MAP     Punta Mita is in the northwest part of Banderas Bay, home of Puerto Vallarta. On a previous trip, we surfed good waves at Punta Mita, but this time we found the waves lacking. After a few days we moved to Paradise Marina where we stayed a few more days, meeting other cruisers and reprovisioning. We did even more shopping in Puerto Vallarta before heading down the coast. Sometimes we would sail during the day and anchor in a cove at night and other times we would sail for two or three days at a time to make a destination. The next stops were Tenecatita and Barra de Navidad. There were lots of boats in Tenecatita, a large pretty bay with a small village, a French restaurant and a small river. We anchored for a couple of days then moved on down to Barra de Navidad, where we finally got some fun waves. Barra is a local Mexican resort town. A few years ago a first class hotel, golf course and marina were built here. We treated ourselves to a slip at the marina and lived in luxury for 10 days. Every day we would ride the hotel launch to the surf spot, surf a couple of hours, have lunch at a beachfront restaurant, go back to the hotel and swim in their fabulous pool before going back to the boat. Leaving Barra, our next stop was Caleta de Campos, three miles south of Rio Nexpa. On a previous trip we surfed really wonderful waves at Nexpa, and this time we were not disappointed. The waves were smaller, but still very good. Eager to move on down the line, we sailed to Manzanillo, and after a brief rest, continued on to Isla Ixtapa. Now this place is pretty cool because there were good waves just a mile across the chanel ar Playa Linda. We got great waves here 11 years ago, but this time it was better. With a rock bottom, this spot had numerous peaks, many with long sections. After surfing several days, the swell dropped a bit, and since we had not been in civilization for a while, we motored over to Marina Ixtapa, four miles away. What luck! That night, a big storm came through with 50 mph winds. Many boats still at anchor at Isla Ixtapa and Zihuatenejo were miserable and scared. We were in a slip and only lost sleep. Several boats were damaged. We had to get used to having crocodiles swim by our boat. Once the weather cleared, we moved down to Zihuatenejo, a beautiful town in a protected bay. The water there was not so clean, and it was a busy place. But we got to shop in a supermaket (air-conditioned) and it's closer to an airport. Leigh flew to Sequim to visit her mother, and I returned to Isla Ixtapa and the waves of Playa Linda. While there, I met the crew of Gitana, who happened to be surfers and guitar players. Since then, I have been giving guitar lessons to different cruisers all the way down the coast to Panama. When Leigh returned from her visit, we sailed down to Acapulco

Right next to our boat!	Beautiful Banderas Bay	Nice waves at Nexpa