Sailing with Terrapin: Worth every drop of deet

After a fantastic stay on Isla Isabel we made our way to San Blas on the mainland. Toto, I've got a feeling were not in Baja anymore.

San Blas is an older colonial city that was a major Naval port for the Spaniards in the 16th and 17th centuries. San Blas is also very tropical. It is everything you would think the tropics to be complete with jungles, mangroves, coconut palms and all the biting bugs one can handle. Actually we loved San Blas and all that it had to offer. We had originally planned on anchoring in the estuary next to the city but aborted this mission after evaluating the slim approach with breakers and a whopping depth of 8 feet. We ended up anchoring next door in Mantanchen Bay. The bay offered bioluminescence which was a real treat to swim in at night was lined in palapa restaurants and was a short taxi ride from town.

If you ever find yourself in San Blas DO NOT miss going to La Tovara Springs. You can hire a panga to take you up the estuary under the canopy of mangroves where you can't miss seeing the crocodiles, turtles, beautiful plants and endless amounts of birds. At the end of your tour if you pay a little more, your guide will take you all the way up the river to a fresh water spring that is fenced off from crocodiles. At the the spring is a little restaurant and a rope swing where you can fling yourself into the water. Although I knew that there was a fence to keep out the crocodiles it was still nerve racking to swim in the same water shared by crocodiles.

We had a blast in San Blas and was worth every drop of deet!