8.30.2009

Sayulita
I had actually stopped here on our drive down from San Francisco for the night and watched an incredible lightning storm out over the bay while sipping some pints with Brad and shootin the breeze to really cool music.  I was excited to get back there, and took the family up there on their first Sunday in Vallarta.  Unlike the first time there were no waves at all, a couple of stand up paddle boarders were out but that was pretty much it.  Ollie walked the whole beach with mom before swimming with me and we had a blast watching the pelicans fish.  I know it won't always be this mellow (or so i have heard) but it truly was amazing to have this piece of paradise to ourselves.
The Chilaquiles.  These were Karli's first chilaquiles and i don't think she is going to forget them anytime soon.  Red sauce with a fried egg on top, and i know i am not going to get that "you are ordering those again" look from her ever again - they were amazing.  The Pacifico was cold and the kids (even Ollie) devoured their rice and beans.  Sayulita has lots of restaurants and i know we will be back lots to try lots of them, but the trailer park and bungalows have set a high bar to which the others will be judged.  Its a short (and insanely beautiful) drive north of Puerto Vallarta.
from vallarta-info.com:  Sayulita - About 25 miles north of town and outside the bay (take the Sayulita bus), the beach is quite long, wide and boasts an Women Only Surfing School. Well known in the surfing world. Restaurants on the beach and in the village - which also has a pool hall. To the south, past the rocky point covered with gringo homes, you'll find some small sandy coves (take the path by the cemetery).

9.6.2009
Mismaloya

This beach is roughly the same distance from our house (another beautiful drive - this time to the south).  The houses cling to the coastline and are truly gorgeous to see.  The beach itself was very small and for me was a little too cluttered with restaurants and vendors.  It wasn't really big enough to walk on, one side of the river that enters there was a Barcelo hotel, and the other had too many restaurant tables to have space to put our stuff out.  We did lie out and relax but it was in the shadow of the hotel.  Doing this seemed to let the boat rental guys know that we weren't interested in a trip that day and was definitely a good move.  The view from Mismaloya is out to los archos which is gorgeous.  There is a fun little hydro dynamic where the fresh (cool) water from the river hits the ocean.  No real waves to speak of but this place will be forever remembered as the place where the OPP let go of dad and just swam (way out to the boats) in his water wings.  Good times.

The Chilaquiles.  We stopped at the first restaurant across the bridge as the waiter had helped us with Ollie on the crossing and offered to make us chilaquiles despite their absence from the menu.  Really good but needed a more spice.  Pacifico's were cold and our waiter and the Mexican families nearby were great playing with the kids.

9.13.2009
Destiladeras

On my training visit to Vallarta my host and his family took us to this beach for an afternoon body surf and some relaxation.  I was really excited to get back to it - it did not disappoint.  The beach is huge and one could walk a long way there, trying to stick to the shade of the sandy cliffs coming down the beach.  There are great waves here for body surfing, you can touch and just push yourself into any of them.  They run along way up the flat shoreline and kept playfully knocking Ella down on her butt and spinning her around in circles.  she loved every second of it.  Karli took her a little deeper and let her hang by her arms and get pushed back and forth in the shorebreak...she laughed the entire time.  The waves mandated a life jacket for Ollie; all safety-d up we paddled out and had an absolute blast jumping and body surfing in the waves.  Towards the end of our swim we held hands and kicked into a big wave (and that is for me, it would have been MASSIVE for him).  We rode it for a bit holding hands and i pulled out of the wave, the water washed over his face and had him under for a little. I expected tears when his head popped up instead i got a: "whoa!!!  that was sooo big"  He loved it and we went back out for the next one.  Great times!

The Chilaquiles.   The restaurant at Destiladeras did not have chilaquiles and did not offer to make them.  The prices looked pretty pricey too, so we left and ate - although not chilaquiles :( in nearby La Cruz.  The restaurant left much to be desired, but in the end this beach is amazing, and we will be back with our own food.

from vallarta-info.com:  Destiladeras - Just past La Cruz de Huanacaxtle, 20 miles north of town, this very popular beach (busy on Sundays) is long and wide. Very popular for boogie boarding with long waves. A couple of beach side restaurants close to the parking area. On weekdays if you walk away from the restaurant areas, you'll find a lot more seclusion.

