving on Pacific Mexico. The island was 90 miles off shore so we would have to leave in the middle of the night to get there by sunset. As I have said before here you never want to arrive in a new anchorage or marina at night. So we had to move the boat to a place we could exit in the dark. There are numerous islands in the bay near Mazatlán and we chose Stone Island as an anchorage for the night. We liked it so much we stayed an extra day. Nico and I rented an ATV and roamed along 20 miles of isolated beaches and even went of exploring on a dirt road that ran through the jungle. Nico did all the driving with me holding on for dear life. For a kid that only drives in video games he did a damn good job. Better than I could have done.

We spent the day at the beach and went to bed early in preparation for the trip to Isabela. I started to feel sick late in the day. I brushed it off as I had not been sick in years. We did an all-nighter and arrived at Isla Isabella at sunrise. It was a strange looking island. It looked like barren rocks just jutting out into the sea. The anchorage was dicey. The water was very deep and the surge of water near the island was intense. Jirig finally found a place to anchor that he was satisfied with. What do we do when we arrive in a new place? We drop the dinghy and go exploring.

There was a seasonal fish camp on the beach. Life as a fisherman in Mexico is a harsh one. These folks live in makeshift tents on the beach, in the sun, and fish all day, every day. The children do not go to school and there is no electricity, plumbing or water. I do not envy their lifestyle. The island has been a migrating bird sanctuary for centuries and actually lured Jacques Cousteau here 40 years ago to film the islands colonies of Blue Footed Boobies, Brown Boobies (with green feet), Frigate birds and Elegant Terns. The island is also over run with Iguana’s. As there are no natural predators for any of these species here they are not afraid of humans. This is where they breed and raise their young. It is designated as a national Park and you need a special permit to go ashore. Due to its remoteness only people that are truly interested in the island ever make it out here. People are respectful of the animals and birds and are very careful about their trash and footprint being careful not to leave any.

We were not prepared for the amount of birds on the island. They were everywhere. In the

trees, on the ground and circling overhead. It gave us the creeps. Add to that all the Iguanas and various other reptiles literally everywhere. We took a hike to what he cruising guide called a crater lake that turned out to be a cesspool of stagnant water that you could smell before you could even see it. Maybe it was the sweltering heat, maybe it was that Jirig and I were both getting sick and had been up for 24 hours doing night watches but we wanted to get the hell out of there. Nico concurred. We beat a path back to the dinghy and back to the boat. Don’t. Get me wrong, lots of people love it here and come all the way out here and cannot anchor because there are only 2 small anchorages that can accommodate on a few boats each. We have friends that rave about the place and have gone there 2 and 3 times. It was just not our thing. Don’t believe everything you read in the cruising guide. I was starting to get a fever and Jirig had a bad sore throat. We went to bed early with the plan to get up early and head for La Cruz in Banderas Bay. The ocean swells and the tidal surge got to be so uncomfortable that we pulled the anchor and took off for La Cruz at midnight. We had been warned it was a fair weather anchorage and were not surprised when it got rolly and uncomfortable. After all we were anchored next to an ancient island that was barely more than a large rock in the sea that was 90 miles out to sea. Time to move on………