Bahia Concepcion to Punta Chivato

Eco beach at Playa Escondida

We spent eight days in Bahia Conception. It reminded me of a Scottish loch with ridges of mountains rising along both sides. Instead of pine trees and heather there were tall cacti and prickly bushes. No waterfalls cascaded down the gullies because there is no rain until the hurricane season begins.

RV's at Playa Coco

Playa Santispac has a beach bar and a restaurant. We went to Ana’s for lunch and met up with Tamara and Andrew from Veraison.  Our next anchorage was at Playa El Coco. We were the only cruising vessel there, perhaps because there was no restaurant. Nearby is the eco beach of Playa Escondida, where we met former world cruisers, Katie and Jim, who used to own S/V Tenaya. Now they have a motor home.  From here there are good trails over the hill to Playa El Coco and out to Highway 1. We think we found a warm spring, but it was so depleted and half full of debris that neither of us felt like touching the water.

All alone at Playa Coco

The strong north winds abated for a day, so we headed to the southern anchorage of Isla Requeson. We crossed a sandspit that joins the island to the mainland in the dinghy on our way to the hotel and restaurant at Playa Buenaventura. We met land travellers, Stu and Norma, on the beach and had lunch with them. The food was good and plentiful and the owner was friendly. It was worth paying a little extra for the amazing seafront view.

The sandbar and the anchorage behind Jeremy, from the top of the island

The afternoon wind had risen while we ate and we had a wet ride in the dinghy back to a pitching Sal Darago. A motor boat arrived and anchored in quiet water in the shallows. We took the dinghy to the island and followed the trail up to the top. Like several before, the trail petered out or there had been rock falls and we had to pick our way over rough and slippery ground avoiding the prickly bushes waiting to grab our legs as we passed.

On top of Isla Requeson

On Saturday 3^rd March, we motored northwards and anchored in our favourite bay, Playa El Burro. Naturally, we had to follow the “beautiful trail” we had read about in our cruising guide that started just across Highway 1. It took us a while to find the start (not a good omen). Then we had to scramble over rocks and boulders until we came to a slippery, zig-zag path. The views over Bahia Coyote and Bahia Concepcion were good at the half-way point. Further up the trail came to an abrupt stop. Jeremy climbed up large rocks and saw a path on the other side. When he came down, he searched for the trail and found it hidden behind a bush. We carried on and finally made it to the top. The view was spectacular.

Nearly at the top of the trail

On the way down, I wore supports on both knees, like before. Jeremy fell full length when his feet slipped away beneath him. He was lucky to hurt only his thumb. Bertha’s restaurant was a welcome sight at the bottom of the hill. Tamara met us inside and gave us a quarter of a fruit cake she’d made. Thank you, Tamara. We had it for dessert later. Lunch at Bertha’s was good, affordable and pleasant.

Playa El Burro and Playa Coyote from the top of the trail

We really thought we had been transported to Scotland when the amplified sound of bagpipes playing Amazing Grace echoed across the bay at 8.00am. We learned that this was a daily ritual, but it was particularly loud on Sunday. We went ashore to look for Amerindian petroglyphs which were meant to be near the trailhead. I suppose it’s not too surprising that we didn’t find any, as we’d had such difficulty finding the trail. We walked along Hwy 1 to have a look at Playa Coyote. Much of the beach is not accessible and there were signs saying “Privado”. A dog ran out at us barking and growling - not very welcoming. On the way back we stopped at Bertha’s tienda and bought some bread, red wine and tomatoes. Nearer to SD we had a fish taco lunch at JC’s.

Mision Santa Rosalia de Mulege

The next day we went ashore to have lunch at Bertha’s restaurant. It was closed on Mondays. We met Errol who used to play in the Stone Canyon Band with Rick Nelson. He gave us a lift to another Bertha’s next to the tienda. Although the cold north wind blew into the restaurant, the chicken and fish dinners were huge and great value, along with a pint of beer each.

Museo Regional de Historia

Tuesday 6^th March was our last day in Playa Burro. We hitched a ride to Mulege in the back of a pick up truck. It was quite scary at 60 mph with no tailgate, but we covered the 14 miles quickly. The town is pleasant, not touristy and had lots of date palms on the banks of the freshwater river. We went to the historic Mision Santa Rosalia de Mulege and the Museo Regional de Historia. The latter was housed in the former prison.

Hitching a ride

We had an excellent lunch at Los Equipales, an upstairs restaurant with a tropical feel. We watched humming birds just outside the window, when we looked up from our phones. We had WiFi for the first time in over a week and there were many messages to read. After shopping for the next few days, we returned to Hwy 1 and started hitching. One ride dropped us off next to a speed bump and a row of shops. After about half an hour, a woman and her daughter picked us up and drove us all the way to Playa Burro.

Los Equipales

On Wednesday 7^th March, we weighed anchor before 0700 and motored north to Punta Chivato.

Dawn exit from Punta Chivato