El Pescador – BdLA

El Pescador has long been a favorite of ours, but passed over by many cruising boats because of exposure to the typical summer SE winds. This is true, although in moderate conditions enough protection is provided by the small island to make things quite comfortable, and the breezes off the water help keep things cool. There is good spearfishing among the massive rocky areas to the east and north of the island, and the beach is truly spectacular.

Approach:

While it’s possible to enter the bay on the north side of the island on higher tides (depending on your draft), we’ve always thought it more prudent to round the south end, giving room to strewn rocks that extend off north and south sides of the island and the rocky slabs off the east side, and curl up into the bay to settle in behind (to the west of) the island, or anywhere between there and either corner of the beach, forming a kind of triangle.

Anchoring:

This is a large area that allows you to dial in your location based on expected breezes. There may be a few rocky or grassy patches visible in decent water clarity, but generally holding is good in sand at 15-35 feet. We most often tuck in behind the island and drop in 20-25 feet.

Ashore:

There is a small private compound ashore with a friendly caretaker who loves company, in particular if you bring cookies or some other treat.

Don’t Miss:

Go on a free-form snorkel tour exploring the nooks and crannies, canyons and underwater peaks and jumbled rocks. Good habitat for grouper/cabrilla, octopus, and most other reef fishes.