Winter In And On The Water - Sundowners, Kiting and Whale Sharks

It has been a very windy winter in La Paz this year. Strong, cold northerly winds have been the prevailing pattern, sometimes lasting for more than a week before the weather would take pity on us and deliver a day or so respite of calm weather. I've worn long pants more days in the past couple of months than in the entire time we have been in Mexico.

Cold but we still meet for sundowners. Check out my fleece slippers.
Susan, Sylvia, Peggy and Lola.

But windy days are a godsend to kiters, so while most of us kvetched about the relentless winds, Tom and his pals aboard Shindig and Pangaea enjoyed many days of world class kiting both in La Paz and over in La Ventana.

Rob rips it up in the bay outside our marina.

There are several kiteboarding competitions in La Ventana during the month of January, and one day a group of us caravaned the 60 miles there to catch the first of them.


La Ventana is a fishing village that has evolved into a windsurfing and kiting destination. We liked how the competition festivities included many local contributions such as food stands and traditional dances.

In this graceful dance the girls are the net trying to catch the yellowtail held by the boys. Yep, the boys get caught in the end. 

It was incredibly exciting to watch the races and freestyle competitions. 

The competitors race around buoys in the bay.

The foiling boards look crazy but the kiters can really catch air on these.

We were interested to learn that the La Ventana Classic is a fundraiser for local schoolchildren. This year the event raised over 12K which will allow 42 children to continue high school.



Shindig and Pangaea rented a house in La Ventana for a month so that Rob and Mike could improve their skills and Nancy and Kate could take lessons. Tom and I were quick to join them for a few days to mooch off of their hospitality. After we spent a few very enjoyable days there Tom discovered there was a bus from La Paz to La Ventana every afternoon so there was no keeping him away after that.

Tom about to launch.

Mike, Rob and Tom enjoy their Margaritas after a day of kiting.

A huge thanks to our friends for their hospitality. 

Blog Hack: If you are interested in seeing more cool kiting pics, videos and La Ventana info check out Rob's and Nancy's informative posts La Ventana #1 and La Ventana #2.  

Even though it felt like the cold northerlies would never end, we actually did have some extremely pleasant days and evenings. Once in a while.

Nancy pulled out her keyboard to serenade us during our Sundownders before the wind started blowing her music around.

One day our neighbor Steve on Casamar invited us for a sail to see if we could find whale sharks. 

We head out of the marina on Casamar (photo by Lola)

We didn't have to go far before we spotted one who was feeding right on the surface. We were able to get right up next to it and watch it suck in great gulps of water. Very cool!

Whale shark feeding right next to us. It didn't seem bothered by us.

Lola kayaked right up next to it and took this photo.

More Whale Shark Pics HERE or HERE. 

More Windy Winter/Kiting Pics HERE or HERE.


It seemed like the weather would never warm up, and then all of a sudden last week we had a few days that were in the 90s and we were all griping about the heat. As if in answer to our fickle desires a cold front blew through and for a couple of days the temperature dropped over 20 degrees and we had cold driving rain. On the second day when the sun finally came out and it seemed as though the squalls had passed I went to the store and while walking back was caught in a frigid downpour that absolutely drenched me washed my clothes for me. I heard from some friends at anchor that it hailed on them that day. Crazy weather.

I go out to watch the sun set rain or shine, but it's much nicer without wind and rain. Salud!