out on a spot in Canada’s Olympic team, first visited
the Sea of Cortez many years ago on his way across the
Pacific, bound for Tahiti. The accessibility and excellent
provisions were partly what brought him back, but
it was more than that. “I’m told that one third of the
world ’s marine life is present in the Sea of Cortez,” says
O’Sullivan. “Moreover, there are virtually no large yachts
plying its azure waters.”
We start the journey in Cabo, motoring out in the
late afternoon to watch the glowing sunset paint the
sky a pink and orange ombre, framed by the famous
rock formation El Arco. As dusk falls, we dine on the
aft deck, and within moments the lights of Cabo fade
away and we are surrounded by darkness, city lights
traded for a sky full of stars. We motor through the night,
on our way to the protected national park islands of
Espiritu Santo and Partida.
“Espiritu is my favourite,” says O’Sullivan. “It has
large protected bays, dozens of trails on land with perfect
vistas of the anchorages and the open Sea of Cortez, and a
few long beautiful beaches perfect for picnics and walks.
There’s also some bays where, at low tide, sandbars reach
out for nearly a mile, making for great sports playing
fields for my son’s rugby pals.”
In the morning, I wake up to an unreal view – towering
brown mountains, dotted with cacti. It’s the perfect
south-west desert scene, except that here a golden strip
of beach is painted at the foot of the mountain. We
are floating in the clearest blue water, staring straight
down to the sandy floor of the anchorage. It’s like Arizona
with a beach.
Espiritu Santo is encircled by deeply indented coves
andnarrow,fjord-likebays,likeapieceofdoughthata
chefsqueezedandleftdeepfingermarksin.Thismakes
for a bevy of protected anchorages with solid holding.
BahiaSanGabriel,atthesouth-westendoftheisland,is
anexpansivebaywithoneofthebest
beachesontheisland.Forhikers,a
trailthroughasmallcanyonleads
overtotheeastsideoftheisland
andtoPlayaBonanza,whichhas
aglorioushorseshoe-shapedbeach
stretching two miles, and
a large reef ofshore with
good snorkelling.
We spend the morning
playinginthisspot–
paddleboarding to the
shoreandtakingatender
towards the mangroves,
whereagatheringofpelagicbirdsshowof
theirdivingfeats.Snorkellingaroundthe
rockyshoreoftheanchoragerevealsvibrantly “I’m told that
one third of
the world’s
marine life is
present in the
Sea of Cortez”
Whale sharks are an
underwater attraction
while brown pelicans are
found on Espiritu SantoAbove: El Arco is the
granite arch that marks
the southern tip of the
Baja peninsula