Frequently Asked Questions

Can you meet us at the airport?
Yes, we will be happy to meet you at the La Paz airport gratis. Please let us know at least two weeks in advance. Please give us the name of the airline, the flight number and time of arrival.

We are flying into San Jose Del Cabo airport. What is the best way to get to La Paz?
The airport at San Jose Del Cabo is approximately 120 miles from La Paz. A new bus line, Peninsula Ejectivo has new comfortable buses, it is my understanding that they do not pick up at the airport, but they will deliver you to the terminals from La Paz. Many of our charterers have taken this service back to SJD and they have been very pleased. They leave for La Paz and return every hour and one /half. There are other buses that are nice (Aquila is one). You can go direct to the bus stop in San Jose del Cabo, or if you are adventurous, go out to the highway and catch one to La Paz. Tickets are around $25. Car rentals can be expensive as there is a drop-off fee for La Paz. However some of our charters have gotten very reasonable rates. If you do rent a car, I have heard, it is the cheapest to do it in the USA. All seven rental car companies have offices at the airport and in La Paz. There is a private van service, very nice, but a little expensive, great website, http://transbaja.com/. They even have a toll free; 1-888-800-9619. The trip is about three hours and takes you through the mountains, very picturesque.

Do you provide towels & bedding?
Yes, we provide blankets, sheets, pillowcases, towels, washcloths, and dish towels.

Do we need to purchase paper products and soap?
We only provide toilet paper, four rolls of paper towels and garbage bags. We do provide dish, bar and liquid soap.

What about spices?
We have a very limited supply aboard. Other charterers bring some and leave some. It is a good idea to check before you shop. Salt, pepper and sugar are provided.

Can we sleep on board SeaFortuna the night before our charter begins?
Yes, 99% of the time, for no charge. SeaFortuna is available for boarding at 6 PM. as the crew needs to get her ready for you after the previous charters have come in.

What is the water situation? Do we need to buy drinking water?
We provide anywhere from 18 to 30 gallons of purified drinking water, depending on the number of charters. SeaFortuna has three freshwater tanks of 90 gallons and two of 85 gallons each for a total of 260 gallons. The water of La Paz is drinkable, but it is best to drink purified water. In addition, there is a salt water pump for the galley sink.

How do we provision and where?
Practically all of our charters self-provision. Most people shop at the supermarket CCC located five blocks from where SeaFortuna is docked. It is a very large store, similar to a supermarket in the U.S. or Canada. The beef, in our opinion, is superior to that of the U.S., and comes from the state of Sinaloa although it it is cut a little different. Many products are brought down from the U.S. We have never had a complaint about the quality or variety of products at CCC. There are some very good Mexican wines produced on the Baja as well as wines from the U.S, Chile and the world. Mexican beer is great.

When do we receive the return of our security deposit?
Your security deposit is sent to you seven days after your charter. We take a good look at SeaFortuna to see that this are no damages or lost items (most charters point them out to us), check the fuel supplies and telephone use and take out the $50 for the port captain's fees. Since your deposit is $1,000, it varys depending upon whether or not you have refilled the diesel tanks.

Can we do a charter less than a week?
Yes, since SeaFortuna went into charter June 15, we are want to keep her working as much as possible. We do prefer charters of at least a week. The reason that you should think of a charter at least a week is that by the time you have provisioned and gone out to the islands, counting your return trip, two days are gone. We also have to do as much work for a charter that is less than a week as we do for a week’s charter, so it is not a good situation for us either.

How do you take care of problems when we are out in the islands?
Firstly, we do everything in our power for it not to happen, but boats being boats it does happen. Rafael, who takes care of my boats, has worked for me for over 10 years. Fact of the matter, without him, I would not charter SeaFortuna. He is a great mechanic, painter and person etc. He has a cell phone and can be contacted direct from SeaFortuna (myself, Bob Moore when available). We have Raul who has four fast pangas with 90 hpr. Honda's to take Rafael out to SeaFortuna. So usually Rafael can be there in several hours.

What about fishing?
As is stated in our description page, SeaFortuna was a full time sports fishing boat in Cabo. She has outriggers, a large bait tank and tuna tubes. While most fishermen bring their own, we do have rods and reels and lures. Many of you will charter her for fishing primarily.

Why is the Boston Whaler not provided in the base price?
We have found that some charterers only want the kayaks, some want both. We have also had charters take the Whaler, the Lazer and one kayak. So you’ll have to pick-and-choose.

What is the best way to bring money to Mexico?
The best way, is to bring U.S. dollars and your credit and debit cards. At CCC for example, they will accept credit cards, dollars or pesos. They will also exchange dollars for pesos. It is best to exchange dollars for pesos in Mexico as you will get the best exchange rate here. Exchange dollars at CCC for the best rates when you provision, or use one of five ATMs there (yes, I said, they are five in a row at the entrance to CCC). Most restaurants accept dollars & credit cards. Absolutely do NOT bring traveler's checks! They are not practical in La Paz because banks will not accept them from merchants.

Can we do a one-way charter to Puerto Escondido or vice versa?
Yes, we have done several. Most have been done by return charters, with one doing it twice. It is a good way to do more cruising, and see a complete set of different islands. Most who do the trip from La Paz to PE, fly back out of Loreto. Those that do the PE to La Paz segment, provision in La Paz, and we transport them by motor home to PE. The distance is 225 miles, and takes 5½ hours. The cost is $750 to $1000 usually split between the two charters.

Why don't you include charterers in your base rate?
All charter companies, to our knowledge, base their rates on the number of persons doing the charter. With this rating plan, the more that you have in your party, the lower the per cost rate per week per person is.

When do we receive the return of our security deposit?
Your security deposit is sent to you seven days after your charter. We take a good look at Seascape to see that this are no damages or lost items (most charters point them out to us), check the fuel supplies and telephone use and take out the $50 for the port captain's fees. Usually, if there are no damages, the amount returned to you is $400.

What about navigation, charts & cruising guides?
All navigation is line-of-sight. While we do provide a GPS and most charterers do have a GPS, they are not necessary.

The chart that we send charterers is a mini cruising guide to La Paz area and the islands of Espiritu Santo, Partida and San Francisco, on a one week charter is the one we use. The Moorings use a fishing chart, which we also have aboard. That’s it( for one-ways to Puerto Escondido and two week charters, we do have a packet of charts to use, but you still cannot use them as you would a US or Canadian chart)!

There are four cruising guides, and they are all aboard. My favorite is" Charlie’s Charts. Another one is; Cruising Guide to the Lower Gulf by Gerry Cunningham, very good and recent. Jack Williams, Volume II guide to the Sea of Cortez has good pictures. We also have a copy of one by Vern Jones, that is no longer in print, but excellent.

How do you use a payphone in Mexico?
You buy a phone card for 50 or 100 pesos, from most stores. Mexican phones do not take coins. The rate to call the USA is about 5 pesos per minute, or 45 cents. DO NOT USE TELEPHONES that are in the tourist areas, in which they say, "use your credit card to call home". They charge about $10 per minute, and we even heard of one person who was charged $80.

When you are in the US or Canada, please go to http://eebmike.com/. He used to live here, but he now lives in the States while his children go to school. He keeps it up and there is also a place to click on to get forcasts.

We will give you the weather information we have when you are here for your charter. Also go to channel 22 (VHF) at 8 AM, Monday through Saturday. There is a net on, in English, and the weather is one of the first items. (Channel 22 is the hailing channel in La Paz and channel 16 in the islands.)

You can go on VHF and ask if anyone has the weather, especially after 10 AM as many of the cruisers are hams, and get the weather from the ham nets.