Punta Gorda (Isla Ceralvo) - BCS, Mexico

One of my favorite anchorages, but with only marginal protection. This sandy spit on Isla Ceralvo (Jacques Cousteau Island) yields a beautiful view out over the bay of La Ventana, with a beautiful beach, and a nice hike up an arroyo.

This is a fair weather anchorage only sadly, and technically the island is private property and you shouldn't venture off the beach.

It's not uncommon for there to be beach parties here on the weekends in summer, but its rare to find other boats anchored here other than day trippers and panga fisherman.

The thermals pick up in the afternoon which can bring a bit of swell, as well as kit surfers from la ventana.

You can dinghy over to La Ventana for supplies, its about 8 miles, and can be a fun day activity if you don't feel like moving the boat, just watch out for the thermals in the afternoon. The current through the channel is strong, which can create relatively large seas for the amount of wind.

I anchor in 20-25ft on a narrow sand shelf about 100M from the shore as deep into the bay as possible. Watch out for rocks and a shelf close to the point where the arroyo enters the beach.

Give the spit itself a wide berth as it shoals further out around the end. If approaching from the south, also stay a bit offshore as there are numerous underwater rocks close to shore.

Charly's Charts mentions an anchorage in the southern side of the spit, I've never tried this, but given how quickly it can become untenable here, if it's not ok on the north side i probably wouldn't try the south either.

In calm conditions this is a great anchorage, but care must be taken should the weather deteriorate. Once any northly wind picks up in or north of the channel, then you'll be bucking around and it can be quite dramatic, in which case bail out to muertos or punta arena if it's from the south.