Puerto Escondido to Isla Coronados

Puerto Escondido is one of the Sea of Cortez’s most protected harbors. It used to be a cruiser anchorage that served as a “hurricane hole” – a place you could hunker during high winds and storms. It was recently developed into an upscale marina with paid mooring balls. We stopped there to stock up on the necessities. Everything was crazy expensive and we had to rent a car to get to Loreto, 14 miles away, where the nearest ATM and grocery store were located. We wouldn’t call this stop convenient by any means. Our highlight of this portion of the trip is that we found Tillamook extra sharp cheddar!

Stocked up on fuel, water and cheese, we sailed north to Isla Coronados, one of the Loreto National Park islands. This place was spectacular with its crystal blue water, white sand, volcanic geology and wildlife. We saw several species of rays, sea lions, dolphins and whales here. Jeremyah came face-to-face with an 8-foot moray eel while snorkeling! We will post our underwater and wildlife photos soon, once we get our Go Pro sorted out.

Photo of the Puerto Escondido mooring field. There is also an upscale marina with a restaurant, but not much else, and the drive to Loreto was 14 miles. It was very hot here and after the third day, we were anxious to get back to an open sea breeze.

Loreto is a lovely little town. We spent a couple of hours there getting groceries and hitting up the ATM. The nearby Loreto National Park islands are stunningly beautiful, with great anchorages.

This photo was taken on approach to Isla Coronados. The island has a volcano, white sand beaches and rugged volcanic coastal geology.

View to the west on the volcano hike. Jeremyah made it to the top, but Amanda overheated and turned around. It must have been 100 degrees up there! The land gets so hot the further you get from the water.