ANCHORS AWEIGH! SAILING ON THE BANDERAS BAY

The Banderas Bay is located between the states of Nayarit and Jalisco and is one of the most beautiful of its kind in the world. In fact, it is part of “The Most Beautiful Bays of the World Club,” based in France. Besides being the country’s largest bay, it receives the flow from the Ameca River, which is for all intents and purposes the border that divides both states and their cities: Puerto Vallarta in Jalisco and Nuevo Vallarta in Nayarit.

The bay is ideal for the practice of sailing sports of every kind. Its unique characteristics allow sailing to be practiced during the windy season as well as making it the perfect host destination for world-class events such as the Biannual Copa Mexico Regatta, which includes the J24, Láser, Optimist, Kite Surf, WindSurf, Club 420, Oceánica and Wesmex classes, the Wind Festival and the Optimist North American Championships (OPTINAM).

If you know your sailing, here’s some more technical info courtesy of www.kitesurfvacation.com: 

• Dominant winds: W. Respect to shore: side-onshore Best direction: SW, W. 
• It blows during the afternoon. 
• Best season: March, April, May and June.
• The wind season is from January to June, after that the sea is so warm there is no sea breeze. 
• It is usually onshore but sometimes swings to the west a little. 
• The wind is always from sea breezes and is from 5-20mph. 
• Usually starts around 12-1 p.m. and on a good day continues until sunset 7-8 p.m. 
• You can get out 4-5 days a week easily in the wind season.

You can rent equipment for kitesurfing, windsurfing or even catamarans at the hotels or right on the beach. There are also specialty schools that can teach you the best techniques to ply the waters of the Banderas Bay. 

If you’d rather take a tour on a luxury sailboat during the day or at sunset, we recommend you check with your hotel’s concierge or your travel agent. There are several tours available, so get your sunblock ready and prepare to weigh anchor!