Chamela/Careyes

Next stop was Ipala on 12/17. We saw whales much of the day and also big sea turtles lumbering through the ocean. The whales make it look easy, the turtles make it look hard! Ipala is a tiny fishing village with rooms to rent. This would be an off the beaten track stop! We went to Chamela (pictured to the right) on 12/18. Here we see a fisherman at work in Chamela. We dinghied ashored to walk around and check out the large beach and smaller town. On the way, we ran into a group of Canadians who come to one of the RV parks here each year. They were talking about the bad weather at home. The town had several stores, a nice zocolo, and more rooms to rent. This anchorage was also very rolly. But, we were treated to shooting stars each night we were there.

On 12/21 we moved further down Mexico's "Gold Coast" and found some of the gold. We noticed large houses in south Chamela Bay and they continued to dot the coast to Paraiso through Careyes. These houses are huge, colorful, and upscale. Some have tennis courts. We wanted to anchor at Careyes to check out the sea turtles that inhabit this area. However, there was no room in the anchorage for a boat our size, so we went in and back out. It was worth it to see the pretty hotel and area. We did see more sea turtles and whales.