La Cruz de Huanacaxtle

On December 13th, we woke in the early morning darkness, ready to leave San Blas for La Cruz de Huanacaxtle, a small town on the northern shore of Banderas Bay, about 20 miles from Puerto Vallarta.  It was an easy trip and we were excited to arrive because my parents were already there.   As we rounded Punta Mita into beautiful Banderas Bay, whale spouts shot out of the water.  It was glorious.  

Well, glorious until the engine died…five seconds after calling my parents to tell them we would be in the anchorage in about an hour. We had been motoring because there was very little wind at this point, so we were now moving quite slowly.  It was going to be more than an hour!  Fortunately, of all places for this to happen, this was really the best possible location.  The wind picked up slightly and we were able to move forward under sail between 4-5 kts for about 30 minutes, bringing us much closer to the La Cruz anchorage.  However, after those 30 minutes, we rounded a point and the wind really died.  Inching towards our destination at about 1 knot, thoughts of dropping the dinghy and towing ourselves in came to mind.  Yikes!  Ever so slowly we were getting to where we needed to be.   Finally, we made it to the outskirts of the anchorage.  Just as we dropped the anchor, more whales appeared off our starboard side, backdropped by the mountains of beautiful Banderas Bay.  

As soon as we had the anchor secured, we hopped in the dinghy and drove to shore, looking for my mom and dad.  What a sight to see them waving from the hotel pool on the shore.  It was a pretty amazing moment, having traveled all that way and now standing there hugging my mom and dad. 

The next week we spent visiting with my mom and dad, hanging around at their fabulous beachside pool and exploring the town of La Cruz.  We also got our engine fixed, which fortunately was just a matter of adding more fuel and bleeding the lines.  Another sailing family we knew arrived at this time as well and we spent a lot of time with them, especially Josie.  

Once the boat was back up and running, we moved into the marina so that we would have easier access to my parents.  Marina Riviera Nayarit is a gorgeous spot to while away for a few days, or weeks.  Situated in a perfect location, lined with palm trees and mountains on all sides, it provides an excellent place to relax, reprovision, and conquer any necessary boat projects.  Pink and purple sunrises and sunsets were one of my favorite times, especially from where we were docked alongside the breakwater.  

After a few days of relaxing with my parents and our friends, we decided to do a day sail over to Yelapa, a little town tucked in the jungle across the bay.  My parents had been there previously and were eager to return.  After a bit of a rolly ride over, and an even rollier mooring, we managed to get onto the shore with the help of a panga.  Yelapa is gorgeous.  Towering mountains, colorful buildings, crashing waves.  We had lunch under one of the palapas on the beach and then we headed out to find the waterfall high above the town.  This was a really fun hike, with the path weaving through the circuitous town, higher and higher through the jungle until we reached a gorgeous waterfall.  After a refreshing dip in the cool water, we returned to the beach and the boat.  Initially, we had planned on staying the night, but it was REALLY rolly, so we decided to head back for a sunset sail across the bay.  I’m really glad we did as well because it was a gorgeous ride, with some fabulous whale and dolphin sightings.  

After our trip Yelapa, it was time to get ready for Christmas! We found some tiny Christmas trees at the Mega Superstore, one for each of the girls.  Josie decorated hers with some original artwork;  LouLou used decorations brought from home.  

Next, we needed to dress the outside of the boat up for the marina Christmas light contest.  This was really fun.  Josie went up the mast for the first time to secure our lights to the spreaders.  We strung more lights around the life lines and around the boom.  Ohana was looking pretty festive, if I do say so myself!  We had heard that bribery worked on the judges, so the night of the contest we baked some cookies and Josie had them ready to hand out.  LouLou was looking especially cute in her Christmas apron.  We put on some Elvis Christmas music and we were ready!  The large contingent of judges arrived at 8pm and seemed pretty impressed with everything.  We didn’t end up winning, but it was definitely a fun event.  

We spent Christmas Eve on the boat with my parents.  We had a lovely dinner of risotto and mahimahi from the fish market in the marina.  There was a lot of discussion of how Santa would find us in Mexico and where he would “come down the chimney.”  After putting out milk, cookies, and carrots,  two very excited kiddos managed to go to sleep and the next morning, amazingly!, Santa did find us.  We had a nice Christmas morning relaxing and the girls played with their new toys.  Around lunchtime, we headed over to the pool to be with my mom and dad, and that night we had a delicious Christmas dinner at the Black Forest, an excellent German restaurant in La Cruz.  It was delicious and so great to be together with family for Christmas.  After dinner, we walked back through the main square in La Cruz, which was lit up with Christmas lights.  

Soon after Christmas, it was time for mom and dad to fly home to Canada.  We were sad to say goodbye, but it had been a great visit.  It was really special to share some of our cruising experiences with our family.  So glad they made it.

The next two weeks we spent getting some boat repairs done in La Cruz.  More of our kid boat friends arrived, which was great.  We spent many days hanging out at the pool in the marina with about a dozen kiddos jumping around.  Some highlights of this time were New Year’s Eve with our friends from Mandolyn and the dodgy fireworks; Josie and the skateboard train; the fabulous Sunday farmer’s market; our trip into Puerto Vallarta; movie nights in the amphitheater; and joining our friends on their amazing boat Eventide for the Banderas Bay Cup.  

La Cruz is a lovely place and definitely an easy place to get stuck.  Just as we were leaving, more and more kid boats were arriving and those last days were wonderful, hanging out with like-minded families, living the cruising life.  But we had been there for a LONG time, and it was time for us to move on. Next stop, Tenacatita!