January 13
On the way from Chacala to Punta Mita, our next anchorage,
we studied the rocky shores of these islands, another marine national park, at
the north end of Bandaras Bay. Our charts had almost no info about them and
cruising books said little. Cautiously approaching from the east we saw three
orange buoys outside the area indicated for snorkeling. We anchored, donned
suits and suddenly found ourselves joined by a large Vallarta Adventures
catamaran crowding us on two of the buoys. Soon numerous snorkelers buoyed by
bright orange pfd’s bobbed around the cove. Then they launched a fleet of
yellow kayaks. What a show! The snorkeling was also good, the best so far with
lots of fish varieties and pretty clear water.
While we were anchored, a panga from Semarnat, the parks
department, came over. The driver told us we shouldn’t be anchoring there. No
signs or publications of any kind had specified we shouldn’t and we were at 40’
with mostly rocks below not ruining a reef. It looked like he was writing us a
ticket, but he said we were okay and handed us a sheet of rules. I wondered if
he had read them as nowhere did it say no anchoring. We are mystified but have
followed up via the dockmaster at Nuevo Vallarta where Gratitude is now. Trying
to live by government policies can be confusing here.
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