La Manzanilla is a village located in the southeastern corner of the Bay of Tenacatita, on the southwestern mainland of Mexico. We decided one morning to pull up anchor and motor two and a half miles across the bay to spend the day exploring and checking out the crocodile sanctuary.
On the way over we noticed some patches of red tide. Red tide is harmful algae blooms that occur when microscopic algae multiply to higher-than-normal concentrations, often discoloring the water red. Red tide blooms can last days, weeks or months, and can also change daily due to wind conditions and ocean currents.
As we approached the shore there were large waves breaking onto the shore and the beach appeared to be steep. These coastal changes are caused by hurricanes which causes beach erosion. We decided to abort our plan and go back and anchor Island Summers in Tenacatita Bay and see if we can find a ride over to La Manzanilla. A woman working at the palapa kindly helped us call a cab. It took awhile for it to get here but it finally arrived. It was a 23.6 km (14.6 mi) ride on a dusty cobblestone road. Up, over and through the hills to La Manzanilla we go.
La Manzanilla was getting ready for Easter and like every event in Mexico that is cause for a big fiesta (Fiesta Grande). The cab dropped us off near a street taco place so that was the first stop. Five tacos for 100 pesos ($6.08). Perfect. We walked down the main street past lots of tiendas and souvenir shops. La Manzanilla is reasonably close to Barra de Navidad and Manzanillo which has an international airport. We walked past lots of real estate offices. We walked to the Cocodillario (crocodile preserve) and immediately saw that Riley was not allowed in. Darn! He would probably have looked like a snack to the crocs. Bev and Riley waited and Kevin walked the twenty minute elevated path through the preserve. Strangely enough most of the crocs (and there were some huge crocs…) were near the fence next to town. I was trying to guess the reason: Here are my top guesses:
2. The crocs have been around for 95 million years. Fences don’t last nearly that long, if they’re patient dinner awaits.
Since Bev and Riley couldn’t go in the croc preserve they got the ‘just outside the fence’ tour. The crocs pretended not to notice but I’m sure they were just waiting…. After spending quality time with the crocs we crossed the street to the beach.
Many of the beach side palapa restaurants we see have had few patrons for one reason or another. Not today. La Manzanilla playa was FULL. Vendors were selling mangos on a stick, floaties, beach umbrellas, jewelry and all kinds of trinkets. Kids were playing in the surf, they were burying their friends in the sand, holes were being dug on the beach, and drinks, shrimp and tacos were being consumed!
As we walked down the beach we watched the surf that we’d been considering executing a dinghy landing through. It did NOT look promising. From the safety of a palapa restaurant with some cerveza and guacamole we timed the waves and wondered if we’d ‘land it’ or ‘flip it’. It looked like we might stand a decent chance of landing the dinghy on the beach (maybe!!) but getting back out through the surf would be a whole different deal.
We’d have to time the breakers and guess if there would be a lull; aim the dinghy on it’s wheels out into the surf; start the engine _before_ we attempted to launch; then absolutely commit; and then try and get the dinghy past the point where the surf was breaking _before_ the next breaking wave. The only thing I’m certain of here is that everyone on the beach would have enjoyed watching. The taxi was much less stressful.
Leave a Reply