Matanchén Bay, Mexico

After a night at Isla Isabela, we sailed to Matanchén Bay, a small town just south of San Blas on mainland Mexico’s west coast. The bay is surrounded by mangroves and lagoons & the anchorages is known for an overpopulation of no-see-ums, tiny biting midges.

Thanks to the sailing community of Mexico, who is generous in sharing knowledge, we anchored about a 3/4 mile offshore and escaped the nasty bugs. The water surrounding the anchorage was not inviting to swim as it was murky and filled with stingrays showing off their rays to the sun, but the beach was beautiful - filled with white sand, palm trees and tiny palapa restaurants where we had lunch.

View of Brizo from Matanchén Bay

While on shore, we had a choice: visit the historic sites of San Blas or go Crocodile Dundee and visit the crocodile sanctuary. We opted for the latter and mistakenly walked through the jungle on a dirt road to the park - later we learned the highlight of the experience is taking a fan boat up the estuaries and seeing crocodiles in the wild.

Overall, we were disappointed by the crocodile sanctuary, which felt more like a zoo than anything else. It was cool to see the crocs up close and personal - we saw crocs at all stages of development - babies, teenagers, and adults. The sanctuary apparently releases the crocodiles into the wild once they come to a certain age. Despite this disappointment, Mikael had a bit of fun swinging off a rope into a fresh water pool just on the other side of the crocodile infested waters.