Cuastecomates--The "Secret" Anchorage

After leaving Barra, we headed for what cruisers call "the secret anchorage" in a small bay off the village of Cuastecomates, which is a few miles west of Melaque. It is a "secret" to cruisers because it is not described in any of the popular cruising guides. But when I told my cousin Laurie and her husband Chris about the "secret anchorage" they laughed--saying it was no secret to them; they go there all the time to swim.

As the pictures show, this bay is very pretty. We were able to swim or kayak from the boat into a nice beach that has a few palapa restaurants and hotels. Here is what the beach looks like.


Here is Claudia sampling a michelada in a beachside palapa.


And here is what I had. Sabbatical is the boat just above the bottle.



The weather is beautiful and sunsets are gorgeous.

The snorkeling is not as good here as we had been led to believe. There is a lot of sediment in the water (perhaps stirred up by the tsunami) that impairs visibility, but it is still a nice place to swim.

The second day we were here, we heard someone shouting "ahoy." I looked out and saw a woman wearing a large hat swimming toward the boat. Another woman was close behind. It turned out to be cousin Laurie, who was out swimming with her friend LizAnn. They stopped to chat for a bit before continuing on--both are impressive swimmers.