Puerto Balandra (Isla Carmen) - BCS, Mexico

Balandra on Isla Carmen (Not to be confused with Balandra near La Paz) is a beautiful almost all weather anchorage just across from Loreto. The bay is well protected from both the prevailing northerly weather as well as the southerlies which are more common in the summer. Ashore there are hiking opportunities, and it is a pleasant spot to hang out for a few days.

Isla Carmen is a privately owned island, and technically you are not supposed to go walking on the island, but this appears to be tolerated if you are respectful about it. There is a nice hike from the north lobe going up into the ridge with a good view out over Punta Choya towards Isla Coronados.

When walking you may get a glimpse of some of the local wildlife which includes bighorn sheep.

Balandra is also a good place to spend the night if you are resupplying in Loreto town, as its only 8 or so miles away, in calm weather you can motor over there in a fast dinghy, however do be careful as the afternoon thermals can really pick up which would make a dinghy ride back unpleasant if not downright dangerous.

In the summer, the bees here (and in many other anchorages in Baja) can become seriously obnoxious, the best advice I can give you is to make sure you don't have a single drop of water anywhere on your boat. If you do get swarmed, its really just a case of battening down the hatches and trying to stop too many of them getting inside. The good news is that come evening they will buzz off back to their nest, and you wont see them again till the morning.

They aren't aggressive, but they will sting you if you stand on them, sit on them, or if they fly up your shorts - they aren't the most clever animals around. You'll also find they commit mass suicide in any open container. We get quite bad reactions to the stings, usually swelling up quite a bit for a few days.

We anchor in 20ft over sand, in northerly weather we tuck in to the northwest corner of the bay, this limits the cell service which becomes intermittent but gives the best protection from wind and swell.

In calm or southerly conditions we anchor in the south, on a sand shelf which extends out from the shore. It shoals pretty quickly so be careful.

There is a small sandy shoal extending out from the northeast part (charted) so be careful of your swing space.

We make sure we don't have anything wet for bees to discover prior to entering the anchorage.