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Xcalak - good people / good vibes - all pix restored - 2/21/2013 4:11:20 PM
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tmbutler
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It was a bit hurried leaving San Pedro. Water taxi back to Chetumal left early in the morning - 8:00 AM I think. But you had to be there at least an hour earlier. Paperwork, fees, and a couple hours to the water taxi dock in Chetumal. Then more paperwork at customs and immigrations. By the time we were walking off the pier in Chetumal, we did not want to hang around any longer than we had to. We decided that what ever we needed for groceries, booze,etc - hopefully we could find it in Mahahual. And we did. Stopped at Rancho Escondido to pick up luggage we dropped of, and had a nice lunch.
Now as the crow flies, Xcalak isn't that far from San Pedro, but maybe 3 hours by road, plus the stop in Mahahual for a few groceries. Pulling into the pueblo, it looked like we'd make it to Casa del Sol maybe half hour before dusk. As we headed up the beach road, I realized I hadn't been in communication with Brent for a while, and couldn't exactly remember how we were sposed to get the key, check in, etc. When Marguarite asked me these questions, and I could only say,"Well, I don't exactly remember." - well let's just say she was not a happy camper. My head was still back in San Pedro. I did remember you're sposed to set the trip odometer to zero at the bridge, but I didn't have the map handy as to how far Casa del Sol was. My bad! I thought we'd just see a sign. Well it was not a big sign, and we drove past it by a couple km. Now on a rugged beach road, a couple kms can take a while. As Marguarite was turnin' up the heat, I just said, "OK. Let's first find the place. Then if we can't get in - THEN you can kick my a$$, but not before."
I got a lot of heat when I stopped by the roadside and pulled out the map. But it was reassuring to see, yes, we went too far, but it wasn't that far to back track. When we pulled back in the driveway, there was Kim, the caretaker, and several neighbors to greet us. I was very relieved!
They helped carry in some stuff, and said they were about to head back into the pueblo. There was a party at Toby's with live music. Usually kindda tired after a travel day, we were pretty non committal about the party.
Marguarite and I settled in a bit, and made some cocktails that we sipped on the porch. We soon noticed that it was super starry! I mean stars between the stars between the stars. As we moved out into the beach area, I thought this was amazing!! Maybe 45 minutes later when the moon rose, the bright stars faded a bit. Marguarite was anxious to settle in with her reader. I decided I'd check out the action at Toby's. By now I knew that it was exactly 12 km back to the pueblo, and I just hoped they had some tacos left.
The music was surprisingly good. A guitar player, a harmonica player, and two percussionists. I recognised Murph as one of them. He got a chuckle out of the Playa Sonrisa cutoff tank I was wearing. Dave and Lori who were staying upstairs, Kim, George from next door, and Steve from Lake Elmo who was stayin' in a tent back at casa del Sol, were among the 30 or so people. They were out of tacos, but I found something on the menu to my satisfaction. I ended up closing the thing down, standing in the dirt road in Xcalak with a slightly altered state of mind, thinkin', "I must be the luckiest guy in the world. Out here, in the middle of nowhere, somewhere in deep southern Mexico, standin' in the middle of this dirt road in front of Tobies, shootin' the xit with these peeps I just met! What did I do right to deserve this?" Musta been that special blend??
The next morning is always exciting. A new place, a new scene. Snorkeling in front of casa del Sol was excellent. This is where I ended up losing whatever small tan lines I had. And Kim was the best host. Took us out in the kayaks, snorkeling at the break. Marguarite bruised or may broke a rib getting back into the kayak. I guess we shouldda practised more in shallow water. It was fun to go on the roof top and look back out over the estuary. Dave and Lori from Kansas City were staying in the upper level. Dave was fishing nuts, so I learned a lot about bonefish behavior (and some spots) while there. He goes back in the estuary, but equipped with GPS. He'd mark the tide with a stake. Tide out, bonefish in on the flats.
I put together the 8 and 11 weight fly rods, but mostly fished the caribe for the odd ball cruizing cuda. Waded chest high a couple passes down the line, and later drifted in the kayak with a cuda popper and wire terminal tackle. I saw a few cudas snorkeling out in front, but did not hook any on a fly rod.
