Costa Careyes, Jalisco, Mexico
01/20/2003 - 01/22/2003
The main bay at Bahia Careyes. Grand Slam (left) at anchor off Playa Rosa (left-center beach area) with Casitas de las Flores on the hillside (center) of the Costa Careyes resort area.
About 10 miles south of Bahia Chamela is Bahia Careyes and Costa Careyes. Our fellow cruisers and the cruising guides had mixed reviews of Careyes, so this was another situation where we needed to find out for ourselves.
Our departure from Chamela Bay was early and very relaxed. The seas were flat calm and the wind was zero. We decided that for such a short trip, it would be okay to tow the dinghy behind the boat. We headed off into the calm morning and turned left, southeast toward Careyes.
After only 1/2 hour, the wind started to build. We were on a great close reach, heading southeast on our course-line. The waves built to one foot, then two and the dinghy began to pound on the larger waves. The dinghy transom writhed under the weight of the outboard and the nose bounced furiously, splashing spray into the dinghy while swinging it from side to side. We quickly realized that building conditions would not allow a dinghy in tow. Before it swamped entirely or it wrenched the outboard and transom from the inflatable tubes, we decided to heave-to, remove the dinghy outboard, and see if the reduced weight would improve the towing conditions. Worst case, we would need to bring the entire dinghy aboard.
Fortunately, the conditions did not build, and with the outboard removed from the transom, the dinghy towed smoothly.
Club Med
Our first anchorage in Careyes off the abandoned Club Med.
As the only boat in the anchorage, we anchored bow and stern in the light winds and enjoyed an afternoon of relaxing on the boat.
Grand Slam!
The beach in front of the Club Med.
"Hmmm, that boat looks familiar. Hey, that white-haired guy is wearing a Ha-Ha shirt. That boat is Grand Slam! I wonder if Alan is aboard?". The boat entering the anchorage was Grand Slam from the Baja Ha-Ha. Grand Slam is a 48' sportfisher that brought Alan Weaver as one of their Ha-Ha crew. Alan was our harbormaster from Marina Village in Alameda. I shouted over "Is that Alan aboard?" and the response was "Yes!", along with a hearty hello to Whisper.
Alan had scheduled another week in January aboard Grand Slam, and coincidentally ran into us in Careyes. Grand Slam ended up anchored in the main anchorage, behind the large rock island in the center of the bay.
New Neighbors
Ashore at Costa Careyes. Looking down on the main bay, the panga moorings, and Playa Rosa (the beach).
Late in the afternoon, another boat arrived in our cove and had problems setting their anchor. After they snorkeled on their anchors, Duncan decided to check our anchors. Unfortunately, neither of our anchors set well. The stern anchor (a Fortress FX-37) was hanging on by its toenails. Duncan's ear was bothering him (he couldn't hear out of it, and didn't want to get it wet), but resetting the anchors took priority. After several free-diving attempts to manually reset the anchors, it became clear that re-anchoring would be required.
We pulled up the stern anchor and proceeded to try to reset the bow. While backing down, instead of digging in, the 60 lb CQR just skipped over the sand, hard rock, and crushed coral bottom, never quite digging in. After two unsuccessful tries, we gave up and left our quiet anchorage for the main anchorage in the center of Bahia Careyes.
By late afternoon, the main anchorage had filled up. Sally D, Grand Slam, and another large powerboat Sea Delight (get it? See Da Light…) had already anchored with gensets humming and bow and stern anchors in place. Bow and stern allowed for more boats in the cramped space and kept everyone's bow to the incoming swell. We anchored behind Sally D and in front of the small boat/panga moorings that separated the anchorage from the beach. The anchors set well, and Duncan dove on them again, just to make sure. Both anchors had burrowed into the thick sand bottom - we were not dragging anchor tonight!
Costa Careyes
The colorful Casitas de las Flores in Costa Careyes.
This was our first view of the main bay of Careyes. Upon our entrance to the bay, we had commented on the garish purple and turquoise homes on the hilltops, but only now could we truly appreciate the colorful surroundings. Every home, every oceanfront condo, and the entire luxury hotel -- and the restaurants and bungalows -- were painted an array of wacky, bright colors. Yellow, orange, pink, purple, blue - anything but white! We later learned that the original investors and owners of the late 60's insisted "any color but white".
