Feb 21. A fond farewell to San Augustin

The Today saw us in our 6th and last day here. It was a pleasant 22-3 degree morning with a slight breeze. However, the stillness of last night made our sleeping time feel almost too warm. 

The ordeal of loading the bikes and getting everything ready usually takes an hour but we were in no hurry this morning, as Adrienne walked through the restaurant to the beach to enjoy last thoughts of this beautiful spot. 

Our not too distant neighbours, Darryl and Val dropped over to say good bye. They also were on their way to pick up eggs. It was a fortunate stop for them as we decided to give them our eggs and a few other things from our cooler. We would be in a hotel for the next 4 nights so it was also lucky for us, not to have to throw good food away as we would be turning off our cooler during our stay. 

We had a fun few games of crib last night and I mentioned how frustrated I was at not being able to purchase a beer-cozy in this country. With the heat a cold beer remains cool for only minutes without an insulating cover--but I guess Mexicans do not mind. Darryl must have realized my frustration with warm beer. This morning as he said good bye he handed me an extra beer-cozy from his van and they  wished us "safe travels". 

The 13 km of washboard and gravel was again a slow go for Dahlia but we eventually made pavement and the short run to Huatulco. 

We arrived a couple of hours before check in so it gave us time to get caught up on banking and other internet tasks. Next was lunch at a beach restaurant--and order of shrimp salad that was so large it satisfied both of us!

Before heading back to the hotel to check in we strolled through parts of the tourist-retail section of Santa Cruz  (one of the 3 communities that make up Huatulco). 

Adrienne picked up a very pretty Mexican tie-died dress with highlighting embroidery for only $15 and I topped up another month talk and cell data for only $7.50

The cell data has proved very valuable as we use it constantly in the car for communication GPS--it makes driving  so easy. Also, Google on-the-fly can be handy, and the unlimited call feature throughout North America has helped us keep in the loop at home and with anyone who we need to catch up with. 

As mentioned earlier in the blog, we really like the location of our hotel, The Skipper's Club. Apart from the normal outdoor restaurant, it has 3 pools, and a billiard-pool room with small bar resembling the inside of a well maintained ship's recreation room with natural wood finishing throughout--even and ancient roulette wheel in wood and leather to play with. One of the pool tables is enormous but has no pockets!  I have not figured that one out yet. 

We wrapped the day up with a romantic dinner on a quiet sandy beach, in a bay, nearby an enormously large but quiet pier that from time to time hosts  cruise ships that visit the town. Adrienne and her mom made such a stop a few years ago. 

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Feb 18. San Augustin

Sun rises like this are easy to take. 

Our restaurant location makes it difficult to turn down meals like this Snapper Platter last night. 

With a morning temperature of 22 degrees and day time projected to 30, we think we made the right decision to hang around for a few more days. 

It is interesting that such a nice spot as this, being so close to Huatulco, with almost new Palapa sleeping accommodation for under $15 per night--and it is not rented. Strange how tourists flock to the higher priced city accommodation for two weeks. This little "change of pace" is available at a fraction of the cost and, for a short stay, is much nicer in our opinion. 

Adrienne and I were talking about personal safety tonight. Not only have we felt safe in past trips but she actually feels safer this trip. The people seem to go to no end to try to accommodate your stay. We are sure that if we needed help or a ride anywhere due to circumstances, there would be a smiling face there to help us. Unlike Canada, USA and Europe, eye contact, waves and smiles are not a lost cultural trait in Mexico. 

Our hosts at "our" beach restaurant have been more than we could have ever hoped for. We get the best drinks, great food and a table on the beach (with gentle waves for background only 15 ft from our chairs) each day. When we are too cheap to purchase their drinks, we head back to Dahlia mix a drink, return to our beachside table and ice is "on the house". 

Today, being Saturday, was a fun day. 5 busses and two barge boats brought mostly Mexican families to "our beach". However when you spread 300 tourists between almost 20 restaurants it seemed pleasantly busy and the Mexican kids are so much fun to watch as they spend hour after hour having fun in the ocean waves. 

In the evening two of our new friends (Darrel and Val) from Saskatchewan dropped by to set up a Yahtzee game for tomorrow. Oh the stress of this place!! Time for a bit of Bob Marley!!

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Feb 17. San Augustin

Another uniquely beautiful Mexican beach. 

This quiet little spot has most things you would want in a beach vacation with only one problem. There are NO HOTELS or even camp grounds! We are only able to stay here because we have a small enough vehicle to negotiate the rough winding gravel road and to be able to park at the back of a beachfront restaurant. Even being behind our restaurant, we have an ocean view, as we are only separated from the water by a beachfront palapa with no walls--and we even have power with a tiled shower and washroom only a few steps away. 

There is surfing, swimming, snorkelling, fishing, a few craft stores, and hiking Rocky trails overlooking the bay. 

Another unique thing about this spot is it is on an isthmus of land that extends directly south. Because of this location, we get an ocean sunrise in the morning. By walking across to the other side of the spot you get an icean sunset at night--a truly unusual spot. 

There are basically only two sources That feed the economic health of this community. One  is the few adventure seeking tourist in Huatulco who takes  a taxi to the spot. The other is the large tourist "barge boats" that ferry people from Huatulco here so they can enjoy the atmosphere and snorkel throughout a unique corral bed. The coral here grow like broccoli, with stems and the actual corral look like the florets on your everyday store bought broccoli. 

These corral florets extends about 15 feet above the sea bed to within a few feet of the water surface at low tide. It is beautiful to see the hundreds of multi-colours fish swimming throughout the corral. 

