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I spent a few years on a sailboat as a kid…and have memories of my first boat in San Juanico. That was in the late 70’s, but I’ll venture to say that not much has changed about the place….except for the ultra luxury off-grid houses built between San Juanico and La Ramada Cove (nudie cove). San Juanico is covered in some detail in the Shawn and Heather Book (Sea of Cortez, A Cruisers Guidebook) on pages 197-199. These pages also cover La Ramada (nudie cove).
San Juanico Cove is a large bay north of Loreto that has become known as a cruisers playground. Hard to get to by road (mostly washes) but easy to get into by boat. There are multiple known anchorages in the bay depending on your own taste for privacy or company and there’s snorkeling/diving in the bay, as well as the “Cruisers Tree”. I’m not sure where this tradition came from, but there’s a tree tucked onto a rocky beach in the north end of this cove that cruisers leave momento’s under and on…hanging or attached in order to leave something of their memories in the area. We actually found the tree after a hike from La Ramada….not when we were in San Juanico proper. There is also a farm.
The Farm: Yep, it’s not just a cruisers urban legend. Even during Covid, our masks with us…we hiked west on the road out of the San Juanico/Playa San Basilio for about a mile until we actually found it. The farm (then) was very, very well manicured and had all sorts of produce in raised beds with very modern mist watering systems making sure everything grew. I’m not sure who was eating all of it, but the farmer and his family were more than willing to sell what he could to us cruisers. We were more than happy to buy. Then we walked back to the beautiful surrounding cove and boats at anchor.
We stayed in San Juanico a couple different times. Both times we did numerous snorkel expeditions and I went across the bay to one of the other anchorages looking for better spear fishing…not to find it that day. Writing this story (and many of my other stories) I opened Tulum’s Logbooks to find more exact details of our time here. Our last time in San Juanico, we stayed with a few “kid” boats for four days,- going to the farm, snorkeling and hanging out. We had moved from La Ramada because of northerly wind. Tulum anchored over sand in 21 feet of water and I put 150 feet of chain out. How do I know it was sand? Well, I could see my anchor. Here’s more info:
Here’s more info:
Ease of anchoring: We anchored over a sand in 21 feet of water.
Noise at anchor: None.
Provisioning: Yes, surprisingly we found fresh produce and eggs at “the farm” near the anchorage.
Cellular reception at anchor: None.
Wifi in the anchorage: None
Water Clarity: Water was pretty clear till the afternoon winds pick up.
Protection: Good protection from the north, west, and some from the south. If wind were to come from the east heading west, it would come right into the bay. Probably not the best place to be in a southerly, I would move to La Ramada.
Bugs: Maybe on the beach.
Beach: Yes, there’s white sand and rocky beaches.
Would We Go Back: Yes, there was decent snorkeling and it’s a popular place that people think is very scenic. Good hiking.
Others posts I’ve recently written about places we’ve been:
Places We’ve Been: Painted Cliffs On Isla Carmen In BCS, Mexico
Places We’ve Been: Bahia Salinas, Isla Carmen in BCS Mexico
