Iconic Isla San Francisco - I'd bet this is the most photographed beach in the Sea of Cortez
Isla San Francisco in the Sea of Cortez is a cruiser’s desert paradise. This perfect crescent-shaped anchorage, with a white and pink sand dune beach, glittering turquoise waters over a shallow sandy floor and exquisite rock-cliff faces in a myriad of subdued reds, creams, greens and pinks jutting upwards from the sea… well, it’s about as picturesque as one can get. Given the fact that this island is the cover shot of our illustrious guidebook, it’s one of the most popular anchorages here for sailors, power-boaters and charter-boaters alike.
In the morning, we bolted from our horrifically buggy anchorage at Bahia Amortajada and headed to the north end of San Francisco (paradise is a mere 2 miles away from hell) where we did a mid-morning stop, walked the shell beach and watched several duck families cross the channel. We then rounded to the west end hoping to secure a spot in one of the most sought after anchorages in the Sea of Cortez. Getting into this small, secluded bay when there is no southwesterly coromuels, and when it isn’t tooo crowded, all depends on luck. We had to anchor around its stone-strewn eastern backside last year during the coromuels. This year we got lucky on both counts; not much wind and not too packed! Juuust right.
After lunch, I goaded Brian into hiking up to the top of the south cliff for our day’s shore excursion. This view was worth an entire year of cruising. Yes, it was THAT good. The pictures speak for themselves. I could spend two weeks just hanging here, hiking and rock-hunting and kayaking and snorkeling…it just doesn’t get any better than this. Too bad we need to keep moving north. But you can count on it… we’ll be back.
In the morning, we bolted from our horrifically buggy anchorage at Bahia Amortajada and headed to the north end of San Francisco (paradise is a mere 2 miles away from hell) where we did a mid-morning stop, walked the shell beach and watched several duck families cross the channel. We then rounded to the west end hoping to secure a spot in one of the most sought after anchorages in the Sea of Cortez. Getting into this small, secluded bay when there is no southwesterly coromuels, and when it isn’t tooo crowded, all depends on luck. We had to anchor around its stone-strewn eastern backside last year during the coromuels. This year we got lucky on both counts; not much wind and not too packed! Juuust right.
After lunch, I goaded Brian into hiking up to the top of the south cliff for our day’s shore excursion. This view was worth an entire year of cruising. Yes, it was THAT good. The pictures speak for themselves. I could spend two weeks just hanging here, hiking and rock-hunting and kayaking and snorkeling…it just doesn’t get any better than this. Too bad we need to keep moving north. But you can count on it… we’ll be back.
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