Isla Partida

Ahoy! From Isla Partida (a small island 20 miles north of La Paz)
We decided to sail north to Isla Partida, before La Paz, to snorkel and sight-see. As we sailed the beautiful 12 miles from Puerto Balandra to Isla la Partida we caught two brightly colored Dorado (30” and 36”), then later we hooked “something BIG” that spooled out our big reel filled with 80lb line and it broke off our favorite plug. Dang! It’s another “fish story” for the books. But, the sailing was outstanding and we enjoyed our 7 knots of smooth blue water cruising.
We have not been disappointed with our decision. Isla Partida is a beautiful little desert island with white sandy beaches and clear warm turquoise waters to anchor.
We dinghied around the island to find some sea caves, and we drove the dinghy inside one cave then turned around (very cool). We continued our dinghy adventure to the top of the island, to a large rock sticking out of the sea called Los Islotes. We were amazed to find many boats near the rock that rises 80 feet, reaching 800 foot long, and “accented” with white guano highlights (bird doo!). Quickly we understood why the tourist boats were here…..diving and snorkeling with sea lions! It didn’t take long for the crew of Windfall (Ben, Nancy, and I) to don our masks and fins and take the plunge into the warm water. It is like looking into an aquarium filled with colorful tropic fish, suddenly…SWISH! Right past us went a playful sea lion!
Male sea lions can grow up to 8 feet long and weigh 800 pounds, while the females grow up to 6 feet long and 200 pounds. Ok…so we were a “bit scared” at first, but you quickly find these playful animals are having as much fun as us. It’s a little un-nerving as a 800 pound sea lion swims inches past and wants to “play.” N-n-n-nice Sea lion! G-g-g-good boy!
There is an opening (cave) through the rock can swim through. The sea lions LOVE to swim right along with you, passing over, under, and beside as you slowly kick your fins. We swam to the far end to find another and much smaller “swim through.” As Nancy was floating in the water, a sea lion swam from behind, laid it’s head on her shoulder, and gave her a “full-finned” wrap-around hug! Ben said Nancy’s eyes looked huge inside her mask as the sea lion slowly swam away. I think Nancy has a new underwater friend with a passion for blonds!
We watched as a small sea lion pup played with a stick, dropping it into the water again and again, and then fetching it back to the surface. I sure wanted to toss that stick to watch him retrieve it.
As we enjoyed this so much, we’re going back to Los Islotes, and this time I’m taking our underwater camera and a beach ball…sticks are hard to come by aboard a boat. (Nancy is shaking her head as I read this to her).
So, with a hug from a friendly sea lion, or two, our cruising adventure continues aboard Windfall. Adios for now! We’re grabbing our snorkels and heading back to Los Islotes…Now where can I find a good stick….