The beach of Boca de Tomatlan is another small inlet past Mismaloya, where I had gone two days ago. This time I was dressed for sunbathing.
Yet another harrowing bus trip before I arrived at my destination. This time it involved passing semis on that narrow, twisting, two-lane road.
I walked down the steep cobblestoned road down to the river which fed into the sea at the beach. I could immediately tell that this was not as nice as Mislamoya. Things all looked a bit dirty around the edges. There was a hotel, I think, but mostly it was private homes running along the river’s edge and on the hillside overlooking the cove.
The river was much larger than the one at Mislamoya and filled with boats. It looked like they could navigate up river quite a ways, but it was hard to tell from my vantage point. The cove itself was much smaller and as I stood there looking at the rather drab beach, thought I might just get on a bus and head back to Mislamoya.
The chairs and tables and umbrellas had been set up, but no beachgoers were there. I had a choice of three restaurants and chose the one where there was the most sun at that time in the morning. I sat in a chair for awhile and finally had to go find the waiter to order a drink.
To the right was a small pier with a boat or two tied up. A handful of small water taxis anchored closer to where I sat. Two boats had groups of tourists going out to Yelapa, and there was a constant flow of water taxis bringing locals and tourists to the shore.
I have been told that Yelapa is a beautiful place on the far end of the bay and only accessible by water taxi. From PV, I was told it would take an hour and 45 minutes. Looking at the little boats I pretty much had already decided against the trip. I found out that from Boca de Tomatlan, it is only 30 minutes. That would mean the dreaded bus trip for 25 minutes, followed by another 30 minutes of possibly the same, but on water. I’m still thinking it over.
Slowly, as I sat all alone on the little beach with the water lapping up almost to my feet, I totally relaxed and decided this wasn’t a bad place to be. And since I didn’t know a soul there, I felt comfortable stripping off the sarong and baring the bikini-clad bod.
I have this thing about not getting naked in front of people I know. When I go to a beach I don’t care what I look like as long as I don’t personally know anyone there. (I don’t do staff pool parties). I hadn’t been wearing swimming attire when I’d gone to Mislamoya, but would not have been able to lie there comfortably even if I had. There, after having spent so much time talking to the waiter before I had even sat down, the last thing I was going to do was to get half-naked in front of him.
But at Boca, I was free as a bird and it felt fantastic to be soaking up the sun. I can’t even remember the last time I did that. The great thing about Mexico in December is that the sun’s rays are not the strong. I was there from 10 – 2:00, (my usual 2 hour limit), with no sunscreen, (de rigueur for me), and I am not burned. I’m actually sort of bummed I don’t have more color.
I lay there in the sun watching the pelicans and other birds swoop down looking for fish. I ordered some fish for myself and snacked and read and relished this life I have come to adore.
Two men appeared almost in front of me and started to fish. They use these throw lines that are on a spool. Using a lasso type wind –up-and-cast, the line is thrown into the water and rapidly reeled in. (which is done by rewinding the line around the spool). I was thinking, good luck; this will never work, when the guy reels in a 12 inch fish. I started talking to them and soon found out that early afternoon is a good time to fish since the boats are less frequent and therefore not frightening the fish away. They also kept pointing to where the fish were and I kept looking until I finally saw the fish breaking through the water to feed on the small fish that were near the surface.
A little while later I watched as this bird dive-bombed into the water and came up with a fish. It was my very own nature live nature show.
I had no real reason to leave accept that I knew I had had enough sun for the day. Although I love the beach, I usually have to force myself to lie there for anything more than 30 minutes. In fact sitting anywhere for longer than 20 minutes taxes every nerve in my body. But today and the other day I did not feel that way; I felt like I could have easily spent a few more hours. I’m pretty sure it’s because it wasn’t killer hot, but it might just be that I am turning into a beach bum.
Kate
Yet another harrowing bus trip before I arrived at my destination. This time it involved passing semis on that narrow, twisting, two-lane road.
I walked down the steep cobblestoned road down to the river which fed into the sea at the beach. I could immediately tell that this was not as nice as Mislamoya. Things all looked a bit dirty around the edges. There was a hotel, I think, but mostly it was private homes running along the river’s edge and on the hillside overlooking the cove.
The river was much larger than the one at Mislamoya and filled with boats. It looked like they could navigate up river quite a ways, but it was hard to tell from my vantage point. The cove itself was much smaller and as I stood there looking at the rather drab beach, thought I might just get on a bus and head back to Mislamoya.
The chairs and tables and umbrellas had been set up, but no beachgoers were there. I had a choice of three restaurants and chose the one where there was the most sun at that time in the morning. I sat in a chair for awhile and finally had to go find the waiter to order a drink.
To the right was a small pier with a boat or two tied up. A handful of small water taxis anchored closer to where I sat. Two boats had groups of tourists going out to Yelapa, and there was a constant flow of water taxis bringing locals and tourists to the shore.
I have been told that Yelapa is a beautiful place on the far end of the bay and only accessible by water taxi. From PV, I was told it would take an hour and 45 minutes. Looking at the little boats I pretty much had already decided against the trip. I found out that from Boca de Tomatlan, it is only 30 minutes. That would mean the dreaded bus trip for 25 minutes, followed by another 30 minutes of possibly the same, but on water. I’m still thinking it over.
Slowly, as I sat all alone on the little beach with the water lapping up almost to my feet, I totally relaxed and decided this wasn’t a bad place to be. And since I didn’t know a soul there, I felt comfortable stripping off the sarong and baring the bikini-clad bod.
I have this thing about not getting naked in front of people I know. When I go to a beach I don’t care what I look like as long as I don’t personally know anyone there. (I don’t do staff pool parties). I hadn’t been wearing swimming attire when I’d gone to Mislamoya, but would not have been able to lie there comfortably even if I had. There, after having spent so much time talking to the waiter before I had even sat down, the last thing I was going to do was to get half-naked in front of him.
But at Boca, I was free as a bird and it felt fantastic to be soaking up the sun. I can’t even remember the last time I did that. The great thing about Mexico in December is that the sun’s rays are not the strong. I was there from 10 – 2:00, (my usual 2 hour limit), with no sunscreen, (de rigueur for me), and I am not burned. I’m actually sort of bummed I don’t have more color.
I lay there in the sun watching the pelicans and other birds swoop down looking for fish. I ordered some fish for myself and snacked and read and relished this life I have come to adore.
Two men appeared almost in front of me and started to fish. They use these throw lines that are on a spool. Using a lasso type wind –up-and-cast, the line is thrown into the water and rapidly reeled in. (which is done by rewinding the line around the spool). I was thinking, good luck; this will never work, when the guy reels in a 12 inch fish. I started talking to them and soon found out that early afternoon is a good time to fish since the boats are less frequent and therefore not frightening the fish away. They also kept pointing to where the fish were and I kept looking until I finally saw the fish breaking through the water to feed on the small fish that were near the surface.
A little while later I watched as this bird dive-bombed into the water and came up with a fish. It was my very own nature live nature show.
I had no real reason to leave accept that I knew I had had enough sun for the day. Although I love the beach, I usually have to force myself to lie there for anything more than 30 minutes. In fact sitting anywhere for longer than 20 minutes taxes every nerve in my body. But today and the other day I did not feel that way; I felt like I could have easily spent a few more hours. I’m pretty sure it’s because it wasn’t killer hot, but it might just be that I am turning into a beach bum.
Kate