9.21.2009
El Anclote
Well up until this post i was beginning to wonder why i was bothering with this.  It seemed to me that the vallarta-info site that i kept citing was spot on.  That was yesterday.  This is what the site had to say about this spot:

"Just before Punt de Mita is a shallow shelving beach, great for children and also produces some excellent surfing breaks, not big but long. The sand is also finer on the beach than most of the others. Lots of beach restaurants and kayak/boogie board rentals.

A bit over 22 miles from Vallarta. Take the ATM Punta de Mita bus."

Firstly, it was well more than 2 miles past Destiladeras and actually on the other side of Punta de Mita.  Secondly it was HORRIBLE for kids, there was no sand it was large rocks, not a surfer to be seen (although this was likely due to conditions as there was lots of rental spots).  There were lots of boats and restaurants (and their touts) but nowhere to go on your own.  I was not a happy camper.  We were directed to a couple of places that had "public" beaches but were not impressed by any enough to stay for any length of time - like more than a second. 
The family did however return to Destiladeras which had smaller waves but was still really fun and the weather (as always) was gorgeous.  I got to do some swimming, Karli some walking, Ella some digging, and Ollie some body surfing.  So the day was not lost.
The Chilaquiles. Two weeks sans chilaquiles has me close to the breaking point.  No one needs to get hurt, no one wants to see tears or fists of rage....just get me some chilaquiles...STAT!



9.26.2009
Playa Camarones
mas o menos - OK the beaches right in the city are a little confusing and finding a map of them proved a little too difficult for my pea brain.  I did the best i could with the descriptions - i thikn we were at Playa Camarones.  If you are Vallartan or know it well we were just in front of el barracuda (a favorite Friday happy hour spot for the teachers, with insane shrimp burritos!).  

The promise of the "best chilaquiles besides my moms" by Rodolfo had us staying close to town and we were excited to see the local beaches during low season.  Unfortunately we weren't that happy with what we saw.  Now, to be fair it had POURED the night before which washes "stuff" down into rivers which rush "the stuff" down to the ocean.  We witnessed a very clean great beach in Las Terrenas turn in to something nothing short of disgusting after a summer storm - so we will have to revisit this beach during a dryer season.  The beach was quiet, the waves were small, there was a little undertow but the debris in the water is what kept us away not the danger of an undertow.  I got a good swim in (out very  deep) and thankfully had down that before really assessing the water quality closer to shore.

The Chilaquiles.  Rodolfo's mom had best be on her game when she comes to Vallarta or we barge in on her in D.F. because the chilaquiles at La Hacienda (article) are amazing.  Pero wait...there is more good news!!  They have lots of different types of them...thus i will need to return and feast again on their wonderfully crunchy heaven on a plate.  I wish i was kidding when i say - my mouth is watering writing this!  Pero en serio.  

The restaurant was absolutely incredible; it was in an old colonial Mexican style h
ouse in old town with a beautiful courtyard, a really mellow vibe, a little play area for kids that had Ollie and Ella running, sliding, jumping and laughing the entire time we were there (we could actually relax), the best cup(s) of coffee that i have had in Mexico, and a menu that had lots of choices that looked great.  We will definitely be returning!



10.4.2009
Playa los Muertos (Sayulita)

Just south of town, over a hill, and through a cemetery from Sayulita is Playa los Muertos.  This beach had been suggested to me by a local a couple months ago, and when a second local suggested we go there...we decided this was a place that had to be checked out.  The road got a little dodgy so we parked and went over the hill on foot - we were not disappointed.  It was a mellow and fantastic beach with lots of local families there to enjoy the day.  The palm trees provided great shade at the backside of the beach, the waves were good and provided endless fun, and the beach was

wide enough for the kids to chase down bubbles - it was a great spot.  The kicker of Los Muertos however was the water that sparkled with golden flecks and was crystal clear (in between waves).  Nestled between to rocky edges it really did feel like a fantastic hidden gem.  We were joined by Ollie's friend from school GG and her parents and it was a fantastic day! 
Los Muertos will definitely be a spot we return to...this time with our cooler.
The Chilaquiles.  A great friend of ours from Ecuador put us in touch with a college pal of hers who lives just north of Sayulita and runs Break Fast Natual Foods.  We enjoyed fantastic coffee, fresh smoothies, amazing egg burritos and fresh fruit well enjoying an incredible view - looking out over the ocean and the surfers on the break just to the right.  It is right downtown and green sign is unmissable (there is a video on this site under "breakfast")

