Known as the “Galapagos of Mexico”, we sailed overnight to this isolated volcanic island. After hours of dodging fish nets, we rounded the towering Las Monas. Hundreds of birds circled overhead.
We dropped anchor in a 13-foot deeply crevassed canyon. This anchorage is known for swallowing anchors so we donned fins and snorkels and jumped into the 87-degree water teeming with fish. Due to the island’s isolation and geology, the waters are crystal clear and the snorkeling is fantastic. Hundreds of fish swam past us: bright yellow and black striped; long, sleek silver ones; plump purple ones all unconcerned with our presence in their fish bowl. We checked our anchor which had missed the sandy patch that we were aiming for but landed on a rock shelf. It held us well through the night.
In the morning, we beached the dingy and hiked a trail
through the dense, low canopy of trees, home to thousands of nesting birds;
frigates, blue-footed boobies, green-footed boobies, brown boobies and brown
pelicans among many others. The heat,
humidity and smell of guano were oppressive as we followed the trail to Lago
Crater (Crater Lake), which was incredibly polluted from eons of guano. A symphony of bird calls followed our every
step as hundreds of birds circled and millions more were in the nests. 
Back on the beach, we discovered a myriad of invertebrates
running along the sand as well as a plethora of beautiful shells no longer
inhabited.
Free of natural predators, this island is an amazing
sanctuary and a magnificent World Heritage Site accessible only by private
boat. It is awe inspiring. We’re glad that we decided to stop and take the
chance of losing our anchor. I saw a couple
of them on the bottom while snorkeling.
Luckily, we did not add ours to the collection.
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