The beach landing by the Paradise Restaurant in Las Hadas was gnarly. We kayaked in and did fine getting in between sets. A bit stressful but Ok.
April 2019 - We are currently anchored in the lagoon in Barra de Navidad, Mexico.
Leaving the beach was more of a problem. The restaurant was Ok but not as good as it has been and the service was poor. The pool is usually cold. We hung out for a while though.
When we left it was near low tide. That meant to get into the kayak, it was right at the drop off on the beach. No time for two of us to get into the kayak. The swells were coming in regularly. There are two submerged rocks there and they create whirlpools. At the drop off the beach creates an undertow. At least at this tide. The swell was coming in from the SW which is not great for Las Hadas as it refracts around the anchorage. It comes right into Manzanillo. The swell was about 4 feet. So Debbie got into the kayak and and the swirling water was turning the kayak around so I pushed her out before the next swell came in. Then I jumped in at the drop off and started swimming. It was hard going. The swirling water and the undertow was really hard to swim through. As I was getting to the kayak which Debbie paddled out past the breakers I was exhausted and wondering if I could make it. The bow and stern lines on the kayak are not floating lines so I could not grab it. Debbie stopped paddling and I did make it but barely. Then I hung onto the kayak and Debbie paddled back to the boat (s\v Elegant'sea) I do not think the dinghy would have been much better. For the time we were in Santiago (about a week and Las Hadas a couple days we only used the kayak) but possibly the dinghy with the motor on it.😨
The dinghy landing at the marina is 250 pesos (or ~$13.00 USD) and so not a cruiser-friendly place. Perhaps the charm of this anchorage has warn off after all these years😔
We are not sure why because Santiago is a shorter distance into the bay
and it was actually more comfortable in the SW swell.
Our kayak on the beach. The dinghy from s/v Sunshine III did not fare much better. We watched them go in and there were three people. They all got wet with one jumping out and the other people rowed.
years and years ago when we were here with lots of banging and grinding.
The next day we took the dinghy (rowed) over to Las Hadas by Brisas Resort and Marina and it is $12.00 to tie up in the marina with the dinghy. We did and then went into Santiago where we got provisions. It was also Debbie's birthday so we went to Starbucks in Santiago.
We usually never come to Las Hadas on the weekend as it is too crazy. As it was there were only a couple jet skies and no wake boarding boats and the music was off at about 2.am.
Despite our best efforts of monitoring the weather for "best" conditions, the reality did not match what was predicted. The direction of the wind never clocked around and there was little of it to even sail. So we ended up motor-sailing all the way from Las Hadas to Barra de Navidad. The sky was clear and there were a lot of sea birds on the water - sometimes we mistook them for buoys of long fishing lines.
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