We just got back from three weeks at the remote islands that lay hundreds of miles off the coast of Mexico. Part of the Revillagigedo archipelago we anchored off of both San Benedicto and Socorro Islands. This is a National Park in Mexico that few people ever visit. Mostly because of how hard it is to get there. And once you’re there, you are not allowed ashore. So between travel time and visiting time, Anna and I have not touched foot on tierra firma ( hard ground) for a month. Other than navy personal and parque nacional employees, the only humans to this remote location are people who want to get in the water and swim/snorkel/dive with all the aquatic non-human locals and visitors. Of which there are many. Having done just that, we were greatly rewarded. Now just in case you were thinking, how could Anna put up with me in such a small space for so long? The answer is easy. We spent a lot of time underwater where she couldn’t hear me. We also didn’t go alone so to speak. We were very lucky to have another boat accompany us on this trip. Dan and Nancy on the sailing vessel Karvi also spent the last month with us at the different anchorages. Lucky for us because our generator which we needed to run our water-maker stopped working, and they have a really good water maker. Otherwise our trip would have been much shorter. Being able to play cards and socialize with someone else also helped make the remoteness even more enjoyable.
Some of the more fascinating wildlife we got to see consisted of many hammerhead sharks, white-tipped sharks, silky sharks and even a huge (jaws sized) tiger shark. Anna says it wasn’t that big, but she’s always telling me I say things are bigger than they are. The tiger shark was a little intimidating, especially when it turned and swam directly at us. We swam up close and personal with manta the size of a Volkswagen (if the vw was flat), many sea turtles of various sizes, multiple types of eels, octopus, tuna, barracuda, crevalle and thousands of beautiful reef fish, including the clarion angelfish which is found only in this region.
Speaking of the manta. They were one of the biggest draws. It’s impossible to put down in words the feeling I had swimming on my back, belly to belly inches away from one of these beautiful amazing creatures. Or seeing Anna swimming next to one much bigger than her. Finger tip to wing tip. It’s fascinating that they swim by and then turn around and come back. Probably they’re as curious of us as we are of them. I know for sure the silky sharks and the white tip sharks are curious. The silky who are as big as us, will circle and swim around you for as long as you can stay there. The white tips who are a little smaller just keep swimming by turn around and come back. Just close enough to check out, but not close enough to feel threatened. That is when they are not resting on the bottom. Not true with the silky. I’ve definitely watched enough episodes of shark week to feel threatened by them. However, there are divers swimming with them quite a lot out there.
When we finally had to leave, we were not so fortunate to have cooperating weather. The trip back north to La Paz was a grueling experience. We had to motor the entire way. The second night of the trip the winds which were only 25 knots on the nose were pleasant compared to the steep 9 foot seas that seem to come from all directions and slam us this way and that. Keeping the deck constantly awash. Making sleep unattainable. Even in our catamaran things were flying off the shelves. But as the sun came up and we got in the wind and wave shadow of the southern tip of Baja, things started to mellow out. With the sun out and beautiful blue skies we were able to start enjoying ourselves again. We ducked into San Jose Del Cabo to get fuel and motored up to beautiful Bahia Los Frailes where the anchorage was so calm we thought we were on land. Something we hadn’t experienced since we left Puerto Penasco.
I will upload some of the amazing pictures Dan on Karvi got with his underwater camera as soon as I can get my hands on them.
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