Ensenada el Embulo (Isla Espíritu Santo) - BCS, Mexico

We love El Embulo - its a nice tight secluded bay, which is rarely visited, yet offers great hiking around Isla Partida, is handy for visiting los islotes to see the sea lions, and has excellent northerly wave protection if not so much wind protection.

The beach is a nice white sandy beach, we haven't snorkeled much in here, but there is a rocky point at the entrance which would probably be quite interesting. Nearby to the south there is a rocky islet which is good for fishing and snorkelling (in calm conditions) and of course the sea lion colony is an easy dinghy ride in calm conditions.

Recently we were told that you can only visit the sea lions as part of a group, of course we were told that by a tour guide, so your mileage may vary. Even if that's true it should be very easy to just join a group on arrival by asking the guide and giving them some pesos.

The hike up the arroyo is very rewarding, but its quite a long hike, once you get to the top of the arroyo the trail branches left or right, and you can make a complete loop of the depression in front of you.

Be aware that the wind really funnels down the arroyo, so the anchorage can be windy even though there is minimal swell wrap around.

We anchor in 15-20ft well inside the bay. You'll pass a rocky outcrop on your port side, and the bay starts to open up a bit. Holding is good, but be aware of funnelling winds.

You get reasonable protection from southerly winds, but less from southerly swell, and in a corumuel this probably gets untenable pretty quickly - your best bet in that case is probably to take shelter by rounding the island or making a break for it back to Partida.