Lazy Days in Melaque

Well, we are having a fine time here on the Mexican coast. We have been getting lots of good beach time and the last few days have been downright hot. We try hard not to complain when we get too hot, as we have sure done our fair share of complaining about all the cold weather and rain. So.....I think we left off in Guayabitos.

We spent one day exploring nearby beaches. No swimming as it was quite cool out, but we found more nice towns where we say, 'Oh, we should have stayed here'. Our last day there was a nice one. One that dad said should 'save me some blog space', as we didn't do anything. Lots of beach time, eating and reading. It was a Saturday, so the beach was suddenly packed...a whole different scene. It didn't stop us from beach lounging though, and mom was feeling better so she was able to swim and enjoy herself as well.

The next day we headed off south. We breezed right through Puerto Vallarta. While we weren't impressed with the highly touristed area of Puerto Vallarta, we were quite impressed with the scenery to the immediate south of the city. Quite stunning jungle mountains that seem to just plunge into the ocean. No wonder it has become so built up....the pretty places often do.

On the way to Puerto Vallarta. Keith has been craving this barbequed chicken. He saw the smoke and said, "pull over, let's see if this is chicken". Sure enough, where there is smoke, there is chicken. A delicious lunch.


Cruisin on south, our intended destination was Melaque, but on a detour to look at a beach, we decided to go ahead and just stay the night there.....and camp! I say that with an exclamation point, because we've been lugging all this camping gear down thousands of miles and continually threaten to camp on Mexico's wild and free beaches, but we have yet to do so. We always have some excuse. Well in this very small place of La Fortuna/Playa Perda(? not sure on the name) we found miles of very accessible beach and several people telling us it is no problem to camp there. We had no excuse. So we camped. It was nice....except for the rouge wave that literally chased mom and me out of the water after thoroughly pummeling us - probably the hardest beating I've ever received from a wave. Otherwise, we had great weather and were serenaded to sleep by a local bad of some type with a very talented drummer.

Proof that we camped.


I have no idea where this was taken, but it is pretty representative of all the streets in all the towns. Give or take a few palm trees depending how close to the coast you are.


The next day we arrived in Melaque which was recommended to us by a friend of my mom's, Joy, who comes here for two months every year. It is a great place. Yes, lots of gringos (mostly Canadians) come here, but it feels even less so than Guayabitos. The town has just a nice, mellow, Mexican feel and everyone is so friendly and happy. We met up with Joy, said hi, then ended up settling into the bungalow across the street from her. A great place with a fabulous pool, a bungalow with two rooms and a kitchen situated just across the street from the beach. The only downfall to this area might be the beach. It is beautiful, but very steep, so not a great walking beach (or as we call it now, Gringo Marching beach - because in Guaybitos every morning there was a parade of gringos walking up and down the beach at a fast clip that dad called marching) and the waves are a bit intimidating to those of us that are now gunshy. The northern most end is quite calm, and appropriately called 'Chicken Beach' - Keith has had fun with that one.

Keith body surfing in Melaque. This is not Chicken Beach.


At any rate, we have spent three sun filled relaxing days here. Snorkeling at a nearby beach one day and who knows what we've done the last two. More of the same, so it's no use recounting here. I did get back on the proverbial horse and tackled the big waves today as did mom. They really aren't so bad because they crash so close to shore it is easy to get out beyond them. So between playing in the surf, cooling off in the pool, eating and riding bikes around, we have successfully killed three days and now will turn back north and start working our way home saying goodbye to the beaches.

Pictures from Melaque:

Our pool in Melaque. It is cooler than the ocean, but it feels great.


The northern most end of the Melaque bay.


One of the things dad likes to do best on the beaches. This is a beach just north of Melaque that mom and dad explored tonight for sunset.


After a sunset swim.


Look at all the gringos snorkeling! (I'm not talking bad about gringos, obviously we are one of them, it is just fun to make fun of us all cause we're all doing the same things everywhere we turn!) Surprisingly good snorkeling here. Not of Thailand caliber, but better than I expected.