At first, the colors assaulted our senses, but after a few hours and a sunset glow upon them, we began to truly appreciate the beauty of the scene before us. By the time we left Careyes, it had grown on us significantly. Careyes is among our favorite "resort" settings in Mexico.
The entrance to Casitas de las Flores.
Just up the road from Playa Rosa, we found La Belle -- a beautiful hillside villa with gorgeous grounds.
Alan Drops by…
Alan came by for a cold beer and a chat about fishing, Marina Village friends, the Ha-Ha, and his current trip that brought him to Careyes. We also confessed to Alan that he was one of the main reasons we decided to do the Baja Ha-Ha. We learned all about the 2001 Ha-Ha from Alan before we ever left Alameda. His enthusiasm and descriptions of the advantages of going with the Ha-Ha group greatly influenced our decision to do the 2002 Ha-Ha.
Alan had just caught a large Dorado that day and he offered us some filets! We could not refuse. A healthy grilled fish and fresh sautéed veggies would now replace our planned dinner of turkey dogs!
Rock'n Roll, Dude
With anchors finally set, we relax and enjoy the Careyes sunset.
A small sloop entered the anchorage at dusk and anchored next to us. The young good-looking guy single-handing his boat looked like he was having fun managing the boat by himself.
About 10 minutes after he finished anchoring, we got some insight into why he might have been alone.
An incredibly loud stereo-system kicked on...
Whisper at anchor in Careyes main bay.
Duncan estimated 250+ watts - with sub-woofer and huge power-hungry speakers. An angry, demonic, "thrash-metal" rock blasted from his boat for over an hour. We have varied musical tastes and we appreciate all flavors of rock - but this was the scary stuff!
It seemed a bit inappropriate for a quiet anchorage in a luxury resort - but maybe that was his point?
Whisper is the farthest boat out toward the big rock. Playa Rosa offered beautiful sunset views.
Whisper (center) as viewed from a Casita pool edge.
What a Drag!
Clunk, clunk, shudder, shudder, clunk, shudder, clunk. The entire boat hopped and shuddered.
This interrupted our quiet dinner in the cockpit. It was just after 8 PM and Duncan's first response was "We're dragging!" Duncan ran forward while Robin started the engine and took the helm. Since it did not look like we were drifting, we made a quick decision to let out more scope on the bow anchor and bring in some scope on the stern anchor. With 125 feet of all chain anchor rode on the bow anchor -- in 25 feet of water, this 5 to 1 scope should be more than sufficient to prevent further dragging. The conditions were benign - less than 5 knots of breeze. Duncan speculated a strong current might have caused us to drag, but he could see no visible current.
We waited and watched. Our position around the other boats still looked about right. We tried to check our bearings to the lights on shore, but the hotel, condominiums, and homes had gone dark. The range lights and the huge light illuminating the rock island at the bay entrance had gone dark. Candles twinkled in several of the condos. It appeared Careyes had lost its electrical power - a common occurrence in many remote villages.
As the blood pressure subsided, and we returned to the cockpit and our cold dinners, we questioned how we could have dragged and whether to re-anchor that night (a highly undesirable option). Earlier, Duncan had visually verified that the anchors had buried well. The conditions were calm - with minimal wind and waves. Except for our change in scope, everything looked fine. Robin said, "I wonder if our dragging and the electricity going out on shore are somehow related?" Duncan thought about this statement for a second… Unless our anchor had dragged over an underwater power cable (highly improbable), he didn't see how. Duncan said, "I can't see how those events would be related" - and that was the end of the conversation.
Slumber Party
We decided to keep a "light" anchor watch overnight - with an aggressive setting on the GPS anchor alarm (30 ft) and someone sleeping in the cockpit -- near the helm. We walked through our "emergency exit" scenario and decided to both sleep in the cockpit. Robin referred to it as our "slumber party". We pulled out our light fleece "Snug Sacks" and got as comfortable as we could sleeping on narrow foam cockpit cushions.
