After 2 days crossing the Sea of Cortez we decided to make a stop in San Blas,a few miles north of our original goal of Chacala. We read about a jungle river tour and quaint non-touristy town that sounded too good to pass up. That’s one of the great things about sailing- just a slight correction to the autopilot and we were on our way. No reservations to change!
We got in this morning around 8:30 and found that our friends Brad and PJ on Capaz and Jamie and Behan on Totem arrived yesterday. We hadn’t seen them for a few weeks and had no idea they would be here. We were immediately struck by the green foliage covering the mountains and everything else. The beach and land running up to the foothills of the mountains is covered with coconut palms. We heard that the mainland was a different climate but this is truly tropical looking and a stark contrast to the dry desert of Baja.
We took the dinghy to the beach and were the only customers in a string of large beach palapa style restaurants. Everyone was super friendly and the son of the restaurant owner even came down to help us drag our dinghy out of the surf. He then took his machete and quickly filled a large metal pan with chopped coconut husks and lit it on fire next to our table. The aroma was very pleasant and we appreciated the smoke. This is the local repellant for the pesky no-see-ums that are known in this area. There were a few peddlers of goods on the beach but they had a very laid back attitude giving in and moving on when you signalled no interest. The merchandise looked of high quality and better than the normal mass-manufactured stuff you’d find in a normal tourist trap. The beer was even cheaper than La Paz- 10 pesos (about .75US).
We’re planning on staying here a few days to explore the town, take the jungle river tour, and relax before heading further south towards Puerto Vallarta.