A "post pandemic" gathering leads to us booking a charter boat in La Paz with 5 other friends.
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| La Paz Clear waters and blue sky |
Not knowing what to expect, I was surprised by clear and warm water that rivals Redang in Malaysia.
With perfect weather between 20 to 28 deg C all day, it's great snorkeling and boating temperature.
Flying out of La Paz with volaris, i took this picture from the plane, showing the perfect clear ocean that's just stunning
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| Sea of cortez from the plane |
Day 1
Departure day. First time using CBX express pedestrian crossing to get to Tijuana airport, before flying 2 hours to La Paz airport.
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| La paz airport |
A little chaotic figuring out where to go (gate changes, recheck in at tj departure hall) but all sorted out after a couple of wrong directions.
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| The CBX division showing the border on the bridge |
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| All of us lining up to get off the plane upon arrival |
I did notice Volaris has a weird deplane strategy. They will only open the overhead cabins for folks who are allowed to get off the plane. So everyone has to remain seated till their overhead cabins are open..
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| Folks getting out about 10 rows at a time |
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| Beautiful view from the restaurant |
We had lunch at the restaurant in the resort. I had soft shell crab tacos and we all had margaritas
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| Where is Juliana? |
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| Provisioning the boat, and those wines are for one night.. (others are hidden) |
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| Our bed / cabin for the next 5 nights |
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| Our toys for the next 5 days |
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| La Paz Hyatt hotel next to the fuel dock |
We hired a captain Oscar and cook Anita for this trip and it allows max relaxation for all of us.
We have 3 Bills on board.
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| Boat mum Bill swinging on the boat during sunset |
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| Olde Bill after snorkeling |
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| Cool Cerveza Billy |
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| the 4 women.. and ignore Billy on the side |
We left the marina for Balandra playa around 4pm on Monday and settled in for the night
Day 2
The first night was a little rough. The boat started rocking when the waves came in.
We also discovered everything that rocks and clatters on the boat and put everything away better (evil eye at the rolling fire extinguisher)
We woke up to a beautiful day with me and bill kayaking before breakfast.
After a scrambled egg tacos breakfast with fruits, all 7 of us loaded up on the dinghy to explore the beaches. None of us brought a camera but the clear waters are amazing.
After that we left for isla San Francisco which is about 4 hours away.
After arrival all of us jumped into beautiful and clear ocean waters and it was simply beautiful
Dinner was lentil soup with fish fillets cooked with olives and green chilli that's slightly spicy and sour.
Dessert is watching stars on the deck
Day 3
I discover sunrise is equally as nice as sunset out in the sea of Cortez
After breakfast of making our own breakfast tacos with scrambled egg with vegetables
We left for a fishing village with a good snorkeling area
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| The rocks beside the boat are good snorkeling sites |
After snorkeling, Oscar and Anita radio the fishing village and we bought some big chocolate clams and Anita made raw clams with onions and salsa with them. Yum
Saved some pretty shells as trip souvenirs to make a succulent planter.
Our lunch that day (yes, the clams are a snack!) are government taco with ceviche. Government tacos are baked shrimp with bell peppers and onions. The key is vegetables have to be al dente after baking with cheese. The sauce that goes with it is a Chipotle cream sauce that's really good
Anita also prepared a Tamarindo with guava and cinnamon that's full of vitamin c to keep us warm after swimming
After more snorkeling on the sides of the rocks and trying to topple boat mates on paddle board, it's time for more food!
Dinner is smoked marlin stuffed in chili rellenos, served with Mac and cheese with yellow bell pepper
Day 4 (Thanksgiving day)
Oscar got worried as the weather forecast is rainy and choppy. So he suggested that we can go back to marina dock for the night to avoid screaming children and crying woman..
We left Isla San Francisco on day 4.
First we went to San Espiritu to look at the national park for sea lions. It's beautiful out there with the belching sea lions
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Sea lions at San Espiritu
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We also stop at a few beautiful coves.
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| One of the beautiful coves |
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| Another cove with a cross |
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| Leaving the cove |
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| The breaking point . Left is Isla Partida and right is Espirito Santo |
Then we brought the boat to another snorkeling site to enjoy another day of great snorkeling
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| Playa Candelero snorkeling site |
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| Bill having fun with the life ring |
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| Pica Pica before real lunch before we waste away |
Lunch at the snorkeling area
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| Thanksgiving lunch with chicken rellenos, grilled veg platter and mac & cheese |
We went back to the marina for the night, enjoying the sunset from the boat
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| Sunset from the ocean |
It was a good choice to go back to the marina, as one of the holding tanks is not draining. So we need to get it pump out. Think exploding sewage out of the drain.. eewww
For dinner we are able to grill carne asada and Anita made crazy potatoes with them. She added double baked to the grill meat, put into foil packs with mushroom and cheese. Dessert is flan. A unique thanksgiving dinner
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| Loco patatas |
Day 5
This is our last full day for the trip. Boat is wet from the rain the night before. And the sky is a little gray today.
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| Perfectly round and warm pancakes for breakfast |
After the holding tank is pumped out, we went to another cove what allows divers and swimmers to go into the waters with sea lions. We brought in the dinghy to take a look but it's pretty busy and dangerous with so many snorkelers and divers that we didn't linger
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| Tough to get good pictures trying not to crash into anyone |
Instead, we took the dinghy to explore other coves around the area
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| A small cove next to the boat docking area with mangroves |
After that we went back to the boat to have lunch
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| Lunch for our last day at sea, with fidel soup and chicken A la king |
After lunch, we went snorkeling and saw more fishes and turtle. Lots of pretty corals too.
We headed back into the marina again to spend the night. Anita has her special tataki and ahi poke with eel sauce for dinner. The tuna tataki has jalapenos sliced on top with ginger.
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| Dinner with tuna tataki and poke |
Day 6
Checkout and departure day.
All of us woke up a little sad to be leaving.
But it's been a great trip.
After another great breakfast by Anita with quesadilla, fruits and yoghurt, it's time for us to head out to the airport
Fun times , good friends, yummy food and great weather..
