Sea of Cortez – Baja Side

Sea of Cortez Weather for Cruisers

Weather here is cyclical, dominated by two regimes: Winter Northers and Summer SE/Tropical Storm Season. Cruisers enjoy the Sea year round, but the prime seasons for exploring this area under sail would be April to June, and Late October to December. The middle winter months are riddled with Northers, cold and sometimes fierce winds of 30+ knots that originate in winter high pressure in the southwestern US, and blow the full length of the Sea, often kicking up some serious short period wind waves and swell. These can blow for 1-4 days, with sometimes woefully short periods of lovely cool weather in between. The opposite side of the cycle, starting in April or May, is typified by light SE breezes and calm periods that slowly melt into the intense heat and humidity of summer. In the fall the humidity and heat will finally break somewhere between late October and the middle of November, giving cool sleeping temps and a few glorious weeks of perfect cruising conditions before northers set in again.

Some Excellent Weather Resources for The Sea of Cortez

• https://skyvector.com/
• http://eebmike.com/

Typical Cruising Patterns

Most Cruisers move quickly past the introductory anchorages of the East Cape area, and head for La Paz, a proper cruising hub and intro into Baja culture and food. The next sizable city is Loreto, nearly 150 miles north, with some of the most spectacular cruising spread out between. Many cruisers will never venture further north than the Loreto area, but they miss out on a lot. From Santa Rosalia north to the Bahia de Los Angeles area (a common haunt for 10-25 cruising boats for the heart of tropical storm season every year), the Sea gets more remote, raw, and full of sea life as you venture north and leave crowds, and in many cases civilization, behind. The extreme northern sea from Gonzaga Bay to San Filipe and Puerto Peñasco are generally even less traveled, although Puerto Penasco has in recent years become a popular spot to put up the boat for the off season, or take advantage of one of the only DIY boat yards in the region.

No matter how far you venture in to the Sea of Cortez, it will lurk in your memories, with visions of crystal clear waters, towering colorful mountain ranges, and isolated island beaches, and the blow of nearby whales or the whizzz of fishing line peeling off your reel. Unless you’re just not into that sort of thing (?), it will certainly draw you back.