Isla Coronados (Loreto) - BCS, Mexico

Another favorite anchorage which is easy to spend many nights just hanging out is Isla Coronados. We like it because it has good cell service, plenty of hiking and snorkeling, good protection from the weather, and in the spring lots of dolphins.

Ashore you can hike up to the summit following a well defined trail, it takes an hour or so to get up, and affords beautiful views out to Isla Carmen, and the coast of Baja.

There is another trail going out along the spit towards little Coronado, which has a nice beach, and picnic spot.

Snorkelling is best on the east side, but there is plenty to be seen around the rocky shore closer to the anchorages too.

Resupplying in Loreto is easy from here, and you can either take the big boat, or the dinghy in calm weather, but watch out for afternoon thermals which can make the return trip a bit too exciting.

In calm weather we anchor in 15-20ft over sand close to the white sandy beach in the eastern end of the bay on the west of the anchorage. This gives good protection from most southerly weather and the best view of the island, but you do get some noise and wake from panga tours.

If the wind is bad from the south or south west, we move out a bit closer to the shallow bay (no entry for big boats) in the west side, which helps with any swell wrapping around.

In northerly weather we anchor on the south side in 20ft as close in to the shore as we can, which gets us out of the swell, wind can still be quite strong here as it funnels around the island, but its generally a good spot to wait out any northerly weather.

For a nice snorkeling trip the bay on the east is a nice lunch trip, either by dinghy or in the big boat. There is marginal protection there from the prevailing winds, but its not as well protected as the other options.