Day 6: Marietas Islands

Turned up again at 9 and this time the boat cruise was on and about 20 of us packed into several taxis and headed for the marina on the Bay of Bandaras. The boat called Chica Loca was a trimaran equipped with cushions to lounge on, and plenty of space since it could hold 60.

I met Colen Lee from Wisconsin, a woman about my age, who was traveling along the coast looking for a potential place to rent for the winter. A bunch celebrating turning 30 this year on the boat made for a fun cruise. They brought their own playlist of music which spared us from the Mexican music they started to play when we arrived.

We headed for the Marietas Islands with only one engine working, and about halfway there we started to spot the whales breaching. What an amazing sight. Photographing them is a challenge as they pop up anywhere, and with the boat rocking they were often submerged again before I could focus with the new telephoto lens. However I did manage to get several great shots of tails and breaching.

Once at the islands we snorkeled through a small cave that led to a secluded beach. The island is a bird sanctuary, so we are very restricted where we could go on land. Our guide took us through another cave to scramble up onto a rocky outcrop to look at the Blue Footed Boobies, which apparently this is the only other island they nest on beside the Galapagos.

The water had been churned up by the storm yesterday so unfortunately the visibility for snorkeling was very limited. I plan to take Sue on this cruise when she joins me in a few weeks, and hopefully the visibility will be better then.

Saw more whales on the way back and the 30 year old crowd rocked the boat dancing as the free drinks kept flowing. At one point a cushion blew off the boat, and then the race was on to see who could swim to rescue it first. Back at the marina we loaded into the taxis and back to Sayulita.

A few of us made plans to meet up for dinner later, but I ran a little late and missed them. Ricky at the tour shop said they were looking for me and I left my email address with him in case they came back. The next day I got an email from Colene who was heading out that evening for the next town up the coast. We finally managed to meet up for a bite to eat before she left with Desiree from the gallery on Ave Revelocion.