March 5-11

We met our friends in La Paz yesterday and today we load a shuttle boat to go to Espitu Santo, the island near La Paz, an hour and half boat ride away. First we load our kayaks and gear on the truck to be taken to the water.

This will be the first boat shuttle that Don and I have done in Baja.

The 11 miles go quickly and we even get to see a whale on the way to the island.

Soon we have landed and with the forecast and nowcast both agreeing that the day should be a good one to paddle, we load our kayaks and begin our paddle around Isla Partida.

We all all intrigued by the geology and David gives us an explanation of how the rock was formed

Soon we find an arch that we can paddle thru.

Next stop is the island where one can swim with the sea lions. We opt out of the activity and checkout the ones that are sleeping on the rocks.

Looks like there is another arch to paddle thru.

We continue around the island called Isla Partida and find a campsite on the south shore. The tide has gone out and we lead our kayaks to the first camping spot.

The next day we planned an early departure and by the time we got to camp and set up the tarp it was time for a siesta.

Mileage paddled 9.9 nautical miles

When we had left camp this morning Don was able to paddle over to a fish camp to obtain some fresh fish. It was a great addition to our evening meal.

I made fresh bread.

Dinner tonight was lentil burgers, fish and fresh bread!

The sun set was a real treat, however the wind is picking up and it looks like we will be staying on the beach tomorrow.

There was no need to hurry this morning so David took the time to do some yoga.

Mileage paddled 8.5 nautical miles

Looks like we are going to plan on doing a hike to get up higher.

Doesn't look windy, but as we were coming down the wind had blown our tent toward the mountains. Glad it was not out to sea.

Surprised to see a fig tree up here. The porous rock must hold enough water to sustain it.

Returning to camp and having secured it much better, we continue to explore more of the coastline on foot.

The beach walk took us under these rocks.

Don does some beach combing.

After a day of rest we are ready to do some more exploring and check out a bay surrounded by mangroves. The tide was not our friend as it was leaving us high and dry.

Our goal for today is to made it to Bonanza Beach. Several folks have told us that this beach is their favorite. It is on the other side of the island and does not get much traffic. In fact we only saw one sailboat anchored for one afternoon when we were here. We are planning a layover so even though it was an effort to paddle against the wind we were glad to be here.

The beach is quite long which made for great walking. We also did some night exploring for some glow in the dark scorpions. A bit to our dismay we found quite a few.

Mileage paddled 10.3 nautical miles

The weather was calm this morning so we opted to do a day paddle in order to see more of the island. We were not disappointed. More beautiful rocks and even an arch was well worth the effort. A break half way gave us a good view of the shoreline.

Larry and I decided to turn back around the 7 mile mark making it a 14 mile paddle for us. Don and David paddled the whole island and even got more fish at the fish camp. Their mileage was 17.

David tried out the Greenland style paddle.

Back at camp, we make our last meal of the trip. Fresh fish and pizza rounded out the menu.

This was one of our favorite kitchens. The tide came in as we were finishing eating which made dish washing quite easy. True to form the sky was magnificent.

Its an easy paddle this morning to our pick up beach. We arrive before lunch organize our gear and wait for the return shuttle with smiles on our faces.

Baja 2016/2017