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San Evaristo North bay 3 days

Our next anchorage was San Evaristo on the foothills of the Gigantes Mountain Range, a very large bay that is home for a fishing settlement. We chose to anchor in a smaller bay just off to the side – the North bay, where we hoped to have better shelter from the approaching winds. 

San Evaristo is best described as a rustic, friendly, fishing village. The beach spreads along the shore front with fishing boats anchored out or coming and going with their daily catch.

There are apparently only ten families, about seventy people in total that live in San Evaristo. Nearly everyone fishes for a living. They take their catch in trucks, packed in ice, south to La Paz along very, rough roads to sell.

After anchoring we headed ashore to scout the village and stretch our legs. Shore access was easy as the large bay is sheltered and calm.

Pulling the dinghy up in front of a small tienda and what turned out to be a wonderful little restaurant we headed off down the beach.

All the fishermen were very friendly while busy off loading their enormous catches by crate loads that were then weighed and packed into ice, in the back of small trucks. 

One of the fishermen offered to sell me some fish, which I readily accepted. We purchased 2 red snapper for 150 pesos about $7.00. 

The village reportedly had 2 small tiendas, one of which was up the hillside where we could see a white hilltop church.

After our beach walk we went for lunch at the quaint beach restaurant called, Resturante Lupe Sierra’s and Magi May. We both had the fish tacos which turned out to be the best ever fish tacos. 

Our next stop was the tienda next door where there was little to choose from as their fresh stock was arriving on Saturday from La Paz. 

The weather that was arriving was now said to blow 1st from the south-west, next the west, followed by the north, therefore the following morning we changed our anchoring spot to just inside the main bay. Meanwhile quite a few other sailboats had arrived also seeking shelter.

That night we had the beginning of the high winds and more rain than we had seen since being in the Baja. 3/4 of an inch fell, Aeeshah was well cleaned.

Ashore we found the wide stretch of salt flats that is between the beach and the village that is normally is bone dry with cracks and dusty tumbleweed was awash with draining rain water. 

Off we went to find the other tienda surprisingly there were puddles and mud due to the rain, very unusual for this area. 

Upon the way we passed several very rustic homes and we even stumbled upon the church.

At the store we found that they were quite well stocked for a village shop, and they had more or less every item we sort. Plus they took credit cards thanks to Starlink!

Isla San Jose, Punta Salina

Exploring the salt mine

The wind wasn’t abating, it was still blowing but we decided to head across to another anchorage, Punta Salina on Isla San Jose, where there was a salt mine, plus we would make water while there.

San Jose is the 6th largest island in the region, where we anchored we were sheltered from the seas created by the strong northerly’s but not the wind, it was still howling.

Being anchored off of some very, large, sand dunes there was no evidence of a salt mine, the land was low lying and we could only see the highland behind. Ashore it was a different story. From the top of the dunes we could see that the salt mines stretched for quite a ways. 

(For me salt mine isn’t a very good description as they are basically evaporation pools of differing levels.)

The salt mine site at Punta Salina was a functional salt mine, and today you can see the remnants of this industry, including the rusting equipment and abandoned buildings.

The area consists of vast, shallow pans that were historically flooded with sea water to create salt, creating a unique, often reddish colour due to bacteria.

 This salt mine was left behind in the middle of the 1900’s as big corporations took over the salt economy. However they say it is still used by locals and obviously holds a lot of salt. 

We walked all around the salt ponds, checking out the differing colours, and pathways.

We looked at the old machinery, and found a huge pile of salt still sitting there in a solid lump. 

Back at the boat, John got the water maker going and the following morning after a noisy night of wind howling in the rigging, we headed back to San Evaristo to shelter from even more winds that were expected.

San Evaristo again

In San Evaristo we anchored tucked behind a high cliff that provided protection from the strong northerly winds. By then there were 15 more boats taking shelter.

Wondering about what to do, we had heard about another area down a village track and over the hill….

where there was yet another salt mine and agate beach. So having the time we headed off to have a look. The walk there was along a typical outback, dusty, track that wove through the cactus and brush.

Along the way we passed the village school where the village children were playing in the yard.

Salt flats, and unusual sights.

Over the top of another hill we saw the bay, salt flats and what appeared to be a farm.

The farm must have been for cattle as there were a few wandering across the salt flats.

One of the homes was a small guest  for visitors. It was a homestead that had a lot of character with skulls and cactus decorating the exterior walls. 

Off across the salt flats we strolled, the skies so bright, the illusions caused by the salt ponds and the distance.

As approached the beach which indeed had piles of rocks which could be agate, but again it really wasn’t worth looking.

Overall it was an interesting walk to an unusual area.

I read that during the 1940s, this village was a hub for shark fishing, shark livers were collected for “mother ships”. The oil was sort after for its nutritional value. We did see fishermen coming back with a large catch of small sharks. They cleaned them, tossed the fins away and sent the bodies off in ice on a truck. 

Other unusual arrivals by panga were, one day calves were unloaded onto the beach, about 6 arrived, and were then sent off in a small truck.

Another day there were quite a number of goats that arrived. They were weighed on the beach, and packed into a truck.

Then, the most unusual was a small donkey that actually departed on a panga.

Before leaving we again went to the lovely little restaurant.

Had more wonderful tacos and bid “adios” to our friends there.

And then it was time to move along. The winds had abated, and Los Gatos beckoned….

“Your life is your story, and the adventure ahead of you is the journey to fulfill your own purpose and potential.”  — Kerry Washington