More of Mismaloya

Mismaloya at Night

Mazatlan

Our second port of call was Mazatlan. We were driven to another resort by a very talkative taxi driver named Raphael who wanted to ask Karl questions about the Mormon church the entire half hour cab ride. Raphael was a really nice guy. Mazatlan is located along what they call in Mexico the Golden Coast. Mazatlan also has what is known as the Golden Zone or Zona Dorada, which is a beautiful stretch of beach where most of the resorts and fine restaurants are located. In Mazatlan we visit the Golden Zone and spend the day at a resort called El Cid. This resort was located in the center of the Golden Zone, but we just opted to hang out by the pool. Christian and Karl wanted to go to the beach but it was closed due to an abundance of jellyfish. It was a windy beautiful day. Christian found a shrimp down by the beach. The pool we hung out at had little cliffs you could jump off of, waterfalls and an underground cave system. After the resort, the girls did some shopping while Karl, Christian and Vayden went back to the ship. On the way to the ship Christian got a hat that he now calls his lucky hat.

Christmas Day & Cabo San Lucas

We arrived at our third port of call on Christmas Day. Our ship anchored just off the coast in the Sea of Cortez and we had to board small boats to get ashore. Once ashore we did a little shopping and then negotiated with a guy named “Freddie Wen Jur Ready” for a water taxi. Water taxis are the best method of travel to get around in Cabo. Our water taxi took us to Land’s End, El Arco and Playa del Amor (Lover’s Beach) where we spent the day. Cabo San Lucas is at the southern-most tip of Baja California which is the longest peninsula in the world. Karl has been to quite a few beaches in his life and he thought that Lover’s / Divorce Beach is the best he has ever visited. It is like a natural beach amusement park. It is so perfect it doesn’t even seem real. Lover's Beach: The Sea of Cortez side, known as the Lover’s Beach is tranquil with gentle waves. Vayden loved playing in the little waves. There is great snorkeling out around the incredible rock formations. Karl and Christian forgot to bring their snorkeling equipment, but it didn’t matter because the water was so clear that they just dove without masks. The water temperature could not have been more perfect. There are pelicans and other sea birds perched on the rocks like they were posed there for a picture. The sand both in and out of the water is perfectly clean. There is not so much as a rock or even a pebble in the water, just soft sand. There are caves and beautiful rock formations to explore. There was a rock climber scaling one of the rock formations while we were there.

The boy in the water is Christian:

If you look in the left corner of this picture you will see our ship, The Splendor:

The left side of this picture is Lover's Beach. The right side is Divorce Beach:

The Pacific side, known as Divorce Beach has some high adventure nad displays of the force of nature. Huge crashing waves pound the shore and into the rock formations sending water exploding skyward. The rock formations are on the edges, and the middle is still a beautiful flawless beach. They tell you not to swim on the Pacific side, but that didn’t stop Karl and Christian from missing the chance to get pummeled by those big beautiful aquamarine waves.

One huge set came in while Karl and Christian were there. Karl saw it coming and made Christian get out with him as they watched 15 top 20 foot waves crash together in the middle of the beach colliding and sending water spraying into the air like fireworks. Fantastic!

Divorce Beach:

This same beach has two different oceans, and gets two thumbs up! Way up!
We sailed past Cabo on our way down to Puerta Vallarta several days before we actually stopped there. We happened to be sailing past Cabo in the morning as we all ate breakfast. As we were eating breakfast Lori spotted two whales just out the window where we were eating. That was pretty fantastic.