Along Baja coast to Cabo

Captain Chris enjoys the solitude of Los Muertos 

After several weeks anchored in wonderful La Paz, we finally pulled anchor and sailed Espiritu down the southeast coast of Baja to our present location of Cabo San Lucas. 

Our first stop: Bahia Balandra

So happy to be at Balandra after hearing about it for months!

Balandra beach is well positioned a stones throw from bustling La Paz, so it's a 

big weekend destination for Mexican locals. 

Chris smiles while Mexican tourists pose next to the famous upside down mushroom rock here

Espiritu at anchor with our friend Laurin aboard s/v Second Wind

Inside a cave here, these boulders seemed to defy gravity by hanging from the ceiling

Another view of beautiful Balandra (Espiritu is in the corner upper right)

Chris finally got his turn for the de riguer tourist shot 

We jumped in the dinghy and motored deeper into the wide bay.

The view only got more beautiful...

Gorgeous Balandra -- it doesn't get any better than this!

Locals relax in the crystal clear water

Perfect spot for a beach umbrella

So pretty -- only problem is, believe it or not the water was too cold to swim.

It is still winter, after all.

Locals enjoying the view

Kinda looks a little like the South Pacific, doesn't it? 

It was bittersweet jumping back in the dinghy and returning to Espiritu.

How we will miss the Sea of Cortez!

That night at anchor, a tropical-style lightning storm blew through, bringing back fond

 (NOT!) memories of our rainy season in Central America in 2012.

We pulled anchor at first light and headed south through the squalls

Spectacular sunrise at sea

Next stop: Bahia Los Muertos

Espiritu rests in the anchorage (upper right) at Los Muertos

We dinghied ashore and took a walk up the white sand beach

to visit a resort at the other side of the bay

The resort is trying to rename the bay from Bahia Los Muertos (bay of the dead)

to Bahia Los Suenos (bay of dreams). Change is slow here. 

Peaceful resort beach

Check out this spectacular high end suite! The great thing about staying here in

 Baja rather than Hawaii or Costa Rica is there are NO BUGS, so an evening

in an al fresco suite like this is (I'm guessing, since we are of course only passing

 through the suite -- ha!) a real pleasure. 

Another peek into life in a luxury Los Muertos vacation suite

We took one last look at the lovely Los Muertos (I mean, Los Suenos!) 

resort before heading back to Espiritu

At the other end of the beach there are the remains of a fishery/cannery, long ago abandoned.

I love these bricks on the wall of the fishery. Someone was very industrious, creative or drunk when they built this wall (maybe all three!). Regardless, I love it. If we ever rebuild our fireplace back home I'm using this as the model. 

Other than the resort, there's one little restaurant on the beach in Muertos.

This was our view from the restaurant where we split an entree 

(we're economy cruisers 'til the end!) and nabbed some WiFi. 

Gotta admit, it was hard to leave.

I thought this sign above the kitchen ("Employees Spa") was kinda tacky.

Inside the local food service workers put in very long hours for little

pay in the "sauna" slinging hash and the "steamroom" washing dishes. :-/ 

My last photo of Los Muertos is also my last photo of the beautiful Sea of Cortez 

which has exceeded my expectations for her peaceful natural beauty:

Goodbye, adios, beautiful Sea of Cortez

We're now in Cabo San Lucas preparing to bash north along the coast.

What can I say? It's been a spectacular 18 months down here.

 If you can get here to visit, do it.

That is all.