Places We’ve Been: Honeymoon Cove, BCS Mexico

With engine/exhaust challenges ongoing in Puerto Escondido during Covid, we needed to get out and reconnect with our vibe in clear water and sandy beaches.  So we gingerly took Tulum off the docks and slowly made our way to the closest anchorage we had never been to…Honeymoon Cove.

The three lobes of Honeymoon Cove sit on the western side of Isla Danzante, a seahorse shaped island situated inside the Parque Nacional Bahia Loreto.  Isla Danzante sits just 4 miles across from the premier hurricane hole and marina/anchorage at Puerto Escondido, in Baja California.  On a normal basis in spring and summer, the Honeymoon Cove lobes were filled with either a myriad of tourist pangas exploring the beaches and clear water or had a super yacht sitting in the middle of the lobe, making it impossible to anchor safely.

On the day we took off from Escondido we were happy to find no super yachts in the area yet and an open lobe.  The western lobe was filled with the requisite tourist pangas and another boat was in the eastern lobe, but the middle lobe was empty.  So we decided to check it out.  Turns out there’s deep water until right up close to shore, so we ended up anchoring in nearly 40 feet of water, but pretty close to shore.  We messed about in the clear water as I watched and fretted over the afternoon winds sure to come up and checked weather again.  After seeing weather, I knew we needed to find another anchorage, as there would be weather from the south coming in on us.  How disappointing it was to leave the clearest water around, teeming with life in order to go find another anchorage.  So we moved this first time down the island to the “4th” lobe, which had a rocky bottom and not great protection.  After anchoring and bringing up the hook again, after not great holding, we knew we needed to get somewhere with better protection.  So in the end, we chugged back down to Ensenada Blanca/Bahia Candeleros, where we found good anchoring and a few days of great weather.  But, I’d LOVE to go back to Honeymoon Cove…and know several boats who would stay there long term because of the beauty of the sunsets over the Gigante Mountains and the absolutely clear water.

Here’s more info: 

Ease of anchoring:  We anchored over mixed rock and sand in the second lobe in 40 feet of water (close to Shawn/Heather Waypoint BCS340), but even with shorter scope it put us surprisingly close to shore even in deep water.  Although we had a decent hook, we knew there was the possibility of afternoon wind from the south and decided to find another anchorage after we messed about for the day in the clear water. 

Noise at anchor:  None.  

Provisioning:  None.  But this popular set of anchorages is just 4 miles across from Puerto Escondido, which has a good restaurant and a decent store. 

Cellular reception at anchor: Yes.

Wifi in the anchorage:  Yes if you can convert cell to Wi-Fi or if you have Starlink.

Water Clarity:  Some of the clearest, cleanest water we found in Baja with lots of underwater life.  We snorkeled right off Tulum and we were uber impressed with the life around us. 

Protection:  Probably some mild protection from easterly wind and swell.  Completely open to the south and west.  Probably some mild protection from the north but I would guess there would be some mean wrap around swell.   

Bugs:  None. 

Beach:  Yes. Baja beaches in two lobes of the cove.  

Would We Go Back:  Yes!    

Ok, my disclaimer:  Please don’t use my posts for navigation.  They are meant to be informative and mildly interesting travel blog posts but not navigational aids.  There- nuff said.  

Got questions about Baja, cruising with family, taking a Great Dane cruising on a sailboat- we did all that and would love to hear from you if you wanna shoot us questions.