Little known tidbits of Hotel Buena Vista's History

Last month we asked – This is a two part question and to win you must have both answers correct. What was the exact date when my father (Chuy) organized the official opening of our resort? And, the feast offered was unique and is now prohibited.  What was served as a feast for that day?

The exact date was November 1, 1976.

The feast consisted on variety of seafood, but the main course was turtle soup and turtle-based dishes.  These were our state’s signature dishes. This feast was prepared for over 400 guests from La Paz, Cabo and the United States.

Turtle became part of the endanger species and was banned to from being caught only a couple of years after this inauguration party. 

The winner of a free day’s fishing for answering both parts of the above question is

The Winner was our good friend Ken Govan, Son of our long time friend Susana Colyer, he was the first to answer, but he only got part of the answer correct as all of the other answer we got. But no worries, I am sure we'll invite him to fish with us in one of his days at the resort, as he will be part of our celebration.

Contest of the Month!

This Month’s Question:  Name the first three boats in the  Hotel Buena Beach Resort’s fleet? 

The winner will receive one day of fishing on a 28' Single Engine

Send your answer to: info@hotelbuenavista.com

Click here to read it

Fish Stories & Adventure Stories

Adopt-A-Billfish

 East Cape Tagging Trip a Success

August 25, 2006:  The Adopt-A-Billfish Program began Phase Two of research with a successful satellite tagging trip to East

 Cape, Baja California de Sur, Mexico, August  8-9-10, 2006.  Our team of scientists included Dr. Eric Prince, NOAA Fisheries Southeast Fisheries Science Center, Dr. Oscar Sosa Nishizaki from the Laboratorio de Ecologia Pesquera, CICESE in Ensenada, Mexico, and Dr. Rogelio Gonzalez Armas from the Centro Interdisciplinario de Ciencias Marinas, IPN, in La Paz, Mexico.

Drs. Prince, Sosa, and Armas were able to deploy all 4 pop up satellite archival tags (PSAT) on sailfish off East Cape.  However, fishing for sailfish was rather slow compared to red hot fishing for striped marlin as well as blue marlin.  In addition, the sailfish were on the small side, averaging 40 pounds or less.  Each PSAT tag was programmed to pop up at 120 days, so the data on these fish will not be available to scientist for about four months, unless some of the tags come off prematurely.  The research team did complete 6 tows with plankton nets to catch sailfish larvae.  The scientists did observe some fish larvae in the samples but positive identification as to species will take some time to complete.  No dead sailfish were observed at the resort,  so plans are being made by Dr. Sosa to have one of his student interns collect some gonad samples off Mazatlan (to document sailfish spawning activity) before the summer spawning season ends.

The crew fished for two days aboard the ‘Go Fisch’ with Chris Fischer, host of the popular ESPN show, Offshore Adventures.  Chris is a board member of The Billfish Foundation and was joined by fellow TBF board member, Joan Vernon, and consultant to TBF, Dr. Russell Nelson and Kim Amendola, NOAA Fisheries, St. Petersburg, FL.  IGFA Representative from Mexico City, Monty Padilla, was on hand to help with the fishing.  The first sailfish to be tagged was caught by Chris using a live bait with a circle hook.  This fish was tagged with a PSAT tag, a conventional NOAA tag and released in good condition.

The Adopt-A-Billfish Program has always been a cooperative effort between the scientific staff and the local fishermen.  Prior to our arrival Jesus ‘Chuy’ Valdez, owner of Hotel Buena Vista Beach Resort and local IGFA Representative, spread the word that we would be in the area tagging sailfish.  The second day of fishing the group was happy to hear that a guest of our host hotel had hooked a sailfish and was close enough to the Go Fisch to hand off the catch.  Our tagging crew successfully implanted the PSAT tag and NOAA tag in the animal prior to a good, healthy release.  The next animal to be tagged was caught by a local resident, Woody Sale, who called on the radio and reported the hook up.  The Go Fisch ran over to his boat and a successful transfer and tag was made. 

The final day the tagging group divided up on two of the Hotel Buena Vista boats to hunt for the last sailfish to be tagged.  In the early afternoon Joan Vernon hooked up with a sailfish using a ballyhoo and a circle hook.  The scientists were nearby and were able get to make the transfer and tag the fourth and final fish which was released in perfect condition. 

An added feature to this trip was the participation of Sammy Baires, mate on the well known Guatemalan charter boat, Captain Hook. Funds contributed from the Presidential Challenge of Central America Conservation series were used to fly him to East Cape to help spread the circle hook message.  Sammy was on hand to instruct the local boat crews to properly rig circle hooks.  Eagle Claw donated 500 circle hooks to this cause.  His instructions in Spanish on rigging were filmed by the crew from Offshore Adventures and will be available for distribution through The Billfish Foundation.

The funding for the Adopt-A-Billfish Program is all from private sources.  We thank the Presidential Challenge of Central America and their partner in conservation, Costa Del Mar, for funding the travel arrangements for the entire tagging crew.  Hotel Buena Vista Beach Resort illustrated their commitment to conservation, catch and release fishing and the use of circle hooks by donating hotel rooms and boat time for the crew.

We particularly thank our tag sponsors for making this trip possible.  The generosity of the following organizations is an example of their dedication to the conservation of billfish.  They made possible our research that will help in the management of billfish stocks in the future: The Bill Fish Foundation, President Challenge Central America, Miami Bill Fish Tournament, Sperry Top Sider, Costa Del Mar Sunglasses, Yamaha, IGFA and Hotel Buena Vista Beach Resort.

 RAJAS EN CREMA

In the mid ‘90s, on a visit to the newly rechristened Hotel Buena Vista Beach Resort, then chef Carlos Leyva gave me the following recipe to include in this book. He has since moved on to become the chef at La Mar y Peña Restaurant in Cabo, but the recipe stayed with me. It’s divine and goes beautifully with any chicken, beef or seafood dish. Serves four.

4 poblano chiles (you can substitute Anaheim chiles)

4 tbsp butter

1 large onion, sliced

½ tsp salt (or to taste)

2 cups crema media ácida or sour cream

1 cup grated Chihuahua or jack cheese

 If you have a gas stove, lay the chiles over the open flame and char skins well, turning with tongs frequently until they’re uniformly blackened and stop snapping. The more charred they are, the easier it is to remove the skins. If you have an electric stove, place chiles in a large skillet on high heat. Turn frequently as above. Remove chiles to plastic bag, close it and let stand for 10 minutes. Remove from bag, place in ice-cold water and remove the stems, skins, veins and seeds. Cut into strips.

Melt butter in skillet. Add onion and cook until translucent. Add chiles, salt and crema or sour cream. Stir until heated clear through. Remove from heat and serve immediately, garnishing with grated cheese.

This recipe (along with all your favorites from the resort) is from Ann Hazard's new book, Cooking With Baja Magic Dos. Available online or at our gift shop, this book offers up the best in Baja cuisine. With 250 recipes, 80 colored illustrations and travel and adventure stories spanning four generations, this is a must-have for everyone who loves Baja!

For more great Baja recipes and stories visit http://bajamagic.com