Photo Archives:
Click to see past photo galleries:
San Juan & Gulf Islands;
Passage to San Francisco;
Steve Mason's Photos (Steve, a professional photographer, and his wife Teri, crewed with us from Port Townsend to Crescent City, CA);
Avalon Harbor, Santa Catalina;
A Day In Monterey;
2010 Baja Ha-Ha XVII;
La Paz and Islas Espiritu Santo & Partida .
San Juan & Gulf Islands;
Passage to San Francisco;
Steve Mason's Photos (Steve, a professional photographer, and his wife Teri, crewed with us from Port Townsend to Crescent City, CA);
Avalon Harbor, Santa Catalina;
A Day In Monterey;
2010 Baja Ha-Ha XVII;
La Paz and Islas Espiritu Santo & Partida .
Slide Show & Captions:
Click on photos for larger images, a slide show (advance with arrow), and captions.
PLEASE NOTE
We left Mexico and set sail for the South Pacific in April 2013. We made our way through Frernch Polynesia and Tonga before heading South to New Zealand to wait out the cyclone season in the tropics. In May 2013 we headed back to the islands and are now in Fiji, where we plan to spend the rest of this cruising season before heading back to the land of the Kiwis in November 2013. While we are out here with little internet access we will do our best to update this website, but we will also try to keep you posted on our adventures and location through our Sailblogs site at www.sailblogs.com/member/sailbrightangel/. In the meantime, please enjoy some photo memories of some of our favorite places in Mexico!
La Cruz de Huanacaxtle
La Crux was our first stop in Banderas Bay in 2011 and our last; in all we visited here three times, spending a little over 6 weeks in what was truly one of our favorite places to date in Mexcio. The marina is new; one of the best in Banderas Bay. La Cruz is a small, quiet (most of the time - except during holidays like Easter week when the fair comes to town!), laid-back authentic Mexican town; gringos here for the most part live in condos on the outskirts of town. For us the attractions were many and varied, but certainly included the local music scene, great restaurants, and colorful markets. Bus transportation to and from La Cruz was frequent and easy, making trips anywhere around Banderas Bay a breeze. Here are a few photos to show you what life was like for us in La Cruz
Paradise Village
We twice stayed in Paradise Village Marina, Nuevo Vallarta - in January 2011, and again in late March to mid-April 2011. The adjoining Paradise Village Resort and surrounding condos are very "touristy" but the area has some redeeming qualities, not the least of which are the beautiful grounds. Take a walk with us through some of the tropical Paradise gardens.
Puerto Vallarta
We did not spend much time in Puerto Vallarta, but the few times we braved the tourist crowds and ventured into "Old Town" we were rewarded with some interesting sites, and some wonderful food in a small, family-run neighborhood restaurant well off the tourist path. The bus rides into PV were always an adventure in and of themselves! Join us here for a stroll down the Malecon to see some of the wonderful statutes, sand sculptures and a performance by the native "Indian Flyers" and then stroll with us down some of the back streets of "Old Town."
MANZANILLO
While we had planned to sail further south than Barra de Navidad, we found Barra and neighboring Melaque so enjoyable that we stayed put in the Barra Lagoon until it was time to start heading north again. However, we did take a bus trip to Manzanillo - about 30 miles south of Barra (or 50 miles as the bus rolls) - and spent the day taking in some of the sights in this busy seaport city of over 140,000 residents. Here are some of photo memories of that trip:
Barra de Navidad
We came for a week, and stayed for a month. Barra is a vibrant little town, with some tourist influence, but not so much as to ruin its traditional flavor. We anchored in the Barra Lagoon during our stay, a little over a mile from town, and often took the panga water taxi into town ($25 peso round trip - $2 US- 24 hours a day; call them on the VHF radio and they are at your boat in 5-10 minutes). There are some wonderful restaurants and shops in Barra, an ocean beach with fabulous sunsets, a French Baker who delivers fresh baked goodies right to your boat in the Lagoon everyday, an absolutely spectacular hotel (the Grand Hotel - a Windham 5 Star property), with a marina and 27 hole golf course right across the inner harbor, a quaint little town, Colomilla, with some great beachside restaurants on the channel leading into the Lagoon, and another interesting beachside town - Melaque - just a $6 peso bus ride away! One of our abosulte favorite places in Mexico, so far. Here are some photos to help explain why