Places We’ve Been: Caleta de Campos (Bufadero), Michoacán MX

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.

Another 35 mile run down the Mexican Gold Coast….to Bufadero.  This place is known for its surfing….which means most cruisers might avoid it because of incoming swells.  We decided to give it a chance.

Knowing we couldn’t make it all the way to Zihua in one day from Maruata….we headed out for another 35 mile run straight down the Mexican Gold Coast bound for Caleta de Campos.  This is a place that some cruisers might avoid based on the guide book’s description of great surfing….as that often signals swells and waves.  We decided to give it a go, as we needed to get close enough to Zihua to make the run in nearly a day.  So Caleta Campos was perfect.

We took off early in the morning, motor sailing south with light winds on the nose but as soon as the sun warmed things up, that wind tended to die.  We made good time on this run of 35 miles, not encountering too many nets or floats.  But what we did see was the MOST turtles we had ever seen in a day, just all over the water….lazily swimming in the sun as they went.  They were peaceful and quiet.

We approached and entered Caleta de Campos around 1410, having made the 35 mile run in about 7 hours…..meaning we were pretty slow but that’s ok, we made it.  We dropped anchor over sand in 32 feet of water on the right side of the anchorage, putting out 150 feet of chain.  My notes say that it wasn’t much of an anchorage, with little protection and lots of incoming swell.  But that’s the same as what the guidebook tells us about the place.  We made sure the anchor was well set, cleaned up the boat from the days run and prepped for our long run the next day.

Here’s more info:

Ease of anchoring:  We anchored close to or on MIC021 from page 185 of the Shawn and Heather book, Pacific Mexico with good holding.   We found 32 feet of water over sand that held just fine with 150 feet of chain out.  The anchorage/bay is larger than it looks.           

Noise at anchor:  No, just the swells against the shore. 

Provisioning:  Maybe, there’s a small town here.   

Cellular reception at anchor:  Possibly by now?

Wifi in the anchorage:  Nope. 

Water Clarity:  Nope, because of the swells. 

Protection:  Protection from the north & south if you can tuck in enough.  None from the west. 

Bugs:  None.  

Beach:  Yes, but the swells might make it hard to get there.   

Would We Go Back:  Yes, if we had to.  As per the book and our own experience, this anchorage did have pretty massive swells hitting the beach and pretty good swells coming under us, but nothing we couldn’t handle.  We slept well and held nicely.  

My posts are not for navigation but they are for information….hopefully you can take a look at them and decide whether you might want to try one of these anchorages.  

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Wanna read other posts about this coast?  Here they are:

Places We’ve Been: Las Hadas, Colima MX

Places We’ve Been: Punta Cabeza Negra,Michoacán MX

Places We’ve Been: Bahia de Maruata, Michoacán MX