At about 10 PM that night, we noticed the lights came back on in Careyes. We checked our bearings on the range lights and navigation lights we had selected for our earlier "fix" at anchor -- and all was well.
We made it through the night with a few hours of sleep each, sore backs, and Duncan's ear really bothering him, but dawn came without further incident. We decided not to re-anchor immediately, because the boat had not moved overnight.
Buenos dias Amigos
Almost every morning, we tune in to the "Amigo Net" to get weather, make contacts, and find out what is happening with boats in transit up and down the coast of Mexico. It is a Marine single side-band (SSB) frequency, and dozens of boaters tune in daily. That morning, we tuned in a few minutes late, but we quickly got the gist of the situation. The previous evening, at about 8 PM local time, a 7.8 earthquake had occurred about 60 miles south of Careyes.
A 7.8 quake is a very strong earthquake. Just 60 miles from the epicenter, Careyes escaped any significant damage, but it was still strong enough to kill the power and make us think our anchor was dragging along the bottom!
As we learned on the morning net, there was chaos on the previous evening nets and in the general boating community the night before. Folks felt the quake strongly as far north as Puerto Vallarta and Punta de Mita. The "Southbound Net" was buzzing with misinformation on the location of the epicenter and (the thing that really got everyone going -- quite literally) the tsunami warning that was issued.
Several boats left their anchorages and marinas and headed immediately to sea in an attempt to avoid any inbound tsunami. In Careyes, Whisper was oblivious to all of this excitement, and the other boats in the anchorage were partying too hard to notice anything amiss. Since we had not thought of an earthquake as a possibility (actually Robin did -- for a moment. It wasn't until the next morning that she indicated what she meant by "related" events of electricity outage and anchor dragging), we had not tuned in the evening net.
Fortunately, the earthquake epicenter was just off the beach (not deep ocean) and did not result in a tsunami. Unfortunately, one of the boats that left Punta de Mita anchorage to avoid a tsunami, returned to the anchorage that night and ran aground on the rocks. They did salvage, re-float, and repair, the damaged boat in PV.
The Costa Careyes Resort
View (Whisper) from the pool bar and restaurant at the El Careyes hotel.
The resort is a mix of large colorful homes scattered on the hillsides and hilltops, the Casitas de las Flores condominiums, the El Careyes Hotel, and the Playa Rosa restaurant and beachfront bungalows. The El Careyes hotel is one of the Starwood Hotel & Resort "Luxury Collection" with only 48 rooms and suites.
Although we did not see inside the rooms, we checked out the brochure and rates. Prices run from a low of $275 (off season, small room) to $850 (peak season, Presidential Suite), with average room prices around $300-500/night.
The Casitas are also available for rent from $150 (very cute beach bungalows) to $1000 per night (4BR w/ pool). This place was incredibly beautiful and we will probably return one day to stay in the resort.
The entire resort area was very quiet and not at all busy during our two days there. For most of these photos, we were the only guests around.
We had an afternoon cocktail in the El Careyes outdoor bar, relaxing in a wonderful setting while enjoying our ice cold beverage.
The pool bar at the El Careyes hotel. Everything still seemed intact the day after the earthquake.
The serene pool setting at the El Careyes hotel. We were a little concerned with how quiet the resort seemed.
Playa Rosa
The night before we left, we had a nice dinner (Duncan's very good Lobster risotto, Robin's so-so pasta dish) at the Playa Rosa "French-Mexican" restaurant on the beach.
The photo opportunities were many, and we left Costa Careyes very impressed with this small Mexican resort.
The Playa Rosa French-Mexican palapa restaurant.
The only menu at Playa Rosa. The Prices ranged from $10 to $29 US (for Lobster).
Robin sipping her copa de vino blanco in Playa Rosa.
Duncan relaxing in Playa Rosa.
Onward Ho!
It is time to leave Costa Careyes and head for Tenacatita. Our expectations for Tenacatita are very high, based upon all of the cruiser reviews we have received. It is a short 20 mile hop down the coast to Tenacatita Bay.