mayaflya
14th April 2007, 11:30 AM
Thursday was our last day at SOP, but a new set of tenants had occupied #2, (they arrived Wednesday night when we getting ready for dinner) It was a scenario that made sunbathing problematic...a couple with a teenage daughter. It became clear that they were not staying past noon, so we decided to drive to Sian Kaan that morning. We were out of beer anyway, and wanted to have breakfast at Zamas.
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/197/458896055_06fa2eb31f_o.jpg
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/235/458882634_2c9cbf408e_o.jpg
Zamas was as good as we remembered, and it was really good to eat there again. It helped us karmically connect with our trip last summer. The only common ground between the two trips was Cancun airport, driving 307, shopping at San Francisco, the ATM, and Zamas. And yet, it felt like home to be there. It was as if there had been no gap between visits.
We left Zamas, bought a cold water bottle at the minimart and headed towards the Sian Kaan. We knew we wanted to swim the famous beaches, so we had worn our suits (sigh) under our clothes. It's 25 pesos each to enter the biosphere and about 2km in, we came to the beach access. We had planned on hitting the visitor center first to get oriented, but when we saw that no one else was parked there, we doubled back, parked, and walked over the dune to the amazing beach.
First of all, the bad. The beach above the high tide mark is a mess. It understandably does not get the cleaning that the resort beaches do, and there is a lot of storm washed debris littering the sand. Sadly, it is also apparent that people that come here do not pick up after themselves either. It's pretty disgusting and likely dangerous to walk barefoot. It also could be a little dicey to leave things of value in your car, as the parking area is not visible from the beach.
The beach, from the water line out, was the most perfect beach I have ever seen, however. The wave action, there's big surf here, had buried or washed away everything but the finest most powdery sand. This sand stretched as far as the eye could see to the north, and as far as the eye could see to the south. You could walk this beach for miles in either direction and not see a soul. The fine white sand stretched hundreds of yards out into the ocean as well. The water quickly sloped off to a depth of about four to five feet and then ran flat, out to where the breakers became swells, and kept going. The surf was still up, and you could stand out in the swells, where the water would dip to your waist in the trough, and then rise up to your chin in the peak. It was a lot of fun to body surf, by launching yourself in front of the breaking waves. Just a lot of fun. Oh to have this beach at SOP, it would be perfect! But, of course, it wouldn't, because some sleazy developer would then buy it all up and build an ecological nightmare. You just can't have it all.
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/230/458885988_4e59fdd287_o.jpg
We decided to wear suits that day, because, while it is not unheard of for this beach to get nude use, it's usually recommended to walk a ways away from the parking area. I haven't mentioned this up to this point, as it really hadn't affected the story, but unfortunately, the wife’s recent knee surgery was not permitting her normal mobility. She was getting along, as long as the agenda included laying in a lounger, but long walks, either along the beach, or to the restaurants at Tankah Bay were not in the cards. So we swam and tumbled in the surf in our swimsuits. Funny thing is, after the trip, while sorting and unpacking laundry, I was still pouring sand out of the suits. It's just crazy not to swim naked!
We drove another 7km or so to the visitor center, where the coolest thing was this funky observation tower.
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/193/458880808_248f56f426_o.jpg
It was mounted on a pole and swayed pretty good in the breeze. The wife was not going up. I met a guy up there and started a conversation. It was his first time in the area, and he was there with his wife and teenagers. He commented how he had looked into renting one of the units at the visitor's center, but that his kids would probably have killed him. I asked him where he was staying, and he said Zahra. It was kind of fun to get his take on it. He'd been there two nights, and he said the first was a real eye-opener ...deer in the headlights stuff. But..... he also said that the place was starting to grow on him. The mayan mojo was a working!
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/199/458883728_5d0cf90bce_o.jpg
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/225/458893823_7bca017ed3_o.jpg
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/170/458893785_2d8b8b3056_o.jpg
Back through Tulum, more beer, and back to SOP for lunch and a nap. The afternoon was ours again and we just spent it out on the beach...
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/197/458896055_06fa2eb31f_o.jpg
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/235/458882634_2c9cbf408e_o.jpg
Zamas was as good as we remembered, and it was really good to eat there again. It helped us karmically connect with our trip last summer. The only common ground between the two trips was Cancun airport, driving 307, shopping at San Francisco, the ATM, and Zamas. And yet, it felt like home to be there. It was as if there had been no gap between visits.
We left Zamas, bought a cold water bottle at the minimart and headed towards the Sian Kaan. We knew we wanted to swim the famous beaches, so we had worn our suits (sigh) under our clothes. It's 25 pesos each to enter the biosphere and about 2km in, we came to the beach access. We had planned on hitting the visitor center first to get oriented, but when we saw that no one else was parked there, we doubled back, parked, and walked over the dune to the amazing beach.
First of all, the bad. The beach above the high tide mark is a mess. It understandably does not get the cleaning that the resort beaches do, and there is a lot of storm washed debris littering the sand. Sadly, it is also apparent that people that come here do not pick up after themselves either. It's pretty disgusting and likely dangerous to walk barefoot. It also could be a little dicey to leave things of value in your car, as the parking area is not visible from the beach.
The beach, from the water line out, was the most perfect beach I have ever seen, however. The wave action, there's big surf here, had buried or washed away everything but the finest most powdery sand. This sand stretched as far as the eye could see to the north, and as far as the eye could see to the south. You could walk this beach for miles in either direction and not see a soul. The fine white sand stretched hundreds of yards out into the ocean as well. The water quickly sloped off to a depth of about four to five feet and then ran flat, out to where the breakers became swells, and kept going. The surf was still up, and you could stand out in the swells, where the water would dip to your waist in the trough, and then rise up to your chin in the peak. It was a lot of fun to body surf, by launching yourself in front of the breaking waves. Just a lot of fun. Oh to have this beach at SOP, it would be perfect! But, of course, it wouldn't, because some sleazy developer would then buy it all up and build an ecological nightmare. You just can't have it all.
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/230/458885988_4e59fdd287_o.jpg
We decided to wear suits that day, because, while it is not unheard of for this beach to get nude use, it's usually recommended to walk a ways away from the parking area. I haven't mentioned this up to this point, as it really hadn't affected the story, but unfortunately, the wife’s recent knee surgery was not permitting her normal mobility. She was getting along, as long as the agenda included laying in a lounger, but long walks, either along the beach, or to the restaurants at Tankah Bay were not in the cards. So we swam and tumbled in the surf in our swimsuits. Funny thing is, after the trip, while sorting and unpacking laundry, I was still pouring sand out of the suits. It's just crazy not to swim naked!
We drove another 7km or so to the visitor center, where the coolest thing was this funky observation tower.
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/193/458880808_248f56f426_o.jpg
It was mounted on a pole and swayed pretty good in the breeze. The wife was not going up. I met a guy up there and started a conversation. It was his first time in the area, and he was there with his wife and teenagers. He commented how he had looked into renting one of the units at the visitor's center, but that his kids would probably have killed him. I asked him where he was staying, and he said Zahra. It was kind of fun to get his take on it. He'd been there two nights, and he said the first was a real eye-opener ...deer in the headlights stuff. But..... he also said that the place was starting to grow on him. The mayan mojo was a working!
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/199/458883728_5d0cf90bce_o.jpg
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/225/458893823_7bca017ed3_o.jpg
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/170/458893785_2d8b8b3056_o.jpg
Back through Tulum, more beer, and back to SOP for lunch and a nap. The afternoon was ours again and we just spent it out on the beach...