Turtle Bay – Home of the original Mexican one arm bandit

After all the action of Guadalupe everyone was looking forward to a relax and a bit of peace and tranquillity. Where better to find this than the most popular anchorage on the Baja peninsula, Turtle Bay (now without turtles). We arrived in the dark after a 36 hour crossing from Guadalupe to a disorienting light show that looked like stars low to the horizon, stretching for about 2 miles along the shore. Trying to work out what we were seeing took a little while as we knew the town was only small. As it turned out we were looking at the anchored armada of the dreaded Baja Haha – 200 yachties/locusts/dollar signs that annually cruise down the peninsula using all the resources the Mexican population can provide and paying through the nose for them. We picked a spot away from the rabble and were very happy to have a good sleep and just hoped there was still some food and fuel left in town.

On waking up we took the dinghy and docked it at the pier next to town. It was at this point we met Pedro the original Mexican one armed bandit. At around 400lbs, cross eyed and with only one arm, Pedro was not who you might expect would be at the dinghy dock to help you tie up. What he lacked in depth perception and hand-eye coordination he made up for in entrepreneurship, in that the only phrases he would use were “Soy Pedro” and “One dollar”. That is “I am Pedro”, so give me $1 to dock the dinghy, $1 for each bag of rubbish you want to put in the public bin and $1 for untying the dinghy when you go. Working on this formula we estimated that Pedro, could be earning upwards of $1000 a day as a result of the Baja Haja being in town, making him the richest man in Turtle Bay. Not bad for someone who would surely be a ward of the state in any other country.

As for the town itself it was not all that it was cracked up to be, with the charm and cleanliness of a Mumbai slum and the prices of Harrods it wasn't exactly paradise. After stepping into the beach side bar we were greeted by about 8 stray dogs, a cat playing with a half dead mouse and some dried out turtle shells (possibly explaining the lack of turtles in the bay). After fuelling up and getting the last fresh water in town we decided the best idea would be to get down to Cabo ASAP and hopefully beat the Haha!