Careyes

We left Cuastecomates on March 3rd and headed up the coast. We motored in the morning because the winds were light, but by afternoon we were able to sail. The wind filled in on the beam and we had a fast run northwest to a small bay known as Careyes, where we anchored for the night.

Careyes was spectacular--the most exotic, beautiful scenery we have encountered--like a cross between Big Sur and the Italian Riviera: rocky cliffs, dark green foliage, lots of palm trees, brightly colored houses and condos built into the steep slopes, with lots of trailing flower vines and bouganvilla. There are condos and a resort on a private beach. It is definitely high end with a woo woo ambiance. There was a sweat lodge/hogan on the beach next to the massage tables enclosed in gauzy fabric, and next to that was a woman sunbathing nude. (I gave her a friendly smile, but she seemed less than delighted to see me kayak up to the beach with a camera dangling from my neck).

There was almost no one there (besides the naked lady, two teenagers in bikinis, and a couple who claimed to speak only French). There was a high-end palapa restaurant with a staff of about 12 dressed in white linen but no customers. They did seem delighted to see us, but after surveying the menu (all the usual dishes, but three times the usual prices) Claudia and I decided to pass in favor of grilling camarones on the boat.

There was also a ritzy but nearly empty hotel and lots of large, beautiful condos built into the slopes, all well maintained but mostly empty. The condos even had a funicular--I suppose to help deliver pate and champagne down from the road above.

Amazingly enough, we were the only boat there. We anchored in the tiny upper lobe of the three-lobed bay, off a pure white beach called (appropriately enough) Playa Blanca. Club Med once had a resort at Playa Blanca and much of the infrastructure (including a concrete pier and a spectacular suspension bridge from the mainland to an island) is still in place, although crumbling. The bay is tiny, with enough room for one or two boats at most.

Now, the bad parts. The old Club Med is being rebuilt (we're told as a private residential compound) and there was a huge and very noisy construction crew that worked from 8 in the morning to 8 at night. Lots of jack hammering and and what sounded like steel bars being dropped on concrete from great height. The other problem was that the tiny bay got lots of surge during the night. It was a rolly anchorage, and by morning the surge was strong enough to worry me, as we swung near rocks, so we beat a hasty retreat right after dawn and motored up to Chamela.

Here are a few pictures.