Conception Bay

There is a dearth of anchorages north from San Juanico, so our next leg was 45 nautical miles to the lip of Bahia Concepcion. Yeah! We are finally here! Conception Bay is very large (22 miles long by 5 miles wide), fairly shallow throughout, and surrounded by high hills. It is one of the hottest spots on the Sea since it is so protected. The water is noticeably warmer than San Juanico, only 45 miles away. The water temp is somewhere in the mid to high 80's, the air temp is 90 to 100. Conception Bay is a very popular camping and vacationing spot for Americans, Canadians, and Mexicans. There are numerous anchorages spread throughout the Bay.

Finally at Conception Bay, we spent a couple nights anchored at a beach that is right at the entrance, before heading into the Bay. Our first stop when we passed into the Bay was at a popular cove that has a restaurant on the beach. We parked our boat, dinghyed in for lunch and promptly left to find a more secluded anchorage. We still wanted a little solitude, but it was nice to let someone else cook for a change.

We found the perfect anchorage tucked into the lee of a small island here in Conception Bay called Isla Coyote. We spent three days there, doing what we love - snorkeling, fishing, swimming with Rudy and being together. We had the place to ourselves, our own little deserted island with a perfect little beach. The cove is perfect for one boat and the island is uninhabited.

On our second morning at Isla Coyote, a pod of dolphins came into the cove while we were all snorkeling. We were only about 30 feet from them while they were feeding, but we could only see them if our heads were out of the water - visibility wasn't that great and they didn't come close enough. but is was still very exciting. Bottlenose dolphins are typically 11 feet long, some as long as 13 feet - they look big in the water.

The next day, Jack and I saw our first sea horse poised in the sea weed. It was so amazing to see one. He stays very close to the same spot and we saw him again the next day. His is about 6 to 8 inches long, black with lighter spots. The snorkeling is excellent around this island and Jack and Patrick have been practicing their spearfishing. Jack had his first kill that morning.