Mirador is currently, Saturday October 18, anchored off the Puebla de Bahia de los Angeles. She is about mile from the village tucked up into the small cove formed by a sand spit that curves around and to the SE. The prevailing winds are from the NW to NE and there is good protection from seas in those directions.
This picture is looking WSW towards the village just after sunrise.
The village has about 2,000 inhabitants but is very remote. The only road in leads down from the 3,000 summit of the Sierra San Juan mountains. There is no electricity or phone service brought in from the outside. All electricity is provided by a large diesel generator that sits next to the small city park. Telephone service is via a very expensive satellit uplink.
There is no gas station in town. Diesel and gasoline can be purchased from the Diaz family for $3.00 per gallon if you provide the containers. They tow a trailer with their four wheel drive pickup 120 miles over the mountains to Guerro Negro to purchase diesel and gasoline. They carry it back to the village in large polyeythelene tanks strapped to the trailer.
There are two "large" markets and one smaller market. Each large market is about the size of a large 7-11 store. Fresh meat and produce is trucked in from Guerro Negro on Tuesday and Saturday.
Several hundred Americans live in the vicinity in either palapas, trailers, motorhomes, tents, or some very nice stone houses. Most of the gringos spent mid-October thru late May here.
Here is the view looking east towards the lighthouse that marks the SW end of the sandspit that protects Mirador. The sun is rising over Puerto Don Juan.
This is in Puerto Refugio a few days after we were pounded by Tropical Storm Marty.
That is Pure Chance closest to Mirador and Kula in the distance. They are anchored in the same spots they were during the storm. You can see some of the rocks that surrond the anchorage.
This is Mirador's parking spot on the beach in Puerto Refugio. She went aground on the beach at the far right of the picture.
The entire shore from that spot east is rocks and cliffs.
This is looking almost due South.
This is taken from Mirador while she was anchored off Gecko Beach, about 2 miles south of the Puebla de Bahia de Los Angeles. This is looking west to the mountains that separate BLA from the coastal plain on the Western slopes that lead down to the Pacific Ocean, about 40 miles west of the 3500 foot summit.
I rode my mountain bike up to the closest large canyon in the mountains. That climb doesn't look very steep but it was a tough 2 mile uphill slog using the smallest chain ring and some big gears on the back.
This is looking north across Puerto Don Juan toward the volcano cone on Isla Coronados in the upper right part of the picture. Coronados is called Isla Smith by the cruisers to differentiate it from the more popular and frequently visited Isla Coronados which is about 200 miles south of here.
Bahia de Los Angeles includes all the islands you can see in the left half of the picture.
The Puebla de Bahia de los Angeles is about three miles to the left of the low bit of land on the left side of the middle of the picture.
Puerto Don Juan is land locked except for a narrow channel that you can see leading off to the NE in the middle right of the picture. The anchorage can hold up to 35 boats in a storm and is the best Hurricane Hole in the North Sea of Cortez.
Mirador is the boat to the bottom right of all the boats in Don Juan.
One of the major fall attractions in BLA are the Whale Sharks. These docile plankton eaters grow to 40 some feet and swim slowly on the surface while they strain the waters for sea life.
Here is a medium sized shark swimming beside Ryokosha, a Mariner 32.
This and the following pictures were taken by Paul who cruises with his wife Kathi aboard Ryokosha.
The sharks have enormous mouths that span the full width of their head. They swim along at about 1 mph with their mouths wide open.
We do swim with them but they get a little excited when we try to grab hold. They may be docile and no threat to humans but the tail of a 20' shark can still smack you a sharp blow!
Here is head on shot of a smaller one. When you are in the water with them it is hard to remember they have no interest or even ability to attack a human.