La Cruz de Huanacaxtle

The fishing fleet in La Cruz.

From Punta de Mita, we found ourselves heading east towards La Cruz de Huanacaxtle; known in the cruising circle as “La Cruz” and a great place to stop before hitting the bustling crowds of tourists in Puerto Vallarta.  It only took a couple of hours to get there and as we were passing the breakwater to Marina Riviera Nayarit in La Cruz, we spotted our Canadian friends on Letitgo anchored out just outside the entrance.  Once we found our slip and settled in, I found the pool.  Now “pool” might be a misnomer for this container of water as it wasn’t very big and the idea of swimming laps in it, well, that would just be silly.  But nonetheless, I ventured to the pool with towel and book in hand and intended to relax.  That was when I met Susan from s/v Sea Silk.  We exchanged pleasantries (“Where you from?  Where you heading?”) and the next thing I know, I’m getting a blow by blow recap of how Sea Silk had survived a hurricane in Bahia Magdalena!  Susan explained the details and the entire time I think my mouth hung open in disbelief.  It was truly an amazing story of responding to the gruesome circumstances they faced and exercising their preparedness in the face of a cruiser’s nightmare.  For those interested, Sea Silk has been repaired and is again sailing with a crew that is none the worse considering their ordeal.

While in La Cruz, I found a dentist and had my teeth cleaned…for the unheard of sum of about $27 USD!  You can’t beat that with a stick!  And in case anyone out there is wondering about the quality of this cleaning, let’s just say that the actual dentist did the cleaning and she did a complete sonic cleaning of my teeth.  Dental hygiene could not have been easier (or cheaper!).

Iguanas by the dentist's office.

While in La Cruz we walked around the small town and discovered iguanas living in the trees (right next to the dentist’s office).  These reptiles lived in the trees and you really had to look for them as they didn’t move that much unless they were either eating the leaves of defending their territory.  Little did we know at the time, but this would be the first of many iguana sightings as we made our way south down the tropical coast of Mexico.

On our last night in La Cruz, we had dinner with our friends on Letitgo.  This family has been on a similar schedule as we have cruising down the coast of Mexico and we are always glad when we run into them and have the opportunity to get together for dinner on either Osprey or Letitgo.