Directly in front was a lot of turtle grass, out to maybe 30 yards from shore. But there was a network of tide pools that Marguarite found to cool off. Soak up the sun, drink a cocktail, float in the tide pool. Repeat. Repeat again. And where's Tomas. I need yet another cocktail. Casa del Sol was very isolated, with only Greg and Janie's next door casa. Plenty of privacy, so no need to wear any clothes. Greg asked me if I'm not going to wear any clothes, how come we didn't stay a few clicks down the road at Playa Sonrisa, the clothing optional place we tried last year. Well the answer is that these places don't even remotely compare. The people at Casa del Sol were world class in my book, the snorkeling was much better than I expected, and there weren't all those rules like at Playa Sonrisa. There was no occupancy at Playa Sonrisa during the time we were there. I do hope it picks up for them tho.
We had some really sunny days, and some cooler, cloudier days. All were great. Super bowl Sunday was our last night there, and again it was Tobies. I was even still in contention for the LG losers pool (what happened to those niners at the end? So close but yet so far!!)
Casa del Sol was the hardest place for us to leave. We had Kim convinced to join us in Cozumel for Carnaval, if he could cover some new arrivals in a week. Didn't work out, as Janie left for a few days, and couldn't cover for him. Too bad! We'll be back next year for 8 or 9 days for sure.
[image] [/image]
Well that a good idea of snorkeling in fron of Casa del Sol
TMB
< Message edited by tmbutler -- 3/1/2013 4:23:16 PM >
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RE: Xcalak - good people / good vibes - 2/22/2013 7:54:10 AM
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Jamie
Posts: 2548
Joined: 3/10/2005
From: Southern California
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Nice report, been a few years since my last stay at Xcalak. Did you make it to Leaky Palapa? They have the BEST food
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RE: Xcalak - good people / good vibes - 2/23/2013 2:48:51 PM
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2leftiesdoinitright
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WOWOWOWOWOW!!!! Great photos! Many seemed to be in shallow areas. How did you get these shots?
This is some of the nicest coral I've seen in RM Photos. Great job TMB.
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RE: Xcalak - good people / good vibes lotsa pix added - 2/23/2013 9:00:16 PM
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ChrisandCindy
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Thanks for the pix. We went to Xcalak a few years ago. The reef was pristine, but it was a really long drive, and we had to add a full day of travel at each end of the trip.
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RE: Xcalak - good people / good vibes - 2/23/2013 9:23:01 PM
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tmbutler
Posts: 2053
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quote:
ORIGINAL: 2leftiesdoinitright
WOWOWOWOWOW!!!! Great photos! Many seemed to be in shallow areas. How did you get these shots?
This is some of the nicest coral I've seen in RM Photos. Great job TMB.
This was the snorkeling right in front of Casa del Sol, starting just past the turtle grass. Most of the coral heads were in quite shallow water. It was here that I got jammed up a bit, and found myself in a situation where I had to pass over some hard coral in very shallow water. I got a pretty nasty coral scrape on my chest. I think its gonna scar pretty good, cuz I kept in the water until the trip was done.
It's easy to get distracted with the cam, especially shooting that super wide angle lens.
I took my other camera out when Kim to us kayaking by the reef break. That was in about 10 - 12 feet of water. I'm having a little trouble getting those pix from the card to the hard drive. I hope I can solve that one.
Actually these are not from the Riviera Maya, but rather the Costa Maya. I kindda hesitated to show these pix, because it's some of the nicest snorkeling from offshore, directly in front of a condo we were renting. And the reef break was definitely very cool, too. It was the first time I put on my snorkel vest, unsure of current by the break, and also having Marguarite in the kayak, too. I had to have Kim hold onto the snorkel vest once we tied up to the buoy, so I could submerge for some pix.,We're definitely going back.
TMB
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RE: Xcalak - good people / good vibes lotsa pix added - 2/23/2013 9:27:07 PM
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tmbutler
Posts: 2053
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quote:
ORIGINAL: ChrisandCindy
Thanks for the pix. We went to Xcalak a few years ago. The reef was pristine, but it was a really long drive, and we had to add a full day of travel at each end of the trip.
