LA CRUZ de HUANACAXTLE
Here is a map for those of you not familiar with the West Coast of the Mexican mainland:
It is 423 miles from here to Mexico City and 603 miles from here to Laredo on the Texas/Mexico border.
La Cruz is a typical Mexican fishing village of about 3,000 people situated on the NW part of Banderas Bay, about half way between Puerto Vallarta and Punta de Mita on the Pacific Ocean. Here is a map of the local area where Mirador is anchored:
Following is a whole bunch of pictures taken in La Cruz late in the afternoon
December 23, 2003. You can enlarge any picture by double clicking on it.
It is about 21 miles, by road, from La Cruz to downtown Puerto Vallarta. There is excellent bus service from Punta de Mita, thru LaCruz, Bucerias, the airport, SAMs Club, all the way into Puerto Vallarta. The bus costs $1.20 US one way and is always a thrill to ride.
Some of the beachfront homes and condos that line the road from La Cruz to Bucerias.
This is the dinghy landing area in front of the Crew's Quarters patio bar. Crew's Quarters used to be the big cruiser hangout but is only occasionally open and is not so popular as it was several years ago. Part of the reason is that last fall Hurricane Kena washed away much of the beach in front of the patio. Now it is just a steep rocky slope instead of the nice white sand it was before Kena.
This is the house adjacent to Crew's Quarters, looking from the beach into the kitchen.
The patio that used to be the cruisers all day hangout.
This outboard repair shop, also on the beach next to Crews Quarters, has to have one of the nicest views of any shop in the world.
The villagers really depend on fishing and the cruisers for their economy. Here are some of the pangas waiting on the beach. That is the La Cruz breakwater in the distance.
All the streets in La Cruz are cobblestone and are made from local small rocks. This is looking from the beachfront street up the hill to the main highway, about six blocks away.
The town square, zocalo, is just off the beach and is the center of activity in the evening and at night. The square has a volleyball court and basketball court at the other end.
Here are some examples of the traditional Mexican homes and shops in the area.
Every street corner has a tienda (small store) for local shopping.
The building with the Corona Beer sign on it, in the center picture
above, is a small grocery store. The upper open floor with the tin roof is
the pool hall. You can see the beach front, the inner harbor, and the
breakwater in the center picture to the left of the furthest building which is
the Deposito shown in the right hand picture. This is where one goes for
Cerveza.
La Cruz (The Cross) de Huanacaxtle is on the town's roundabout, about four blocks up the hill from the beach.
This house is on the roundabout and the the Senora is preparing tomales for dinner on the charcoal barbeque sitting on the sidewalk. It appears that 90% of the town's social activities occur in the street or on the sidewalk. The next picture shows the chairs, some in the street, waiting for folks to gather.
Here are some more street scenes in La Cruz.
The right most picture is taken from the main highway above town, looking east toward Puerto Vallarta.
Filos is the major cruiser bar/restaurant, music venue in La Cruz. This is looking into Filos from the other side of the street. On New Years eve there were 10 or 15 tables set up in the street to handle the overflow crowd. Just to the left of the smaller door is Casa Lori which is a small barbeque stand and cooking facility that prepares the food for Filo. Casa Lori also sets tables in the street to handle the customers who don't want to eat inside Filos.
Filos
has a dance floor and small stage. The stage is setup to be a recording
facility with a nice computerized control room for the recording situated next
to the bar. There is music and dancing at Filos Tuesday thru Sunday.
Filos also has a a separate room for pool and watching TV and a small swimming pool.
Finally, back to the dinghy landing and the waterfront.
