Son of a Sailor

A seemingly remote anchorage close to a major port and full of whales.

Let’s get this out of the way first: Use this post for information or entertainment only, please do not use this post for navigation.

**The black arrow shows you Carrizal, about 4 hours south of Barra and an hour or so into Manzanillo/Las Hadas.**

After a magical week at the posh hotel and marina in Barra de Navidad, we took off south for Ensenada Carrizal. Funny, this span of 10 days or so would put us in the shallowest and deepest water we would anchor in for over two years- 11 feet at Barra Lagoon and 45 feet of water in Carrizal. No matter, it was great holding and put us a bit further out in the anchorage…but allowed us to sit and soak in the Humpback Whales and their calves at close range. Our first time here would not be our last time here, we fell in love with this anchorage.

The larger circle shows you the Shawn and Heather Waypoint a bit shallower than we anchored, almost always a boat right over that waypoint…the smaller star show you approximately where we anchored Tulum.

What can I say about this anchorage: good holding, humpback whales and calves right inside the anchorage playing, resting and teaching the babies, good snorkeling with mediocre spearfishing and clear water close to the rocks and decent weather. We loved it.

Check out the slideshow below with underwater pics taken by the HelmsMistress:

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

This was also the anchorage where I woke up one morning to find that a Dashew FPB (65?) had slipped in sometime during the night. I think the crew got some sleep, upped anchor and took off again. But it sure peaked my interest in long-haul passage making powerboats.

Needless to say, Carrizal was close to good provisioning, provided good protection and became a favorite anchorage of ours on the Gold Coast. I would go back and I recommend you check it out. It’s probably crowded with boats by now, but we went during Covid, which may explain why there were so few cruising boats.

Here’s more info:

Ease of anchoring: We anchored over sand/mud with good holding. We anchored in 45 feet of water with 280 feet of chain down. I had written in my log that it seemed a tighter anchorage but it wasn’t…it was my perception at the time.

Noise at anchor: None, except when the Humpbacks blow and breach….or on weekends when the party boats full of Mariachi Bands come circle the cruising boats (true story).

Provisioning: None, but this anchorage is about two hours away from Las Hadas near Manzanillo, which has access to a Costco.

Cellular reception at anchor: Not much.

Wifi in the anchorage: None.

Water Clarity: Yes, close to shore.

Protection: Protection from most directions except from the south. We attempted to get north out of here once to find giant swells and wind, but the anchorage was perfect. We went back.

Bugs: None.

Beach: Yes, but it was kind of rocky, tide dependent, mostly gravel.

Would We Go Back: Yes, we would make it a point to go back to this anchorage, simply of the abundance of wildlife, proximity to great provisioning and good protection.

**Carrizal Sunrise by the HelmsMistress.**

**Tulum at Sunset, Carrizal. By the HelmsMistress**

We alternate between writing about places we visited on our cruising sailboat (Tulum-5) and places we’ve visited more recently (Greece, Japan & our roadtrips) so that we can put out interesting and varied content. All of the travel we write about has been done with our family, so we want to encourage families and highlight our own travels, because we believe you can do it too!

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YouTube Video and Additional Posts featuring anchorages along the Gold Coast of Mexico:

The Whale Songs of Carrizal– YouTube

The HelmsMistress Presents: “The Whale Songs Of Carrizal”, Live On YouTube

From The HelmsMistress: Las Hadas Anchorage and the Whale Songs of Carrizal

Time to leave Disneyland: Barra de Navidad and Ensenada Carrizal

Places We’ve Been: Barra De Navidad Lagoon, Jalisco MX

Places We’ve Been: Cuastecomate & Melaque, Jalisco MX

Places We’ve Been: La Manzanilla, Jalisco MX

Places We’ve Been: Bahia Tenacatita, Jalisco MX