Espiritu Santo

Well, this is the kind of cruising we like. Empty anchorages, clear waters, stunning beauty. Nothing to spend money on. Excellent hiking, decent snorkeling. Less than 10 miles between anchorages. A couple of like-minded kid boats for company. Shazam.

We spent a little over a week cruising along the islands of Espiritu Santo and Parida, protected natural areas just north of La Paz. 

This flock of diving birds was hanging out near us for a while, appearing and disappearing…

For the first time, we were boarded by officials—the Mexican navy, doing double duty as park wardens. They were perfectly polite and relaxed, and we were glad we’d paid for our park passes in advance; $100 affords our family unlimited access to the islands of the Gulf of California for one year, and seems like a fair price to protect these natural beauties.

Early on, we ran into the folks on Flocerfida, with two kids; the next day, our good friends on Nomi pulled in from Mazatlan. We’re having flashbacks to those golden days in the Bahamas, where the kids rushed through school to spend the afternoons splashing around, with potluck dinners adding up to more than the sum of their parts. Our swim platform and spacious cockpit makes our boat the best one for afternoon hanging out—for the first time, we’re the party boat! Although evening dinners are better spent on Flo.

Traveling among these islands is like exploring the canyons of the American southwest…except we have our whole house with us, and we’ve added an ocean. It’s fantastic to look up at the steep cliffs at night, stars glowing above them, while the moonlight shines all the way down through the clear water to light up the ocean floor.

Mainland Mexico has plenty of charm, but this is what we like.