Since Loreto was our new La Paz, I thought I’d share some of my observations of the differences between the two towns. First off, there is no anchorage at Loreto. The closest one is Isla Coronados about 6 nmi away. We would anchor off Loreto just for the day, which was basically just open roadstead anchoring exposed in all directions but due West. In calm weather, it’s possible to anchor there overnight, but we just didn’t do it. A couple of our afternoon visits ended with very rocky conditions while trying to unload all the provisions out of the dinghy onto Exodus. La Paz is overall a much bigger town with much bigger stores (including Walmart). So, the selection was much better in La Paz. However, overall, provisioning was much easier in Loreto, because the main grocery store wasn’t too far from the dinghy dock. It was also a pretty pleasant walk down a “walk-street” past the mission. Also, in Loreto, across the street from the grocery store was a pet food and seed/grain store, where there were things like quinoa, couscous, and sushi rice all sold in bulk. They also had the nicest garlic bulbs I’ve seen anywhere in Mexico so far. Often the garlic is tiny little bulbs with tiny little cloves that make you work really hard for just a tiny bit of garlic.
Overall, I enjoyed walking around Loreto much more than La Paz, with one exception: the Malecon. I just loved that part of La Paz. I also loved in La Paz how the locals always seemed to be out and about. And of course, the $1 draft Negro Modelos at The Shack in La Paz was really hard to beat. Overall, dining out was less than spectacular in either place. Although we really like Mexican food, we haven’t found any really good fine dining, but to be fair, we haven’t looked really hard either. A family of four on a cruising budget can’t splurge on nice dinners out like we could at home. Both La Paz and Loreto have islands nearby with beautiful bays and lots of snorkeling. My preference was for the islands near La Paz, the bays were shallower and beaches were prettier. However, that was earlier in our trip so by the time we were up near Loreto I might have already started getting a little numb… ho-hum, another beautiful anchorage with another beautiful sunset. Overall, we spent much more time in La Paz, simply because we could anchor there. I would have loved to have hung out in Loreto more, but usually our trips there were frenzied reprovisioning afternoons with not a lot of time for leisurely strolls. I look forward to visiting both places again on our way back down South in the fall.
Gresham Family Exodus 