I guess that's the price you have to pay for gettin' away a little bit. In our case, it was a full day of travel, only coming from the other direction. San Pedro, customs and immigrations, Chetumal, Bacalar, Mahahual for groceries, Xcalak pueblo, and then up the beat up beach road 12 km. 1/2 hour before dusk, we were finally settling in.
In stopping at 6 different places, there were at least 6 (seven count the trip back to Chetumal for 2 tires and a rim) full travel days. I just look at it as part of the adventure. And the cost of bidness for na trip like this one.
TMB
< Message edited by tmbutler -- 2/24/2013 7:54:16 AM >
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RE: Xcalak - good people / good vibes lotsa pix added - 2/23/2013 9:41:51 PM
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tmbutler
Posts: 2053
Joined: 11/16/2005
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Well, I'm ready to add the rest of the pix from Xcalak. I probably shouldda broke up all those underwater pix, as they represented 2 or 3 snorkels. This next bunch should hopefully be a little more diverse. There's some beach pix from long walks for several kms up and down from Casa del Sol. There's some of the unit we stayed in, and some from just hangin out on the front porch. There's some from the roof top, looking back out over the lagoon, and looking out over the caribe. There's a few from a few different spots along the beach road. Just before the pueblo, there's a few pix from XTC dive center, and a few from the restaurante at Costa de Cocos.
As I've said earlier, Xcalak was the hardest place from which to move on. It's not for everyone, for sure. It was the most isolated, except when going into the pueblo for a couple parties. But Kim, Dave and Lori (upstairs renters), neighbors, George and Janie, and Steve (before he moved on to Guatemala), were excellent company!! We seemed to come at the perfect time. I hope to get some bone fishing in next year. Dave from KC taught me a lot about bone fish behavior, but there was just not enough time (or the right priority) to get out much. I did fish out in front a bit, but I was trying for barracuda.
Enjoy the pix.
[image] [image]
TMB
< Message edited by tmbutler -- 2/23/2013 11:08:52 PM >
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RE: Xcalak - good people / good vibes lotsa pix added - 2/24/2013 6:53:08 AM
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tdonner
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Joined: 8/2/2012
From: Rocky Mountain House,Alberta
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Awsome pics and great report can't wait to explore that area some day.
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RE: Xcalak - good people / good vibes lotsa pix added - 2/24/2013 8:50:41 AM
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tmbutler
Posts: 2053
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quote:
ORIGINAL: rupietoot
What can I say - absolutely fantastic pictures. the colours are almost unbelievable! Thank you so much for taking the time to post! LOVE it!!!!
Susan
Denada!!
As places like Akumal Beach is getting so crowded, it's really not all that far to drive around a bit and explore new places. We always like to include some places we've been and thoroughly enjoyed, as well as some new adventures on our vacations. It just takes more days, and planning, and well I guess more pesos, too. Or you could just wing it like Steve O. But I kindda like to know where I'm gonna sleep before hand.
TMB
< Message edited by tmbutler -- 2/24/2013 8:51:48 AM >
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RE: Xcalak - good people / good vibes lotsa pix added - 2/24/2013 9:47:14 AM
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SchnauzerDog
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Thanks for sharing your pics and stories.
Healthy reef with lots of fish, gorgeous beaches.... really does make one want to wander south.
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RE: Xcalak - good people / good vibes lotsa pix added - 2/24/2013 12:48:51 PM
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tmbutler
Posts: 2053
Joined: 11/16/2005
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quote:
ORIGINAL: SchnauzerDog
Thanks for sharing your pics and stories.
Healthy reef with lots of fish, gorgeous beaches.... really does make one want to wander south.
It's fun to have such a healthy reef system in front of your nose, and not be shoulder to shoulder with a ton of peeps.
TMB
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RE: Xcalak - good people / good vibes lotsa pix added - 3/2/2013 12:41:45 PM
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tmbutler
Posts: 2053
Joined: 11/16/2005
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Thanx Curls and Travelon. Glad to see the photobucket glitch straightened out, and the pix are back up. Xcalak has too much to offer to not return. I think we'll have to cut time in Aventuras Akumal next year.
TMB
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