Where we are--Mag Bay

Bahia Magdalena is a remote bay on the south west coast of the Baja. It’s 50km of shallow estuaries, white sand beaches and mangrove lagoons. There are only a couple of settlements on the bay—and they have the feel of a forgotten frontier to them. When we go into the village we’re surrounded by children; Cassandra and Alejandra are the most outgoing. We felt rich when the small dusty tienda had both eggs and onions in stock.

In September hurricane Jimena blew through the area destroying buildings and sinking boats and now, in January, most of the homes and the village church are still without roofs. But the kids are well dressed, they all have bikes and everyone greets us.

Despite the area’s poverty, or maybe because of it, there’s almost no development on the bay. Gray whales come here every year to give birth; migrating birds fill the wet lands; the waters are alive with marine life. A five minute dinghy ride from our anchorage takes us to places where our footprints are the only ones to mark the fine white sand.

Exploring is easy here—we’ve walked through the desert, swum in the clear waters and paddled through a mangrove lagoon. At night we watch the sky fill with stars so bright they’re reflected by the water.

Mag Bay isn’t the type of place to end up in travel articles or guide books, but it’s the type of place we set out for. It’s the kind of place that years from now, when we’re home and settled, we’ll remind each other of…