Banderas Bay

La Cruz

The Fish Market - La Cruz

Marina de La Cruz

Big Hotels - Banderas Bay

The Channel into Paradise Village

We departed San Blas on December 27^th and headed for Banderas Bay, one of the largest natural deep water bays in Mexico popular for whale watching. Indeed, we saw several Humpback whales slapping their flippers on the water creating quite a commotion; one guy launched straight out of the water, twisting around and coming down on his back with a huge splash. Of course the camera is never ready at the appropriate time but perhaps I’ll have another chance. Banderas Bay is also popular for its beaches, large seaside hotels, and golf courses. Located within Banderas Bay are the communities of La Cruz, Bucerias, Nuevo Vallarta, Puerto Vallarta, and several villages situated on the south end of the Bay. After nine hours of motoring from San Blas, we arrived at La Cruz around 5pm, or should I say 6pm? A time zone change occurs between Nuevo Vallarta and Puerto Vallarta causing some confusion. After checking in at Marina de La Cruz, we discovered that the marina uses Puerto Vallarta time even though the marina is not officially in that time zone. We weren’t sure if the town of La Cruz followed the same practice but we set our clocks one hour ahead anyway. It didn’t seem to matter since we would soon be in the new time zone and who cares when you’re on vacation! We walked into town and stopped at a cute coffee shop, the community park, and the open-air fish market near the marina. The small town of La Cruz consists mostly of stone streets with a few modern buildings tucked among the older establishments. After a couple nights stay, we were off to Nuevo Vallarta to meet our friends and cousin Susan and Chris, along with their friends Tammy and Gary. They all arrived by air from the Pacific Northwest ready for some warm weather relaxation. By coincidence, they were staying at Paradise Village, the same hotel and marina complex where we were staying. The Village is located right next to the beach with plenty of recliner chairs for sunbathing and relaxing, or you can use the swimming pools, one of which has slides shaped like alligators, a favorite among the children. The more adventurous can have a turn at parasailing high above the ocean or go scuba diving below. Since we had arrived on the same day as our friends, we decided to get together for dinner that evening. We so much enjoyed their company and hearing about their latest travels and adventures. The following day was our chore day: washing the boat, doing laundry, and buying groceries via the city bus.