We arrived in La Ventana the end of September, which is considered early for most sailors who spend the winters here in southern Baja. The fall weather is still hot and the water is warm, which means great snorkeling, fishing, and even the occasional windy day for sailing in shorts and a harness. Personally it doesn’t get any better than winds of 20 with the water and air temps of 85…it’s a great time to work on transitions and tricks that can lead to time in the water.
A night on the road headed south for the winter.
For those of you who aren’t familiar with Baja Mexico, La Ventana is located on the Sea of Cortez about 100 miles north of Cabo (the southern tip of the peninsula) and just 30 miles east of La Paz, Baja’s largest city. Most wave sailors know of Baja’s premier wave sailing spot San Carlos, located on the Pacific Ocean side of Baja about 250 miles south of San Diego. La Ventana is another two days drive south on Mex 1, the main north/south highway. The windy season is from mid November to April and the conditions are bump and jump, with 5-6′ swells on the bigger days. The typical wind pattern is 4 or 5 days of sailable wind each week, but it can blow for 2 or 3 weeks straight. I usually can sail 90% of the time on a 4.5 to 5.0, (75 or 85 liter board) with a few days of 3.7 to 4.0 each season.
La Ventana Bay on the Sea of Cortez
Usually we’re treated to 3 or 4 sailable days in October, but this has been a bonus year…with over a dozen days on the water so far…thanks to some early season Santa Ana winds in southern California which set up our “El Norte” winter winds here in southern Baja. If you are coming to La Ventana this winter, I have the new Panther for you to demo at the RV Park. We will also do a couple of demo days at north beach in Los Barriles this season (35 miles south)…we’ll post the dates and times on the Ezzy website and iwindsurf. We’ll be posting updates as the season progresses. All for now, good sailing, Gary & Nancy
The La Ventana RV Park is where most sailors spend the winter.
