Ensenada Carrizal

Since we had a few days to kill before our part for the satellite radio arrived we decided to make a quick run down to Ensenada Carrizal.  Carrizal is a small bay about 20 miles south of Bahia Navidad.  It is known for its relative seclusion and good snorkeling.

We were able to sail all the way from just outside the Barra marina to Carrizal in light to moderate winds of 9 – 15 knots.  Seas were light and we were making a good 6 plus knots.  Once we arrived, we found four other boats already anchored, but there was plenty of room for us.  We did our usual anchor scheme and motored past all of them up to the head of the bay and dropped our anchor in about 20 feet of water just off the beach.  For some reason, most boats don’t get in close, which is all right by us since it usually leaves a large area for us to sneak in.

After our arrival, we spent a quite night on the boat.  The following day we ventured out to do some snorkeling.  We were able to go right from the boat and swam over to the rocks about 100 feet or so off from us.  We saw lots of fish and hard corral and had then swam over to the beach for a break.  After that we headed back to the boat.  We decided to watch a movie and spent the evening relaxing.

The next morning we pulled anchor and headed back to Barra.  This marks the bottom of our trip for this year.  From this point, we will be heading back north.  Our journey further south will have to wait until fall.  Winds were too light to sail and besides what wind there was, was right on our nose, but motoring always makes for a quick trip back.  The highlight of the run in was a whale sighting just off our bow as we entered Bahia Navidad welcoming us back into the bay.  We are now anchored in the Barra Lagoon.  We plan to be here for 4 or 5 days before we head north.

Sorry, no pics.