10.11.2009
none

I flew to Santo Domingo to present at the Tri-Association conference so sadly there was no beach trip
The Chilaquiles.  I did manage to eat chilaquiles in the Wings restaurant at the airport in D.F. divorciado style.  I think that traditionally this is a fried egg with salsa verde on it separated from another with salsa rojo by some refried beans.  Wings version was served all on top of chilaquiles, pretty good idea in my opinion.  Great food for an airport but the lack of sand between my toes did hurt the overall effect.

10.18.2009

Bucerias

I don't think it is right to call the beach "Bucerias" as this is a town and it has a long long stretch of beach.  We were at the bottom of Calle Abasolo which was a nice spot to hang out away from all hotels and restaurants.  We had a lot of space to ourselves with no one to disturb 

us.  It was a fantastic day and there are some really beautiful beach houses in this area.  The water dropped off quickly and the waves were mellow but breaking so close to shore i don't think we would have been body surfing anyway.  Did have a nice long solo swim before Ella and I went out to 

work on her kicking (picture).  It is amazing how well both kids are swimming these days.  I am waiting for the winter to arrive as Bucerias is one of the big kiti

ng spots around Vallarta and i hope to know it well.  In fact while i was in Santo Domingo last week Bucerias apparently had  over 30 knots of wind and some really big swell ... next time.

The Chilaquiles.  Ella fell asleep before we could find an open restaurant in Bucerias(it is a very sleepy town ... especially Sunday mornings it would seem) so we decided to drive the 15 minutes back to Vallarta and start testing out the taco stands on the side of the road.  We were not disappointed.  

We decided on barbacoa stand and the food and Jamaica juice was incredible.  As one may expect these tent covered restaurants on the side of the road in Mexico have proven to have some of the most incredible food i have had to date - and it is very very cheap.

 

11.2.2009

Holis

With a hurricane out in the pacific pushing some pretty significant swell our way we decided it was time for a midweek beach trip.  I still don't surf (yet)  but i do love watching those who know what they are doing do their thing.  Holis is a break that is about a 5 minute drive from our house just north of down town Puerto Vallarta; there had been rumors that the waves could be as large as 4m - it was something that we did not want to miss.  The rumors proved to be a little off but the waves were still very big, unfortunately too big for holis and there were a lot of close outs.  We weren't on the beach for too long but the four of us did play a little futbol and we did get to see some decent turns on the waves - truth be told it looked like the boogie boarders were having more fun.  Regardless it was a nice mid-week outing and the first time we had seen this beach which is really close to our house.  Like so many of our beach trips it also ended with fantastic food.  A trip to Cafe Roma (an ASPV staff favorite) for some shrimp and garlic pizza which is making my mouth water even as i write this.

11.29.2009

Back to Sayulita

Friends from Colorado came down for their Thanksgiving break and had us out to the place that they rented in Sayulita.  It 

had been six years since we had last seen John and Olivia and they last time we had seen each other
we weren't married, and there was no kids in the picture.  Fast forward to thanksgiving 2009 and there is 3 kids (and another on the way).  This ended up being one of the best days that we have experienced here in Mexico.  The kids played fantastically and we were at the beach for 10 hours playing, body surfing, eating, catching up and a lot of laughing.  An incredible day was capped when we were waiting for our cheque at the little beach restaurant w
here we were eating and someone came and told us that sea turtles had just hatched about 20 meters down the beach and we should go watch these little guys make a break for the sea.  It was absolutely incredible to see this, Ollie (unprompted) dug tracks in the sand to help them find their way easier.  Well Ella tested our strength by trying to escape our grasps and get her little hands on one of the tortugitas.  (more info on the sea turtles of the area)

12.3.2009

Boca Negra

So all hopped up on our sea turtle experience we joined a crew of students and parents from pre-primary school at ASPV and headed down to meet some people who have dedicated themselves to protecting the turtle and live half of each year on the beach not far from our house.  I am very thankful for what these people do.  We were able to see, and even touch, some sea turtles that were just an hour or two old, and then helped as a new set of hatchlings made a dash for the open sea.  It was a great experience.

