Isla Espiritu Santo, Isla Partida and Los Isolotes
Ben
Gillam--a great guy--at Baja Outdoor
Activities (BOA) outfitted us with our kayaks. One was a Cobra
sit-on-top and the other a Necky Narpa.
He had great local knowledge
of where to camp and of sea and weather conditions to watch out for.
Baja Map Guide is a good 1st source for a map of the islands. BOA sells a better map for $3.50 it's laminated and was very useful.
We e-mailed back and forth with BOA; they were very good at answering our questions. Our last day on the island I was able to raise Ben in his office in La Paz with my Hummingbird VHF 5 Marine Radio, from the most Southern Point of Espiritu Santo Island. At least 18 miles away.
He advised me that the South
wind would die by noon after blowing all night and this is exactly what
happened. This was the Coromuel
wind Ben had talked about. Nice to be somewhere where it's not
always windier in the afternoon. We observed the highest winds at night.
This Coromuel wind happened every night we were there.
Thank you to Ben Gillam and our panga guide Eduardo for all their great help!
La Paz, Baja California Sur is the logical starting point for this expedition. A city of 180,000 it was very safe and friendly.
Driving it's about 930 miles South of the US border. An easier way is to fly into La Paz (LAP) airport from Los Angeles (LAX).
Southwest Airlines can be the way to go to LAX from Oakland (OAK)
When we went Aerocalifornia Airlines was having an airfare sale with Round trip air from LAX to LAP only US$124.00. It's more expensive to stay home. They don't maintain a website but you can obtain current info here
Mexicana
Airlines also flies here
A guide to fishing the local waters around the islands.
I bought a 3-piece carbon fiber
paddle from kayakstore.com
for $210. They didn't have one in stock when I called but were able to
make one and deliver it within 10 days.
BOA Aquabound's paddles would
have been OK but a good paddle is an excellent item to put in the suitcase
for expedition paddling. If you have any trouble or want to customize
your order e-mail or call William 888-544-9438 william@kayakstore.com
He was a great help!
We stayed in the cabanas at the Los Arcos Hotel which were excellent. BOA has a wide selection of recommended hotels on it's website.
Our paddle plan of 2 nights hotel
when we got there, 4 nights on the islands and then 2 nights before flying
home worked very well.
Trip
report
If you want to check weather and ocean conditions before you paddle!
Site Map