TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums British Virgin Islands Moorings in La Paz

Has anybody else heard or gotten an email from the moorings about potentially having one of their destinations be La Paz Mexico? awesome blue waters and desert scenery but what about the wind situation there. Maybe more for power boats anyway interesting, what about safety?

I got the email about La Paz being their newest destination - but I know nothing about the place!

Sounds like it is time for a test run...!

Dream Yacht has had a base down there for a while. I've been tempted to go, but haven't made it yet. Primarily because it doesn't seem that the sailing grounds offer in terms of anchorages and infrastructure and we prefer to have some options.

Not positive about the winds around La Paz specifically, but La Ventana just across the mountains (~20 miles east) is famous for windsurfing/kitesurfing/wingsurfing so there is definitely potential. I think November-April is the prime wind season at La Ventana when it often blows 15-25 knots from the N to NW in the afternoon. I believe it's a thermal wind though so not sure if it is site-specific or not. However, Los Barriles is another 30 miles south and also known for wind sports so it seems that the entire coast in that area can be windy.

https://sailinmexico.com/the-sailing-grounds/#:~:text=The%20conditions%20in%20the%20Sea,being%20common%20throughout%20the%20year. - sounds like it can be good year-round for sailing...

We did a cruise out of La Paz when there was a Moorings base there. Short notice on a 38' Beneteau.
Sad to see it close... the base was awesome, especially since we were allowed to use the fancy resort facilities between the harbor basin and the beach.

Very different feel with no cell service, no Visar, no way of getting weather info. But starkly beautiful.
Wind can pick up in a hurry but often back to dead calm just hours later.

I hadn't heard anything about a Moorings base, would definitely consider!

Chartered with Dream Yachts in La Paz maybe 10 years ago. Really enjoyed it. We rented a car in Cabo and drove up and then explored the Pacific coast of Baja on the other side of our charter. We went in the summer and it was very hot and there was almost no wind during the day. The distances were pretty long and we motored almost the entire time. The wind (I cannot remember what it was called, but there's a name for it) would pick up big time at night, then die off first thing in the morning. Very different than the BVI because as I recall there were really no mooring balls (maybe 1 or 2 spots?), no people, and no infrastructure. I recall a day or two we saw nobody else at all. We were able to buy fish from fishermen but that was about it. We enjoyed that aspect of it, and the beautiful desolate scenery. Diving I recall was just OK but we did do a dive with sea lions which was interesting. I'd definitely go back again but probably a different time of year with a bit more wind during the day.

Sean

I sailed out of Loreto last year with a small local company West Coast Multihulls in a fancy marina a little north of the town. Loved Loreto town before and after the charter. We had to provision heavy because there is nothing in the anchorages, no mooring balls that I know of. We ended up having to detour back to Loreto, anchor outside in the roadbed, to dinghy in for ice and beer replenishment.

Water is pretty, some of the coves were pretty but you are sailing in the desert. No trees, nothing on shore. We went end of May and I felt the water was a little cold to truly enjoy (compared to Carribean). I knew that the Sea of Cortez was supposed to be a Sea Life aquarium but I couldn’t find any decent snorkeling. It’s not like coral reef snorkeling.

Worst for me was stingrays everywhere in the shallow sand. It was difficult to avoid getting stung.