Cruising the Sea - The Other Side

When Wife and I discovered a week-long cruise aboard Cruise West’s Spirit of Endeavor out of Los Cabos north to Loreto and back, we were hooked. This was an opportunity to reacquaint ourselves with a line we had come to love, having done two Alaskan and a Panama/Costa Rica trip with them before. Plus this itinerary offered to chance to reconnoiter an area of the Sea of Cortes I had vowed to sails/v FUTHARK to one day.

We booked and managed to get out of Denver between the two huge snowstorms at the end of 2006. Since we like to explore, we rented a car and a B & B for two days before the cruise was to begin. Off we went, around both Cabos and then westward and north along the Pacific to delightful little Todos Santos – a small but growing town characterized by a burgeoning artists’ presence, galleries, quaintness, and great food. Don’t miss the menu or the gardens at Los Adobes. Our B & B, Norman Diego’s The Mexican In was in the back streets of Cabo San Lucas and a complete pleasure. Intimate describes it perfectly. Lovely and art-filled rooms around a shady, plant-packed patio featuring a melodically gurgling fountain. The dining area beneath a palapa served a wonderful continental breakfast each morning.  For a unique meal in a spectacular setting, don’t miss O Mole Mio on the main street not far from the Marina and Hotel Tesoro – incredible interior metal and woodwork.

Then came embarkation. Passengers gathered at an in-town reception area to be used to the ship in the outer reaches of the marina. There we were greeted by the captain, got to our cabins and then met above for further greetings from the crew and had welcoming libations as we motored out to view Los Arcos at sunset. The crew was 35 strong and the passengers numbered a mere 62 out of capacity of just over 102. Cruise West always provides a large, educated, capable staff of on-board naturalists, dinghy drivers, on-shore tour guides and the like. These people, locals and US citizens alike, proved invaluable throughout our week devoted to land and sea life, shore excursions, city and town tours, and nature hikes.

Our first two days sailing north were devoted to beach time, snorkeling, kayaking, backcountry hiking, and watching out for whales. And whales were spotted!  Not up close but near enough for all to see the spouting and breachings of humpbacks and fins alike. Dolphins we had galore – they came from huge pods in the dozens to the Spirit of Endeavor and frolicked around the bow area for lengthy periods of time. There always seemed to be a half dozen lazily being pushed in front of the ship’s bow bulb by its pressure wave. Easily photographed as well. The snorkeling around Espiritu Santo was especially good with clear waters and abundant fish life. The shorty wetsuits provided were welcome as the water temperature was definitely in the 60’s. They were particularly nice at Los Islotes, just north of Espiritu Santo, where many chose to swim with the seals. Nope, they were definitely California Sea Lions! And swim we did. With the 4-5’ long pups, actually; the adults had long ago become bored playing with the strange creatures sporting black, yellow, blue and flesh-colored parts and completely incapable of spending more than a lousy 2-3 minutes below the surface. But their kids were still curious about us and played, frolicked and danced around everyone in the water. Snorkelers had been warned not to wear any bling lest they wanted an up-close-and-personal encounter with a sea lion. Several got that experience when the playful little critters came close and explored earrings, bracelets, cameras or anything else glittery.  It was a grand experience.

About 260 miles north of Los Cabos we made landfall at Puerto Escondido just south of Loreto. This was a huge marina/Resort development with a nice brown golf course and apparently lots of “potential.” Our reason for stopping here was to visit Las Parras, an oasis-like Garden of Eden some 16 miles up a very bumpy, dusty and – at times – wet road. We passed domestic animals ranging freely, saw fig trees spread out 4’ wide and covering rock walls, spotted small dams holding back spring water and locations of ancient native wall paintings. Our destination, Las Parras, was established by Jesuits at the end of the 17th Century and on the road, actually path, to the second Mission to be founded by the order, San Javier. Las Parras owes its birth and present attraction to an artesian spring which irrigates a very large area planted centuries ago with the widest collection of citrus, papaya, mango, olive trees as well as extensive vineyards – all surrounded by date palm trees. A gorgeous and totally unexpected respite in the midst of typical Baja or even Sonoran mountain desert landscape. The current proprietors of the oasis had prepared a lovely feast for those along for the ride: fresh tortillas, BBQ sea bass, beans, “chocolate” clams steamed in their shells with butter and local cheese injected before cooking, and more. A unique dining experience in a lovely setting. After the meal we broke up into smaller groups for a walking tour of the plantation and learned much about the founding and history of Las Parras. Frequent sampling of the perfectly ripe fruit was welcomed.

