Places We’ve Been: Major Stops Along Mexico’s West Coast

We loved anchoring and exploring anchorages (especially during Covid) but we also stopped to experience larger, more vibrant ports and marinas in Mexico.  This is a quick rundown of the ports and marinas we stopped and spent time at…while we were in Mexico. 

We stayed and cruised in Mexico for three years straight, spending most of that time in and around Baja California and the Gold Coast of Mexico.  We also spent time heading down the rest of west coast Mexico bound for Central America.  So here’s some of the stories we’ve already written about those places, given to you as links to click and read about our time and experiences in these places….many of them favorites we would love to go back to:

Puerto Escondido:  I feel like we’ve covered Puerto Escondido in numerous posts, but I’m throwing it on here for consistency.  We spent time here working on our exhaust system and used it as a base for several driving trips up and down Baja to get parts and see family.  We loved this marina and port and I would love to go back.  Can’t say enough great things about it….but it does get windy and very hot in summer/fall.

La Paz:  What can I say about the city of peace that we have not already said.  We loved it here.  The food was great, the provisioning was easy- fresh and abundant, the marinas are good and there’s baby whale sharks right across the bay.  Right outside of La Paz are various islands.  We also hauled Tulum out here and got our entire suite of standing rigging rebuilt here.  Good prices and quality work.

Mazatlan:  Maz is still one of our favorite places.  We never went into the marinas here, always choosing to anchor in the old harbor like I did as a kid in the late 70’s.  Not much had changed except for the new ferry port.  We loved old town Mazatlan for the cobblestone streets and colonial era buildings…and the food was terrific.  We have memories of dinner at the La Marea overlooking the old harbor, after an overnight crossing blow that came out of nowhere.  But, we got through it and what a wonderful Thanksgiving it was!  & of course, we played Catch and Release here once.

La Cruz:  La Cruz Marina in Banderas Bay/Puerto Vallarta is one of the favorite marinas along the whole coast.   The marina has an easy fuel dock to get on, easy walking into a friendly small town with good restaurants, a good veterinarian and good provisioning (Costco in PV).  Check in & out is easy and we hauled the boat out here too for several weeks of bottom work, staying at Cruisers Comfort at Katrina and Mike’s place on the hill while we were there.  Our friend and sailmaker/rigger Mike passed away earlier this year, but Katrina is still in the area and still works for La Cruz Marina (as I understand it?).  This is also where we were able to meet celebrity sailors all in one place.  YouTube Trawler fans will recognize the marina from clips on M/V NOETA’s  YouTube videos.

Barra de Navidad:  We stayed at the marina at Barra for about a week once, buying and very much enjoying pastries from the French Baker and definitely enjoying the pool.  We anchored out in the shallows once, but I was suspect of the holding in the mud, glad to have been able to get a slip.

Las Hadas/Manzanillo:  We stayed in the Las Hadas anchorage twice while we were in Mexico, much of it has not changed since I stayed here on Tulum II as a kid in the 70’s.  There’s a Costco just across the golf course that’s an easy taxi run from Las Hadas so provisioning was good.  The marina has med morring mostly for the local charter fishing boats, but diesel is available and they let me jerry jug so that worked.  We loved the cruisers bar (in the condo area) with the view of the harbor, didn’t spend much time in the resort, especially during Covid.

Zihuatanejo:  The last time we cruised the Gold Coast, we headed to Zihua to make it there by Christmas.  We had spent Thanksgiving in Mazatlan…so we zoomed (at our speed) through the rest of the Gold Coast to get here by Christmas and made it.  Loved Zihua as an anchorage and the people and food were awesome.  

Acapulco:  We stayed here through the New Years holiday, out on one of Vincente’s moorings.  While here, we found good provisioning and friendly people.  We enjoyed a night out to watch the cliff divers and sunset, watched the largest fireworks display any of us had ever seen and bought a new dinghy, since ours was sinking when you sat down in it.

Huatulco:  We stayed here for nearly two weeks, waiting on T-Pec weather, traveling and making sure we took on a new crew member, a baby kitty plucked out of a back alley and handed to us.  She became our boat cat, existing with our 140-pound Great Dane and loving it.  Marina Chahue was a good marina but still seemed to be developing, evidenced by the outdoor showers and few facilities….we didn’t care.  And we noticed some shallow spots in and around the marina, inquire about tides and depths before you go into the marina.  But Tulum has a deep draft and we got in just fine, so you can too! 

Puerto Madero/Chiapas:  Yep, we stayed here for awhile too, waiting on parts.  During our stay and wait on parts (depth sounder) we did several inland trips (loved it) and took the time to fly home to see family and conduct some business in the US.  Chiapas Marina has a good crew and a really safe harbor with a good haul out hard + good provisioning in Tapachula.  This place is a melting pot of southern Mexico and Central America, so there was a variety of peoples but pretty country.  Safe marina, but you may be checked by Mexican soldiers with a dog AS SOON as you pull into a slip….so be prepared.

So this is my quick run down of the major ports and marinas we went to in Mexico.  All of these places have marinas, but we didn’t stay in a marina at all of them.  Marinas were nice with kids and the dog for fuel, provisioning and keeping the crew happy.

One of the stories we wrote about Mazatlan was published in Latitudes and Attitudes, check it out here:  Catch and Release