Bahia de Banderas - The Bay of Flags
“The Bay That Brings the Best to Two States in Mexico” Size, depth and location are not what promote Banderas Bay. Yes, those are certainly factors behind why it’s so popular. But the fishing locally and off shore and the Humpback whales and the hatching of turtles and the diving and the protection to boaters and the tropical breeze and the islands in the bay and the elegant sunsets and the beautiful people that settled here because of the ease of life here. Those are the reasons that people are drawn to this bay. They (the famous they) say that the bay was formed by the eruption of an ancient volcano. Some know factors are the depth of the bay at over 4500 feet near the islands “Los Arcos” (according to NOAA charts). What ever the actual depth the humpback whales seem to love it and thrive here during the birthing of their calves. And the flying whales must have startled the ancients as they do the modern tourist. 
Sea Turtles: What causes the turtle population, those armored under water flyers, to cruise into this bay? I’m sure that the scientist will tell you food; habitat and reproduction are what draw the many types of turtles to our bay….or maybe draw us to their bay. There are 7 species in the world of which three are known for hatching their eggs here. I’ve personally seen them in the wild cruising along with their powerful strokes of their fins that cause their shells to bob up and down in a wave like pattern. Just outside the bay in Lo de Marcos (“it belongs to Mark” in Spanish) where I first settled 8 years ago, I used to dive daily with a couple of octopus and lobster fisherman friends. I was just along for the ride and some dive enjoyment. Looking at the rock reef there was a medium size loggerhead nestled in the rocks sleeping or hiding from me. I prefer to think sleeping. I dove down to check him out close up. Being curious by nature, I can’t get enough of the ocean environment and a skin diver/spear fisherman for over 30 years I really like to kill something on occasion but most of the time I just like to see God’s wonder. This turtle was beautiful. Its camouflage was nice and very effective. I guess I didn’t know how effective it is for I had to look away and then return to find it in the same spot but not easily seen. When he/she took off, the shape was so aero/hydro dynamic from all angles its easy to see why it glides thru the fluid. Turtles have really nice eyes. If eyes are the windows to the soul then easy going seems to me to be the soulful turtle. The government has been clamping down hard on egg harvesting for human consumption and the fines are stiff and the police tell me they want to shoot the poachers. Changing a way of life is difficult if not impossible. I think that the most effective method is the turtle release that is on almost all beaches in Vallarta in the summers. Anyone can join in and release a newborn into its ocean. Knowing the odds are greatly against that particular turtle to return to that spot in its life cycle, the species has survived for eons. Their cute as any baby can be wiggling in your palm and capture the imagination wondering where their life journey will take them. 
Fish Poputation: Why aren't there more fishermen who come here? Is it too expensive or am I just out of the loop? We get 350 pound tuna, Marlin (blacks and blues and stripped) and Sailfish, Wahoo, Mahi, on a regular basis off shore in places called “El Banco”, “Corbetena”. Further out of the bay are Roca Partida and San Benedictus.
In the bay Mahi Mahi and Sailfish flourish. Seems like a fisherman’s dream. I have some old photos of the way it used to be that I’ll include in this article.
Just off the old pier downtown in Olas Altas people line up to catch anything that bites. Fun fishing. No glory just a heck of a way to spend a day. In this case anything that bites are some very wary tangs or green jacks that know every trick in the school book (small pun there). With an aluminum can or plastic bottle and some monofilament and a hook anybody can fish here and take home a meal. And they do it. At one of our better restaurants here Café de Olla in Olas Altas the owner goes out most mornings and spears what will be on the dinner menu. So red snapper and Mahi and other occasional rock fish are always on the menu fresh. I can tell you that means a lot to me. I don’t like smelly fish. Fresh fish don’t smell. There are many different ways to tell but I’ve spent my life fishing and eating what I catch. Fresh is what it’s all about in this bay whether it be fish, shrimp, octopus, lobster or oysters be particular up front. Ask to see what you order. A demanding cliental serves all of us.
The Formation: So let’s imagine that we could travel in time and go back before the formation of this bay. We might see a volcano where the bay is with its magma tube just off Los Arcos. The Rivera Triple Junction (RTJ) is a geologic triple junction located on the seafloor of the Pacific Ocean southeast of the southern tip of the Baja California Peninsula. At the RTJ, three tectonic plates intersect: the North American Plate, the Rivera Plate, and the Pacific Plate. The Rivera plate resembles the geometry of subduction of the Cocos plate beneath Central America. Meaning that the along the boundry of the ocean and mountians the earth is diving down under the mountians here. Oviously diving is a humorus term in this sense. The movement is about 100 mm per year. This subduction is what typically forms volcanoes. Hence the many volcanoes along this coast and the possibility of a volcanic eruption in past time forming our bay. We have other volcanoes in the area near Mascota. I have found pumice in the sand when the beachfront condo building of Villa Magna was underway. It is not unusual to see volcanic rock along the beach in all parts of the bay. There are also island chains off shore and a the Middle America Trench is a major subduction zone, an oceanic trench in the eastern Pacific Ocean off the southwestern coast of Middle America, stretching from central Mexico to Costa Rica. The trench is 1,700 miles (2,750 km) long and is 21,880 feet (6,669 m) at its deepest point. The trench is the boundary between the Pacific, Rivera, Cocos, and Nazca plates, and the North American and Caribbean plates. It is currently the 18th deepest trench in the world. The bottom off a volcanic lava tube could have become the deep spot in the bay. It would have formed the deep spot in our bay and left the ring of Sierra Madres. Eons of erosion filling our now existing fertile valley from the mountains horseshoe. Leatherback Hawksbill (Eretmochelys imbricata)— Loggerhead (caretta caretta) - Threatened Olive ridley ( Lepidochelys olivacea) - Endangered
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