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Feb 16. Huatulco and San Augustin

After I laid back 5 days in Barra, we on our way to Huatulco. It was only 3/4 hour drive north. This city is actually made up of several smaller communities within an enormous park on south shores of Mexico.

It is truly one of our favorite spots. It has numerous bays and a reasonably large amount of accommodation. To us it is a much more interesting all-inclusive location than the Mayan River Riviera. There are a number of rock encircled bays, each with a unique relatively secluded sandy beach. For very little cost one is able to take a taxi and go from one bay to another to enjoy the warm water and beaches.

Accommodations are very reasonable. We are booked at the Skippers Club. It is a hotel right on the waterfront by the yacht club and had a pool and very nice rooms. With our bikes we could get to many locations. The price was a mere $25 per night.

Because it was fully booked we had to time our stay for 5 days from now. To fill this time we went to another of our favoured beach resort spots about a half hour north of Huatulco called San Augustin.

13 km gravel road into San Augustin is definitely a little on the rough side. However when we did arrive, it had not changed much from the last time we were here about nine years ago. In fact we actually got to stay at the back of the same restaurant that we did years ago. It is truly wonderful spot. We are on the beach side of the road, camped behind the restaurant with a palapa roof and beach where the waves sometimes come right into the sandy floor of the restaurant. 

 

We booked in for five days to enjoy ourselves prior to going back to Huatulco and spending 5 days at the Captain's Club hotel.

One of the interesting things about staying at the restaurant we were at nine years ago is the same family still owns it. Two children that were nine and 10 then, are now 18 and 19--Of course they do not remember us but we certainly do remember them.

Finally, being right on the ocean. made it feel a little cooler because of the slight ocean breezes--a great spot to kill to time before our Huatulco stay.

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Feb 15. Good-night at Barra de la Cruz

Today was our last laid-back day on the beach at Barra de la Cruz. 

The subculture there is 100% surf. The point break makes it fun to watch but when it came surfing I never even got to a standup position!😃. For us it was a some good water time then good shrimp cocktails under the beach palapa and a few drinks. I even had time to "listen to" a great book. 

At Pepé's it was a bit of Yahtzee  with people we met from to Tofino. Patrick was a biologist and his girlfriend, Gwen, formally worked for the city Chamber of Commerce. They had been at Barra de la Cruz for two solid weeks enjoying this surf. 

Patrick's job was very interesting. He works at a relatively new aquatic museum in Tofino. Every year they release all of their specimens back to the ocean!! The next season they start all over again collecting ocean species of plants and animals. They study them for the season and then release them again. It's a sort of catch-hold-study-release program where tourists can visit a new set of specimens each year!

Some of the other people were Frenchy (from France ) who we liken to a bantam rooster as he bounced throughout the cabins and campers talking to everyone. Then there was Scotty (from Australia) who is stretching a two week vacation into two months! Beside us was Ryan. He was a highly skilled data-high tech guy who quit his job in San Francisco and was starting a 1.5 year trip to Patagonia in Argentina. Others were from Switzerland, Austria, France,  Germany, and of course Mexico. 

Our spot at Pepe's cabins was an interesting study in people and languages and where they congregated from around the globe. 

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Feb 14. Valentine's Day at Barra de la Cruz

I Surf, sand and sun. For a few days, it does not get much better.

Not much to do here but enjoy the weather, water, and the company of the few surfers that frequent this mecca of surfing.

There are not a lot of people here but they come from all over Europe and North America. The point break is great to watch some top-quality surfing. Also the laid-back lifestyle is something that many people seek out.

The private beach costs a $1.50 a day and you get is a restaurant palapa bar and shade along with the sandy beach and perfect-temperature water. 

A bit of partying in the distant homes sites adds to the flavour. 

We  decided to enjoy a bit more time  here and then it is pack up time and we are heading about an hour north to the resort town of Huatulco. 

Since it is a well-known tourist destination Huatulco will be a little more crowded. It offers the amenities of the city plus the tranquil bays, surfing,  snorkelling , and night life in the South Pacific of Mexico.  Also there is two beautiful looking golf courses adjacent to this medium size tourist town.

Of all the locations we have been in Mexico over the years, we think Huatulco is the best if we ever want to do an all-inclusive Mexican holiday.   There are many things to do plus the town has a much more interesting geography than anywhere else on The Mayan Riviera or North Pacific resorts in the country. 

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Feb 12. Barra de la Cruz

Barra de la Cruz. 

Now we have decided to skip the adventure south and relax with a "vacation" for the trip north, our first stop is this little gem of a surf village. 

3 nights at "Pepé's cabanas and camping" for $4 per day (includes power, showers and clean toilets--all tiled)

Located just 1/2 km from an endless sandy private beach and a well known "point break" for surfers it is very nice. 

A "point break" is a point of land that juts out into the ocean causing the waves to curl in what is referred to as a "pipeline". The surfers can ride the edge of the curl in the wave for a great distance, rather than getting caught under the flopping crest of a large wave. It creates ideal surfing conditions, rarely found on most surf areas. 

This is my third visit here and Ade's second. She says they make the best shrimp cocktails on earth!  Served under the shade of a palapa bar as you watch the surfers challenge the on-coming waves--it does not get much better. 

Shrimp here is fresh almost daily. They are almost the size of prawns and delicious. 

Huge shrimp cocktail. It takes 2 people to finish it. 

The water this far south is the perfect temperature. Warm enough to make it easy to get into, but cool enough to make it refreshing.  

...definitely a location to lay back for a few days 

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