Pacific, Cali to Southern Mexico

It's a wonderful trip through there, but how you do it is very dependent on your range. We've only done it one time but we did some long runs like 726 nm from Ensenada to Cabo San Lucas. We found the Cabo and La Paz areas most enjoyable, then cut across to Mazatlan before continuing down to Puerto Vallarta. From there we went to Acapulco and then to Huatulco. We then skipped over Chiapas. You also need to be aware of safety. Some areas do pop up with violence encouraging avoidance. A month or two later we wouldn't have stopped in Acapulco. As it was, we were careful and not in town at night plus only in groups. From what I know things are calm now. Use Noonsite and other resources to be up to date on any piracy.

We spent 3 weeks but the route we took from San Diego to Huatulco in total was just over 2200 nm so imagine you're talking 2400 or so. Just divide that into hours and days and you have the time.

There may be some comfort in joining a rally like CUBAR and then doing your own thing after you have that experience. I've no idea whether they are rallying in 2021.

cubar.sdyc.org looks like the place to learn more.

Check Out the book “Cruising the Big U” by Ade & Jo Salzer. Although it’s on a 43’ trawler, they discuss going from Seattle to Alaska, the. down West Coast to Panama Canal, thru Caribbean and up East Coast to Maine. Half is Ade’s more terse “captains log” and half is Jo’s “lighter commentary.” Good logs on marinas, distances and their thoughts.
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Excellent book and the Big U should get more attention like the Great Loop. We have covered the entire area.

That cubar program looks like it would be interesting to me also. Going to check that out. Thanks!

PS--looks like they skipped 2020, I assume due to Covid. Any knowledge whether they plan to pick it up again?

I saw the same and most liekley 2020 was, well 2020.
I did find the email for the past Chairman of the event and sent a query, I will keep you posted.

By the virtue of email and web searching I have an update. The gentleman chairing the upcoming iteration relayed this web site for those with interest.
http://cubar.sdyc.org/2014/12/05/submit-your-interest/
I will start another thread as this may be of interest to others as well, I have no personal, media or commercial interest in this program. Just doing my job as a boat crazy boater to help out my brothers and sisters.

Thanks!

I have done that trip (San Diego / Ensenada to Cabo/PV/La Paz), both ways, several times, mostly in my current boat (68' LOA, 100,000 pound displacement, under 10 knots 95% of the time), typically heading south in October (in order to not leave the boat unattended before the end of hurricane season) and returning sometime between March and July. Going down has always been smooth (but I have never left Ensenada with a named storm developing), and coming back hasn't been bad either, but it is uphill so a little less comfortable. I don't have any experience with Azimuts, but if it is stabilized and has the range, I would not expect any problems. That said, a round trip every year may get old fast.

That's something I'd want to compute myself. Too many variables (what port to what port, how fast or slow will you travel, how big is your boat, does your burn 23 gph at cruise or 109 gph). The one time I took someone else's (boat's owner) advice on fuel I ended up flopping around in 6' seas, 5 miles short of my destination, waiting for Sea Tow to bring out fuel.

I really depends on where you are buying the fuel. Lately, Mexico has been more expensive than Cal, but historically (going back say, 10 - 20 years) that has not been the case. Either way, if you must buy fuel in Turtle Bay or Mag Bay, you will pay a significant premium -- not just in the quoted price per gallon, but also you may not get nearly the number of gallons for which you are charged.

That said, I would expect $3.50 per gallon, with a $2.00 per gallon premium if you must fell up along Baja before Cabo.

No firearms in Mexico. They will throw you in prison, as it is not the kind of thing for which you can pay a fine (or bribe) and be on your way.

I don't think anyone else's answer to this question will be much use to you. But, I took my boat from San Diego to PV, consuming 1200 gallons, all of which I had purchased (in Ensenada) for about $2.75/gallon, for a total cost of just under $3K, one way. We carry enough fuel that we didn't need to buy any fuel along the way. Having to buy in Turtle or Mag Bay can be very expensive. On the other hand, our route took us way off shore, with lots of extra travel distance just because we were fishing. You can eliminate that. Our return trip was much more direct, with commensurate savings.

If you want to know what it is going to cost you, you need to know what speed you will travel at, your fuel burn at that speed, where you will be refueling, and the cost of fuel at those locations.

You're asking for totally useless information. Figure your own usage on your mileage and your boat. So, here's my useless information for you. From San Diego to Puerto Vallarta, one way only, we spent just under $30,000 on fuel so double that and you'd have our round trip number.

So, between my experience and Olden's you can now safely conclude that fuel for your trip will cost at least $6k, but maybe less, or as much as $60K, or maybe more.

I ran a Sabre 48 express cruiser from San Diego to La Paz with average speed of 18 kts going down and 10-12 kts returning in 2015 and 2017. Fuel going down with stop in Turtle Bay and Mag Bay costing around $4.50-7.5/ gal with total cost of around $4500. Return trip with same stops and similar fuel price total was around $5500. Went down in 2019 on long range cruiser with 1700 gallon capacity. Went down on less than one tank with San Diego purchased fuel at $2.20/gal and burned 1100 gallons. Returned with fuel purchased in La Paz at $4.50/gal at exchange rate of 19 peso/$1 and burned 1250 gallons due to very mild sea state, otherwise, probably would have burned 1500 gallons.