Places We’ve Been: Bahia Marquer (Isla Carmen), BCS Mexico

We anchored in this quiet and calm anchorage for one night after doing an all day movement between different anchorages (looking for calm water) and decided we liked it so much we wanted to come back and spend more time here.  This is our story of this anchorage.

In late August of 2021 we took off from Puerto Escondido straight to Bahia Marquer to test our engine, pyrometer and exhaust AND get some time in clear water and a Baja beach.  We were not to be disappointed.  After a short two hour cruise in perfect weather, we made the approach around the corner (it’s alot bigger than it looks in the book or in this pic) and rolled up nearly on top of waypoint, BCS370.  Finding beautiful clear and clean water with a sandy bottom and no one else in the anchorage, we dropped the hook in 23 feet of water with our usual 5-1 scope…so about 105 feet of chain went out and we did our usual anchoring procedures for Tulum.  This had been practiced enough by now there was less yelling, but we sat and let the breeze take the boat for a few minutes….then got the chain hooks on the chain so we didn’t stress the windless….then added RPM’s in the reverse to dig in the hook.  After not seeing movement by my eyeball method or on the MFD (Multi-Function Device (chart plotter) we declared ourselves anchored.  Engine was shutdown, booms moved to the side so solar could fully charge and hatches open for breeze.  Since it was gorgeous clear water, I went in for a quick snorkel to look over the anchor and make sure it had dug in.  In this case, it was deep and set.  But there were other times during our years of cruising that I would go in the water and not even see the anchor….it set really well.

We stayed in Bahia Marquer for four days, loving the great holding and lite winds in this semi-protected bay.  During our time here, we were able to get out and do some snorkeling, sit Tulum in the full sun and charge lithium’s and get Quincy Dane to the beach a few times to let her run.  The morning of the 5th day, we raised anchor and took off for some time back in Bahia Candaleros.

This run on the 5th day was the two and a half hour motor sail from Bahia Marquer to Bahia Candeleros on the outside of Isla Danzante in which we met a baby whale who might have thought our hull was his mother or perhaps he was playing with us.  In any case, the 20-25-foot whale stayed with us for more than 20 minutes (I was stressed but the HelmsMistress just wanted to film it) and made numerous close passes under and around Tulum.  On two occasions the whale pushed Tulum’s bow so hard we came off autopilot.  The HelmsMistress did get some incredible footage that we’ve put into one of the movies on our Youtube channel.

This was also the week that we stayed in Bahia Candaleros for a few days and then made the tactical decision to get back into Escondido due to the approach of Hurricane Nora.  By the time she arrived in Baja, she was Tropical Storm Nora…and while we did get some rain and wind in Escondido, we muddled through it.

Here’s more info: 

Ease of anchoring:  We anchored in clear water over a white sand bottom in 23 feet of water.  We dropped about 105 feet of chain to make a 5-1 scope and I dove the anchor, finding it well dug in. 

Noise at anchor:  None.  

Provisioning:  None.   

Cellular reception at anchor:  No.

Wifi in the anchorage:  No.

Water Clarity:  Some of the clearest, cleanest water we found in Baja. 

Protection:  Completely open to the north.  Probably decent protection from the south and east.  Some protection from the west depending on how far you tuck in behind the point.   

Bugs:  Hmmm, how do I say this and still convince you this is a rad anchorage.  We had heard about bees in the summer in this particular anchorage but didn’t think much of it, as we had encountered bees in other anchorages in Baja.  But yeah, we were there in August.  We didn’t have any bee problems until our very last day there (morning of the 5th day) when we were leaving anyways and we were swarmed.  But we simply left…and the bees stayed behind.  

Beach:  Yes, huge sandy Baja beach.  

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.