The following day had us docked in lovely Loreto and doing a guided foot tour of the charming small town. We began at the very first Mission established in Baja California and learned how this eventually grew to a chain of establishments reaching as far north at San Francisco, CA.  We were given ample time to explore on our own before taking part in an optional event called “Ceviche by the Sea” at Sofia’s Caniople restaurant. It was actually much more as we began by making and grilling our own whole wheat tortillas – a lot of slapping back and forth, some “dropage” and a fair number of not quite perfectly round tortillas on Sofia’s grill. Then we were taught how to make ceviche, sea bass again, and spice it up for good eating along with the requisite margarita. More free time until we gathered again in the Mission for some lovely guitar playing and singing by a “mature” brother-sister team who really knew how to animate a crowd. Madame was quite the flirt and her brother had feet tapping and dance legs being exercised to La Bamba, La Cucuracha, Sinatra tunes and the like. All accompanied by very tasty area wines, cheeses, and fruit. Loreto was a hit.

We cruised south that night and docked the next day in La Paz, the capitol city of Baja California Sur with some 250,000 inhabitants. It felt much smaller. The cruisers were treated to a bus tour of the city and then an optional visit to a weaving shop, an artisans’ outlet and an intriguing pottery factory. I then walked north from our berth at the municipal pier to the Marina La Paz to visit Greg and Jill D. aboard their Norsea 27, Gwendolyn. The had sailed it out of San Francisco Bay three years ago intending to spend a couple of months in the Sea before heading south and then turning right for the Marquesas. Three years later they are still in La Paz. Gone Native. Fulltime live-aboards and in love with the city and area. It was good to see them and their sturdy, familiar craft again.

After a quick change into casual business attire aboard, I set off to do a favor for the Latitude Mexico web publisher. I had agreed to visit the lovely new Costabaja Resort & Marina, one of his advertisers on the website. All had been prearranged via email with Evelyn Estamates in the sales department. She picked me up from the pier and drove me the short distance south of La Paz to the very impressive project which is expanding out from its nucleus around a large 250-slip marina, now some 70% full. Evelyn treated me to the full tour of the double-basin marina where I saw one of the largest twin-masted sailing vessels ever. Lots of gorgeous power boats as well. On land we visited the desalination plant which currently supplies 50% of Costabaja’s water needs and will grow as the resort does. The existing 120 condos and casitas look very inviting. A championship Gary Player 18-hole golf course has been designed and will be built mid-2007. The Fiesta Inn, a 120-room hotel, is up and running as are many colorful and tastefully designed condo units. Boutiques, restaurants, groceries, and services are in place and a full 500 acres is available for expansion. The Amerimed Clinic should be up and running by the time this appears. Evelyn pointed out that Costabaja won’t be going the route of so many other grand development projects; fifteen years went into the permitting and design process and a great deal of Mexico City, Acapulco and Baja money is behind it. A staff of some 60 employees is currently making the resort and marina run like clockwork. Presently the property ownership population consists of 70% North Americans with sprinklings of Mexican, British, French and a lone Spaniard who’s been adopted as an honorary Mexican.

After our visit, Evelyn drove me to the site of the once-defunct and now-rebuilding La Paz Aquarium where Cruise West had arranged for a Beach Fiesta for it passengers. We were treated to delicious locally-prepared appetizers and beverages while a group of area musicians and dancers performed intriguing Baja tunes and dances – with a fair number of cruisers joining in the fun of the latter. And then back aboard for departure south and an overnight run into Cabo San Lucas.  We awoke to find ourselves facing the famous Los Arcos rocks, birds, sea lions, a spectacular sunrise and the large, fast fleet of sports fishing boats blazing out of port bound for those “special” spots further out to sea.  A huge Celebrity cruise ship had to drop anchor way off our stern and then ferry its passengers in and out of the harbor aboard lifeboat/tenders. We were spoiled on our 217’ vessel, being able to get up close and very personal to anything we wanted to explore more closely. Trip #4 with Cruise West had us eager for more and thus we made a small deposit on the next trip with this line – wherever it may be to.