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San Junaico in the Sea of Cortez
San Juanico is Mother Nature’s Playground for Boaters on the Sea of
Cortez
Article & photos by Capts. Pat & John E. Rains
(Click on photos in this article to enlarge)
San Juanico in the Sea of Cortez, Mother Nature was obviously in a playful spirit when she formed the remote Sea of Cortez anchorage of San Juanico Bay. Fanciful spire-shaped islets, fossilized bubbling cauldrons, colorful lava reefs and blonde sand beaches provide boaters with spectacular scenery amid at least two anchoring areas – a playground for boaters.
San Juanico is an excellent overnight anchorage to keep in mind when traversing one of the most attractive yet remote stretches of Baja’s Sea of Cortez side. Loreto is about 22 sea miles to the southeast, Mulege is about 46 sea miles to the northwest, and no coastal towns or marine services are found in between. San Juanico is also a popular cruising destination thanks to its natural beauty and good anchorages.
The two-mile long Bahia San Juanico is bounded by the
low darkish point of Punta Mercenarios on the south and by the higher
sheltering ridge of Punta San Basilio on the north. My GPS approach
waypoint about one and a half miles east of Bahia San Juanico is 26
degrees, 21.5’ North by 111 degrees, 24.0’ West.
Although you can see into the whole bay from this approach, you might want to move from one anchorage area to another within this bay if the weather changes. So it’s practical to think of San Juanico as three distinct areas: North End, Middle Ground and South End.
NORTH END
Sheltered from moderate northerly weather behind the ridgeline of Punta San Basilio, this end of Bahia San Juanico is probably more scenic, and its three or four anchoring spots are more intimate – meaning smaller and tighter.
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Two pinnacles of whitish rock 80- and 100-feet tall rise dramatically from 30 feet of crystal water. I’ve dubbed them Isla Spires. Another 80-foot tall islet (Isla Lump) rises behind them to the northwest. Several arches and caves are found above and below the water in the rather steep face of the north wall.
Likewise, we dubbed these spectacular rock spires Isla Spires in "Mexico Boating Guide," because even the locals had no name for them. The Spires are a landmark in the north end of San Juanico Cove. There's good snorkeling around all these rocks, but watch for current around the outer rocks.
The largest beach in the whole bay is about half a mile long, and it wraps around the northwest corner. The sandy shoal off the north half of this beach is popular for kids to swim. However, in some years, precautions need to be taken for sting rays. Wear tennis shoes in the water, and scrape your feet slowly along the bottom to make enough noise to scare away any sleeping monsters.
Ramada Cove, about one mile around the corner north of Punta San Basilio, is another possible anchorage in calm weather for all but the larger boats. It’s actually in the south side of wide open Bahia San Basilio. When San Juanico suddenly gets crowded, think of Ramada Cove as the overflow anchorage. If there’s no wind from the north quadrant, you can anchor in 15 to 20 feet of water fairly close off the small beach in Ramada Cove. Or, for boaters anchored inside Bahia San Juanico, Ramada Cove provides an interesting dinghy expedition in settled weather.
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MIDDLE GROUND
San Juanico’s middle stretch of shoreline is mostly too irregular and rocky for anchoring, and south of Isla Tercera’s tiny beach a small two-horned reef juts out from shore. However, all this makes Middle Ground ideal for exploration on foot. Several
small beaches and tide pool areas alternate with house-sized hillocks as you move down the rest of Middle Ground shoreline.
Here’s where I’ve encountered fossilized “paint pots” that eons ago were bubbling mud. You’ll also see wildly folded stripes of color in exposed rock faces, veins of impure and fractured amethyst crystals, pink and white quartz and other geological wonders. If you don’t want to walk the shoreline from the big beach, you could land a dinghy on Playacita Tercera, a small crescent beach inside the rock-enclosed basin (described above) immediately south of Isla Tercera.
LOOK, BUT DON’T TOUCH
Please don’t hack into this marvelous and ancient geology. Don’t pocket pretty little rocks you might find lying on the ground. Instead, let the only souvenirs you take away from San Juanico be photographs, drawings, paintings, sea stories and vivid memories. Let’s all help preserve this magical spot for the many generations to follow us.
Behind Middle Ground, the land rises fairly gently toward the south, so you can hike inland amid statuesque cordon cactus and desert chaparral. Birds and butterflies are usually seen in abundance.