It also demonstrated to us a fantastic beach that is literally minutes from our house.  I had had my eye on this spot as a potential kite launch once the winds arrive and now see that it will also be a great spot for a close, mellow, family trip as well as we can walk there.

12.4.2009

American School of Puerto Vallarta

Sad day.  Today a student informed me that Distiladeras one of our favorite beach spots is pretty much finished.  The parking lot is reportedly closed, and the small restaurant is being torn down and replaced with a large hotel that will "protect" the access to this incredible and wonderful Mexican beach for its guests.  

This really sucks.

I should i guess all say that this at this point is an unconfirmed rumor from a student, but he lives right there...and i am sure would know.  We will investigate this rumor our self as soon as possible but with rain in Sunday's forecast it may not be for a week or so.
confrimed.  RATS!  Looks great, if you can afford it - but lost to the common person is a naturally beautiful and accessible beach that anyone can enjoy.

1.05.2009

So the regularity of these has really kinda collapsed.  Oh well.  I have lots to update after spending my December holiday here in Vallarta and experiencing some great new (and familiar beaches).

sadly there was no chilaquiles...guess i will have to return then!

Holis
Two dads, three kids, and one Shovel.  Entry to Holis is between my house and the hotel zone and it has a big breaking wave, but if you park and then zip over the river (head north) there is a nice flat space where the waves run up, dig a hole and the kids can play while dads throw a little disc and get a swim in.  Best part...the five minute commute.

San Pancho

I wrestled (as i have often done) with whether or not to even put this beach on here.  I know very few people will ever read this, but this empty beach is one of our most favorite on the planet - YUP!  I said it.
If i had the resources to go there every weekend, or every night i would; but you really HAVE to spend some time at TailWinds EcoLodge.  Spend some time with Tamara, her family, and the animals that they live around (coati, incredible bird/insect life, and whales that we missed by a day!).  You will not regret it. 

Ollie...in San Pancho

Sayulita

Oh come on, don't act surprised....by now you know i love 

this place!  If it consistently had 30 knots on it ... well, it'd 

be heaven!  So we had some pretty incredible diggs for the week we spent there with family.  Just to the north of the beach.  Insane waves (over 10 feet).  The current to the north is a little heavy but as the beach to the south was PACKED we were glad to be away from the craziness.  
You know when Outside magazine is publishing on it ... the secret is pretty much out, but i can't really say that it was ever my secret.  Besides the spot isn't ruined and the cool hippy vibe is embraced by the outside visitors who are still out numbered (albeit barely) by the combination of Mexicans or localized people even in the week between Christmas and New Year.  The plan was to take surf lessons, but with swell that big and a crowd, i thought i would wait until after this year's windy season.  Big swell is great though because Sayulita boasts some of the best surfers i have EVER seen first hand.  These guys really ripper, and i was in awe watching them destroying the endless sets that roll in all day long, and peel to the north.  A really great scene.

Adding to the scene were the humbpacks which swam across the bay about every other day, a variety of jungle birds (most significantly a throated magpie, frigate birds putting on a display of fuel efficiency, and brown pelicans who fed just beyond the break for days on end, amazing!)

GarzaBlanca

OK, a new one, finally!  So as you drive south out of Vallarta towards Mismaloya.  About 7k to the south of Old Town you will find this 

beach.  From here you look south towards Los Archos and Mismaloya beyond.  The waves were very small, but gave us the soundtrack which we love so much and the water had an incredible clean Caribbean shine to it.  I think that the development brought in sand because it was as soft as silk and great for playing in.  We saw dolphins playing just offshore, but it was really hard to top the sunset which lit up the water and Los Archos