Panama to Mexico (Sea of Cortez)

[zeehag]

charlies charts is a good reference and current.
many places to stop and enjoyon your way, chiapas, huatulco, alcaputo, zihuatenejo, barra de navidad and banderas bay and mazatlan as well as other lovely areas.
is all uphill.
enjoy your trip

[waterman46]

Going thru Hawaii to get to Baja is simply insane. Except for a some areas with strong offshore winds in Central America ( read up on Papagayos and Tehuantepec) the coast is a piece of cake with many enjoyable stops.Of course, you will have to do it betwee November and June to avoid hurricane season.

[TIOGA III]

Is there anybody on this forum with experience from la paz baja california south to panama? I would like to know more about marinas that can be used for stop over and re supply.



all help is greatly appreciated

[Paul L]

Originally Posted by TIOGA III

Is there anybody on this forum with experience from la paz baja california south to panama? I would like to know more about marinas that can be used for stop over and re supply.



all help is greatly appreciated

As noted above, doenload the Sarana guides to cover south of Mexico to Panama. For Panama get the Bauhaus guide.

[bobmcd625]

Originally Posted by bobmcd625

Join the "Panama Posse". They have lots of good advice.
https://panamaposse.com

These are the people to contact.

[waterman46]

Did the trip last winter. Sarana's is generally OK, but since it is quite out of date, we found many things have changed. We joined an online group called Panama Posse who have many members currently in transit on this route. They use Yahoo and you can ask there and usually find some up to date specific info. There is a small fee for membership.
Also read the info on Noonsite.com.

[wingssail]

We cruised the Central America from Panama to Mexico. We left the canal area in mid April and arrived in Chiapas in July. Our intent was to cruise slowly and stop in some nice places. This was a cruise, not a delivery. We like "bullet proof" anchorages, not open bays so that limited our stops somewhat. We found the winds to be inconsistent. More on that later.

This is lonely cruising. You will rarely see another boat. Most of the stops will be at places where there are no services for a boat. There are beautiful places, however.

Panama: Panama city itself is a fantastic place to visit. After the canal transit we anchored in La Playa (which is not too much fun) and visited Panama City for days on end.

The Perlas are nice but the weather this time of year is not conducive to hanging out. Plus we were intimidated by the park fees although we were never stopped. If you want peace and quiet, Boca Chica, while tough to get into, is peaceful. We bused to David for shopping. Checking out of Panama at Puerto Amuelles was difficult due to no good way to get ashore. Be careful of the weather leaving the Gulf of Panama, Punta Mala is not ill named.

Costa Rica: We stayed a while in Golfito, which is very protected. It rains there, a lot. Most other places in Costa Rica we skipped due to open roadsteads and high marina prices, however we had a nice stays at Ballena Bay and Playa del Cocos. The town of Punta Arenas is very non-touristy but the marinas are also quite tricky to get into. There is some good cruising ground in this vicinity. Playa del Cocos was a blast; when Costa Rica was doing well in the World Cup the Ticos just about destroyed the town in celebration. Provisioning there is excellent. Bahia Santa Elena is gorgeous and protected, and remote. We had good sailing there as we closed on in the area of "Gap Winds".

Gap Winds and (Papaguyos): From the Costa Rica Border you have several places where gaps in the land mass allow wind from the Caribbean to blow through. You need to get grib files or web pages such as Windy to see how they are doing. We avoided these by picking our transit times. A hint: They are stronger during the morning and lighter in the afternoon when the onshore winds oppose the Gap winds. That being said, we never had impossible breezes, however our boat does very well going to weather or on close reaches.

Nicaragua: We stopped in San Juan Del Sur, which is a trippy little surf town with lots of shops and restaurants. Anchoring there is also a trip. You are hanging off a surf beach with 30 knots blowing off shore and a big swell from behind. The boats do a ballet there. Other stops in Nicaragua, Corinto and Puestra del Sol were less interesting.

After that we sailed all the way to Chiapas Mexico.

Mexico: Chiapas is a terrific little marina and the town of Tapachula is good. We spent months there before crossing to Huatulco in November. The Gulf of Tehuantepec was easy, you just wait in Chiapas for a window.

From Huatulco to Puerto Vallarta and north you are exposed to hurricanes. The season is June 15 to November. It is not advisable to proceed up the coast of Mexico unless before or after Hurricane season. We came in December. It's a lot of light air sailing and motoring. You can sail from noon to 6:00PM and from midnight to 6:00M if your boat does well in light air.

PS We used the Sarana's Guide

[chouliha]

Originally Posted by waterman46

Did the trip last winter. Sarana's is generally OK, but since it is quite out of date, we found many things have changed. We joined an online group called Panama Posse who have many members currently in transit on this route. They use Yahoo and you can ask there and usually find some up to date specific info. There is a small fee for membership.
Also read the info on Noonsite.com.

It’s a shame others don’t send in updates to the Sarana guides. It’s the only way to keep them up to date.

[benbis]

Great info thanks.

I am also planning to sail from Panama to Chiapas in May to July 2020.
Was it an issue for you being insured to sail above 10 degrees after May 15th?
Which insurance company were you with?
This message was intended as a reply to Wingssail. I pm’d him too.

Please let me know
Thanks
Ben

[wingssail]

Originally Posted by benbis

Great info thanks.

I am also planning to sail from Panama to Chiapas in May to July 2020.
Was it an issue for you being insured to sail above 10 degrees after May 15th?
Which insurance company were you with?
This message was intended as a reply to Wingssail. I pm’d him too.

Please let me know
Thanks
Ben

We did not travel north of Chaipas until November (after arriving from Panama in July). This was not an insurance issue but one of seamanship. That coast is dangerous and there are few places to find protection from hurricanes. Our insurance company is Novamar, but we don't carry hull insurance anyhow. Liability does not have the same navigation restrictions.
While in Chiapas we travelled by land and air in Mexico and hauled out.