San Juanico

This is our favorite spot so far.  We headed up to this large bay after the night at Isla Coronados near Loreto.  We were still looking for good protection from north winds, so our goal was to anchor in the northern side of this large bay, in between several interesting rock formations. 

When we arrived there was one other boat, a sailing catamaran with a family with two little girls on board and it remained our two boats for almost the four days we stayed there.  We got to know them a bit during our stay here.  It was great to see small children for the first time in a long time!

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We tried landing our dingy for some exploration first in one area that turned out to be too shallow – we would have had to anchor the dingy a quarter mile out and wade in because of the long shallow run out.  The next area had too much surf going to land our full size dingy, so we ended up on the beach across from the boat and underneath a large home built on the cliff. 

A trail led off to the other side of the island where there is a small bay that is open to the north with a beautiful beach. 

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On our walk over to check out the other side, we met a Mexican gentleman in a pickup truck who told us he has a small ranch with goats and vegetables nearby.  His passenger was from the house, an American guy named Eric.  We later found out that Eric is a videographer hired by the owner of the large house on the cliff (and all the surrounding area one can see in the bay) to document the area.  Fortunately, the owner, a tech guy who apparently made his money in online poker, has decided against developing this area into a resort and is instead donating it to be preserved by a non-profit organization. 

The next day we dingied into shore and set the anchor about 25 feet out to avoid having a beached dingy when we returned.  Our anchor buddy is getting worn out so we can’t be guaranteed that it’s working anymore to hold us off the beach.  We shuffled our feet through the water to shore – there were numerous divots in the sand which could make you stumble, but more importantly we realized they were made by sting rays.  If you step on a sting ray and surprise it, it might sting you which hurts a lot.  So shuffling is the way to alert them to your presence. 

The beach here is a popular camping area.  Highway 1 passes by about 7 miles away and then a dirt road leads here.   Three sites were occupied when we walked by – we met some of the campers – one American couple in a popup trailer who had been in Mexico for months, another solo young guy in a small tent whose father who had just arrived from Alaska for his annual visit and sunburn – he had gotten the coronavirus vaccine already.   Someone had even cleared the beach of all the rocks, leaving them in neat piles and a resulting soft white sand beach.  We found the dirt road and headed off inland. 

After a while of walking through the dusty cactus strewn landscape we came over a rise and saw a tall orange lamppost on the left side of the road.  Totally incongruous on the dirt road. 

Across from it was a small house marked with white painted boulders, a large chicken coop and fenced areas.  We guessed this was Jose’s ranch.  We introduced ourselves to the two men sitting on the patio and one of them took us out back to see the vegetable plots.  3 large raised beds were shaded by a fabric sunshade and full of lush green vegetables.  It was almost disconcerting to see such rich greenness after so much dust and brown.  He pulled up spring onions, beets, chard, lettuce and other goodies for us.  The goats weren’t around but we were able to buy a kilo of fresh goat cheese too.  It was creamy, mild and salty – best thing we had tasted in weeks! 

We stayed here for 4 nights before continuing on our way north.  We will definitely return.  There are a number of other areas to explore when the wind is lower and the water warm enough for snorkeling.