Life's a Beach

We have spent a lot of time on the beach and in the ocean during the last week. The cool weather of the previous week was replaced by sunny hot weather, ideal for beaching it. Jeff arranged for a week long surf board rental with the option to also use a paddle board. Jeff shared the board with the rest of us and I rented  an additional paddle board from time to time. With these  boards and the boogies boards we already had, allowed for lots of surf play.  Even the surf cooperated. For the most part, the waves were a good size for the kids and my level of surfing incompetence.

Everybody has been having lots of fun and we are all pretty tired by the end of the day.  Most of our main meals have been eaten at the house. Twice now we have hired the staff to prepare us a dinner. Both have been very good and in both cases there was enough food for two dinners.  These meals are reasonably priced and are a great option for a large group, especially with kids.  Much better than trying to go to a restaurant.

Cohen & Aysha building castles

Cohen & Aysha on the board with Jamie and Karla

Cohen and Loic practicing their stance

Aysha buried in the sand.

Here are a couple of pictures of our accommodations. The first was taken at Villas Sayulita, where Linda and I are staying. The next photo was taken in the house Jamie and the family rented near the north end on the beach.

The patio table, complete with sunflowers, in front our room at Villas Sayulita

Artistic fridge surround at Casa de la Vida, where Jamie and family were staying.

 Sunsets are only visible in Sayulita from the north end of the main beach or by walking around the south point to the next beach. One evening we walk down to the beach after dinner to catch the last rays of the day.

The beach near Casa de la Vida at sunset.

Sunset from the north end of the Sayulita beach.

Jamie and Family are leaving Sayulita on Saturday. They are flying back to Canada on a variety of flights.  Linda and I are planning to leave Sayulita early next week. We are still waiting for our Mexican visas to be processed. We were hoping that they would be ready this week but no news yet.

We are looking forward to making our way north in the old Van....

Family Fun Time

Yesterday Jamie. Karla, Aysh and Cohen arrived in Sayulita. They are accompanied by Karla's mom, Eileen and her brother,Jeff, with his partner, Isabel and their children, Loic and Zak. They arrived in two stages and settled into their rented house a few blocks from where we are located. It was nice to see everybody arrive.


This weekend Sayulita is hosting the 4th annual Sayulita Classic, long board and paddle board competition, so this is a particularly busy weekend in town. We walked around town this morning and stopped for a leisurely lunch at a beach side restaurant. There was a fairly strong onshore breeze blowing and also a fair amount of cloud cover. Even though the temperature was near the mid 20s it felt cool as we were eating lunch.


The wind had whipped up the ocean and the conditions were not ideal for the competition but everyone had the same challenge and it was fun to watch.  It is siesta time now and everyone is resting.


Here are a few picture from the last few days....  Nothing too exciting to report. Just relaxing in the sun.

House Labs at Villas Sayulita

 These two friendly dogs live at the Villas Sayulita Hotel. They spend most of their time in the "Secret Garden" health and wellness area of the hotel, still under development.

Tiramisu at Mangia Fuoco... can't beat it!

 This dessert tastes as good as it looks. I'm not big on sweets but this one is really tasty. The main courses at Mangia Fuoco are wonderful too. It is one of our favourite eating establishments.

One can only stand so much pressure.

This is what happens to an old, fully inflated tire if you put a black vinyl cover on it and leave the van parked facing north in an unshaded area. We heard it blow but didn't realize where the loud bang came from until much later.  No damage other than to the tire. Manny, the frozen fruit bar beach vendor, found us a replacement tire in Vallarta.  Apparently 15" tires are hard to come by these days.

Cohen, Loic and Aysha...  helados por todo

Roxanne and her daughter at a Huichol blessing

 This beach blessing ceremony took place on the beach during the surf competition by the local Aztec community.

Kids & dogs on the beach... too cute!

The crowds should thin out by tomorrow and the beach should look more like this. The kids will have fun on the beach.

A weekend in Yelapa

When we moved to Villas Sayulita last week we rented a suite for a month, in order to get the better rate. However, a wedding party had previously booked the suite for the 2nd and 3rd of March. We agreed to move out for two days to accommodate the wedding and add the two days on to the end of the months booking.
Luckily these dates happened to coordinate with the dates that friends from Kaslo (Christa and Carmen) would be staying in Yelapa, so we decided to come here to see them.
Yelapa is a small isolated community, of about 1000 people, located 45 minutes south of Puerto Vallarta by boat. It is in a small bay surrounded by jungle hills. There is no road access into Yelapa, hence there are no cars or roads. There is a network of cobblestone lanes that connect the various parts of the community. It is touristy, but in a very laid back way. Most accommodations are very rustic. We booked a small apartment over looking the beach for 2 nights. It is not as rustic as
some places we have seen. Nice location, could easily accommodate 6 people in 2 double beds and 2 single beds.




We took the bus from Sayulita to old town PV to catch the water taxi to Yelapa.




This is one of the water taxis. These fibreglass pangas are primarily used for fishing, both commercial and sport. They are sturdy and stable boats. That must be the reason they don't carry life jackets... Right?




This is shot of the beach from our apartment. Not really a kid friendly beach. It has a steep drop off into the ocean.




One of the lanes in town. At times the lanes are so narrow they appear to be a private entrance but often they are public lanes. It is a very confusing network of lanes.




Carmen and Christa waiting for the water taxi back to PV. We had a great evening together, dining and dancing. Linda and I managed to say up past midnight but the gals partied into the early hours.




This is not a stuffed iguana! It is the real thing, albeit tame and photogenic. A little business for a Yelapa local. Linda couldn't resist a photo for the grand kids.
We are heading back to Sayulita tomorrow. The old van is getting a new AC compressor installed in a shop in PV. It is supposed to be ready to pickup by 2pm. Hopefully this is the case so we can pick it up and drive back for dinner in Sayulita.
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Location:Yelapa,Mexico