Santo Domingo and Playa Santispac

When someone asks us what it is like living on a sailboat, we sometimes explain it is like living in a large camper but we travel by water.  And we explain like camping and on the water, we basically live outdoors, in an open-air lifestyle. Unless we are underway or it’s raining, we live with the hatches and portlights (the small windows) open.  We spend a lot of time in the cockpit or on deck too.  So yes, we believe we are essentially living outdoors and our cabin is our ‘tent’.  A very fancy tent with nice accommodations but you get the picture.  Many of you have already visited Dharma Girl so you can imagine what we are talking about.  

Santo Domingo 17-19 Oct

This open West, Northwest-facing anchorage has a great beach and lovely snorkeling conditions with its small fish swimming in and out of holes on the bottom, palm-size flounder fish swimming just below you, and 25-30 feet of water clarity. We stayed two relaxing days as the only boat there.  Just as we were weighing anchor, two boats arrive from the south of Bahia Conception as we began heading south in Bahia Conception.  Anchorages are always a dance of boats coming and going.  

Playa Santispac 19-29 oct

We were the only boat during our entire visit

The attractive Baja Coast attracts campers of all sorts.  But after the pandemic began, this beach was a ghost town; closing its gates in April.   When we arrived in July we were the only folks roaming the beach and one of two boats in the bay.  

This week we are pleased to see the activities with family staying in the provided palapas are coming and going, Class A motorhomes setting up their long stay spot, small campers staying for a night or two before moving on down the coast.  This wonderful resurgence of life as ‘we’ remember is a joy to observe.  And as everyone all around this globe has experienced one way or another, like these paying campers, any small contribution to the local economy only flows upwards.  

We have developed a daily rhythm after three nights.  Up for the Amigo Net with a cup of joe in hand, breakfast, and start our day.  We use the ‘cooler’ morning (and that’s all relative) to address our light-duty boat maintenance and small project lists. Then followed by a walk, a paddle, or dinghy fishing.  In the late afternoon, we are hot and take a dip in the 84 degree water to cool off.  We may swim or tread water for a bit then out to rinse and begin the early evening with our happy hour drink. Chris sometimes pulls out the pole to fish off the side.  As we watch the sunset together, we decide how we’ll spend the evening.  Then at cruiser’s midnight (9:00pm) we head to bed.  Unless we are heading out another anchorage, we repeat this again the following day.  Pretty simple.

Thursday was a little different.  Chris and I are settled in with our happy hour drink.  Carrie is sitting on the forward deck drawing and Chris is down below in the galley beginning dinner.  Oddly, Carrie hears her name.  She looks to shore to see a man looking through binoculars waving in our direction.  She looks around and wonders ‘is he waving at us? Who could it possibly be? We haven’t even been to that shore yet.”  Looking through binoculars she thinks she sees Chad, from SV Tulum, onshore. His family will be taking a road trip to San Diego but not until next week.  She yells back, “Chad from Tulum, we are coming.”  As we get closer to shore we recognize it’s not Chad but John and Marcella of SV Beethoven! They will camp for the night before continuing to Puerto Escondido where their boat awaits them.  We had dinner at Armando’s and caught up.  The following morning we hosted them aboard Dharma Girl for coffee and more catching up and swapping life experiences.

One morning, we walked the beach early to beat the heat.  We started first and headed to the north side of the bay past the ranch houses

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and continue a little further north to the campsites that face Bahia Concepcion.  The palaces were nice and the sites were enhanced with newly planted young palm trees dotting the beach.  We doubled back and then continue along the west beach and to the lagoon beach.  Along the way a turkey vulture sat not too far from us, a white egret flying along the shoreline, and a family of marking a spot on a rock where they had their reunion.  It’s a common practice but we are grateful we don’t see too many rocks polluted with these markings.

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Our stay at Santispac was extended by three days due to what is commonly referred to as “Northers”.  These are strong winds blowing from the North and when a Norther begins, it may last from one to seven days; bringing cool temperatures and moderate to strong winds.  Depending on the location, the average wind speeds are 20-30 knots with gusts to 35.