A Bustling Town with Just About Everything
Most will plan a stop at Turtle Bay, and somehow miss Cedros Island altogether. But if you’re needing supplies and fuel, and not into the scene at Turtle Bay, this is an excellent alternative, and in fact our preference. The anchorage doesn’t offer great protection, but in settled to moderate weather this place is a gem. Note that this is a proper port with commercial traffic and a port captain who will expect you to check in if you anchor in this area.
This is a large, open bay with no known hazards on approach. Obviously watch for harbor traffic, and avoid the breakwater itself.
Harbor entrance is not recommended, or generally allowed, for cruising vessels. You may anchor, typically in 30-40 feet, on the south or north side of the enclosed harbor, with an eye out for traffic lanes and tethered fishing gear.
This is a growing town, with additional services coming available. Some small restaurants are available, fuel (which may require panga delivery), liquor and groceries. The port captain office is on the high side of town off the main road, giving you a nice tour of this bustling tiny port.
Getting fuel here if you need it, so you don’t have to deal with the scam artists selling fuel in Turtle Bay.
We anchored on the south side of the harbor. Anchor holds great in about 30 ft of water. Offers great wind protection from the west, northwest and north, mild protection from the south, and none from the east. Found the accurate to be annoying rolly rather than can’t sleep rolly. Having just entered Mexico and arrived by way of Ensenada, the town feels like jumping into the deep end rather than playing in the kiddy pool. Very rough with a couple of little markets and restaurants. We shopped for groceries but didn’t eat at the restaurants. As a working village, it looks like they may have made an attempt at tourism years ago, the beaches have improvements and a no longer open bathroom facility and snack shack. Mostly you’ll find fisherman but the only person we met that spoke any English was the port captain. We checked in with him based on recommendations and he stamped our Ensenada port document and asked us to inform him by radio when we left. He gave us permission to anchor in the middle of the harbor, which we did not take him up on, but would probably have eliminated the annoying rolliness that we experienced. The fisherman allowed us to tie up our dinghy to their dock, but we did ask as we were coming in, and they directed us to tie up on the beach side next to another panga. Wish we could have found a place to purchase some of their sea salt from the south. I feel like we would have appreciated this village months rather than days into our cruising Mexico experience. My Spanish is far from fluent and there’s not much in the way of cell coverage, so make sure you download your languages before you arrive.
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