Yelapa

Along the south shore of Banderas Bay is the small village of Yelapa, accessible only by sea. All advice suggests that the anchorage is tenuous, on a relatively narrow shelf around a deep bay with healthy surge and waves that can pull a boat's anchor off the shelf. Additional stern anchors are recommended. Or, better yet, tie up to a buoy. We talked with Mark and Wendy (Sol Mate) who had just entered the bay before we did, and they referred us to Josel (monitoring Channel 71 VHF) who met us in his panga and guided us to a buoy smack in the center of the bay off the sandy beach.



We hiked up the winding, narrow, cobblestone streets to a waterfall, enjoyed a cool drink, availed ourselves of the facilities (ask Pauline and Dottie about that!), passed the iglesia, and, wading across the river that enters the bay, ended up on the beach.


Josel carried us back to Odyssey in his panga; just getting into it was an adventure! The swell was about three feet and one had to time the "jump" from the dock to the boat just right to catch the panga on the upswing. We made it just fine!


The night was a rolly one! Swells come directly into the bay, then bounce off the three "walls" (the beach and each side of the relatively narrow bay, so your boat gets tossed about a bit! It was the only time some of us didn't feel like eating a lot! And none of us got a sound sleep.