Guidebook to Forgotten Islands

October-November 2003

This is an article from WaveLength Magazine, available in print in North America and globally on the web.
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by Gary Lai

Isla San Francisco, looking northwest.John Kelly photo

On blustery winter days in the Pacific Northwest, as I plod along traffic choked streets bathed in ‘liquid sunshine’, I seek solace in daydreams of tropical kayaking. In particular, I often recall two islands in the southern Sea of Cortez. In my mind’s eye, they emerge like mountains from a red-rock canyon country dropped in an azure sea. Between towering headlands of vermilion and jade colored rocks lie pristine white sand beaches in long crescents. These are places largely overlooked by tourism, civilization, and time.

I am not describing the famous paddling mecca of Isla Espiritu Santo and Isla Partida. Although these latter islands are stunning, they are far from undiscovered. In addition to platoons of kayakers on guided, skiff-supported trips of the ‘No experiencia, no problema’ variety, boats disgorge fresh loads of sunscreen-slathered gringos and their luggage of cold beer into the most scenic coves every day for ‘commune with nature’ beach parties.

No, I am writing about Isla San Jose and Isla San Francisco, just eighteen miles north of Partida. These islands receive far fewer visitors, but are just as beautiful.

Although infrequent guided kayak trips to San Jose and San Francisco are available, experienced kayakers can explore these islands on their own, saving pesos and relishing a memorable adventure of discovery.

GETTING THERE

La Paz is a vibrant and historic city of 150,000 people near the southern end of the Baja, is your gateway to this paddling paradise. Spend the first night after your flight relaxing at a restaurant on the waterfront. You can purchase all the provisions for your expedition from well-stocked supermarkets in the city center.

The islands are accessible via a long, expensive boat shuttle from La Paz, but experienced paddlers can arrange a far less expensive truck shuttle to a beach near Punta Coyote (one of many local places with this name), reached after a bumpy one-hour drive north of La Paz on dirt roads. From here, you’ll see both islands, five nautical miles across the channel.

Paddling several miles north, you’ll pass beneath sheer 400-foot cliffs, colored green from copper deposits, before reaching the long sandy beach in Mechudo Cove, just north of the navigation light on Punta Mechudo. You can spend the night here.

SAN JOSE

At first light you can cross to La Amortajada (‘The Shroud’), a long sand spit on the southern end of San Jose. Once there, you can explore the lush mangrove lagoon hiding inside the spit, accessible via a narrow cut on the eastern end of the north beach. From the cut, follow a long mangrove channel until you emerge in the placid turquoise expanse of the lagoon. Birds usually thrive in the lagoon in large numbers, including brown pelicans splashing in the shallows and fork-tailed frigate birds gyrating overhead on thermal air currents.

Three nautical miles north of the lagoon is a mile-long white sand beach, extending east from Punta Salinas (‘Salt Point’). This is a fine place to spend your first night on the island. But if strong southerly winds are blowing, you’ll have to land through small surf.

Punta Salinas is an interesting place to explore. Behind the beachlies an abandoned salt harvesting operation which gives the point its name. You can walk across acres of salt flats, the salt crunching beneath your feet like hoary snow, to the ghost town at the western edge, with its gradually disintegrating derelict buildings and rusting hulks of abandoned trucks. A trail leads from here up a hill at the tip of the point. From the top, there’s a view of the entire western coast of the island.

On the eastern edge of the pans, kept at bay by the salty soil, dense Sonoran desert vegetation springs up abruptly and extends towards distant hills. You can hike into the brush and try to identify the dozens of exotic cacti species you’ll encounter, from multi-fingered cordon cacti rising up to 40- feet high—as if extending to shake hands with the sky—to cholla cacti, shaped like racks of stag’s antlers.

On your second day, you can paddle eight nautical miles north to Bahia Gacetero, where a long strand of sandy beach provides another excellent place to camp. There is good snorkeling along the rock walls on the western edge of the beach.

Checking windspeed with anemometer at Punta Salinas.Gary Lai photo

If you’re an experienced kayaker and conditions permit, you can head around the north end of the island, making for Kelton’s Coves on the east side, fifteen nautical miles away. Between Northwest Spit and Kelton’s Coves, the shoreline is characterized by sheer white cliffs interspersed by rocky coves, sea caves, and arches. There are few good landings, except at Rancho Palma Sola, a small settlement. Only experienced kayakers should attempt this stretch, and only in good conditions. Otherwise, consider a day trip to Punta Calabozo before heading south again, towards Isla San Francisco.

Kelton’s Coves are small, finger-shaped coves etched into walls of smooth sandstone. At the head of each is a pocket beach. Pick your favorite one to camp. The turquoise water contrasts so brilliantly with the white sand, the coves are practically iridescent. If strong winds come from the north, moderate surf will dump onto these beaches.

From Kelton’s Coves, you can head for San Francisco, thirteen nautical miles to the south. There are few landings on this stretch until La Amortajada. In the middle of the channel between San Jose and San Francisco lies Isla Coyote, a rock covered with fishermen’s shacks.

SAN FRANCISCO

Isla San Francisco is one of the Sea of Cortez’s crown jewels. Here, you can play Robinson Crusoe and feel time stand still. Just two miles long, its northern end has peaks reaching 689 feet. Its southern end is hook-shaped; the inside of this hook provides good protection and is a popular anchorage.

I recommend camping on a broad beach on the outside (north side) of the hook. Unlike the inside of the hook, this bay is not a good anchorage, so you’ll most likely have it to yourselves. In calm weather, the snorkeling just off this beach is worthwhile. I have spotted a Giant Pacific Octopus and pufferfish as long as my forearm.

On the inside of the hook, accessible via a short walk across low sand dunes, is a long beach of cream-colored sand. North of the hook, on the west side of the island, are three more beaches set in coves, accessible only by water. The northernmost cove contains two caves used occasionally by fishermen for shelter.

From the recommended camping beach, a steep trail switchbacks up a hill to the northwest, reaching a plateau with a panoramic view. On a clear day, you’ll see Partida and Espiritu Santo to the south, and beyond them, the sprawl of La Paz. From this plateau, you can scramble to valleys deep in the island’s interior. Another trail— not for the faint of heart—runs along the narrow ridgeline on the southern end of the hook. Straddling the ridgeline, you can stare down sheer, multi-colored cliffs on the south side to the blue water below.

As hard as San Jose and San Francisco are to get to, they’re harder to leave. When the time comes to tear yourself away, cross back to Mechudo Cove. In the spring, keep your eyes open for migrating whales in the channel. Leave plenty of time (at least an extra day) to rendezvous with your shuttle in case of high winds.

GENERAL TIPS

The only things you can depend on in the Baja are sun and wind. The former is good, but the latter can be very, very bad. Winds over 35 knots are not uncommon, generating large wind waves. If you get into trouble, help may be far away. If you don’t have experience paddling in difficult conditions, experience in wilderness travel, and marine navigation skills, then go with a guide.

March to May and October to November are the best times to paddle. At other times, the winds are likely to be strong or the weather unbearably hot. Winds are generally strongest midday, so be prepared to wake up in darkness, start paddling at first light, and be off the water by noon.

There is no fresh water on the islands, so bring at least one gallon per person per day.

Throughout the paddling season, the water temperature hovers between 60-65 degrees. Unless you’re in the Polar Bear Club, bring a full wetsuit with a hood for snorkeling.

© Gary Lai is a freelance writer and aerospace technology consultant based in Seattle, Washington. He can be reached at garylai@aol.com.