La Cruz has been on my personal map for LONG before we anchored our boat here. Our friends Casey, Jeff and Matt sailed around the world and stayed in this anchorage a decade and a half ago. I’ve always remembered the name of the place and sort of where it’s located. If you type it into google maps as La Cruz you won’t find it easily unless you zoom in and know where to look (for reference it’s North of Puerto Vallarta in the same bay). The official name is La Cruz de Huanacaxtle. I’ve heard it pronounced but I don’t think I can even come close to pronouncing that. I would bet that Casey Jeff and Matt would be surprised at how much it’s changed in 15 or so years but it’s still a very cool place. It has streetside restaurants that come alive with rooftop music venues in the evening and many places that serve an excellent Margarita and cold beer. There are several marinas in Banderas Bay (where La Cruz and Puerto Vallarta are located) but this town is a favorite of ALL the cruisers I’ve talked to.
Puerto Vallarta and Nuevo Vallarta have been and continue to develop rapidly. La Cruz has improved its roads and access from 15 or 20 years ago and I imagine someday it may be swallowed up by mega hotels too but for now it retains a very nice local and small town charm. Banderas Bay is the largest deep water, sheltered bay on the West Coast of Mexico and in the winter Humpback Whales congregate here to sing to one another and nurse calves until they are big enough to continue with the pods in their migration which will soon begin again. This morning a pod of dolphins swam by. Because our boat casts a shadow there’s an ecosystem of little fish that live underneath it. In the morning they swim near the surface and make little bubbling noises like the water is fizzing. When we turn on our newly installed lights on the dinghy arch in the evening a pelican or two will quickly show up and patrol just on the edge of the light like feathery battleships, looking for a late evening fish treat.
Of course boat projects never really end, and since we’re living on our boat we have normal life things to do. Right now I’m listening to the water-maker run. Since we’re not at a marina we have to make our own fresh water.
The La Cruz anchorage is a little more full today since there is a pretty big ‘norther’ building in the Sea of Cortez which is ripping right down the West Coast of Mexico with gale force winds. Happily we’re behind a mountain here in the bay but I’ll be interested to see what the wind peaks at here in La Cruz. As I write this we’re a few hours from the forecasted peak of the winds and it hasn’t been nearly as gnarly as it was in La Paz. Yay for that!
We’ve figured out how to get around here in Banderas Bay. It’s different from La Paz but we’ll save that for our next story! “Chicken Bus”.
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