After three canceled trips due to pandemic and surgeries, Thor and I finally return to our favorite Caribbean beach and reef for snorkeling. Another Geezer Adventure.
NOTE: Despite every possible vaccination and vigilant mask-wearing, I managed to pick up a bug (not Covid) on the way home, so this post will hit a few highlights before I go back to my lounger to cuddle with Turtle cat and sip on honey-lemon tea. Stay tuned for more in upcoming posts.
Playa Sonrisa (Beach of Smiles) will always be our special place, not only because we celebrated our Luna de Miel (Honeymoon) there, but because it’s remote from tourist hustle bustle, and we can just step over the sand from our beachfront cottage to swim out to the protective reef for snorkeling among colorful fish.
The trip to the farthest SE tip of the Mexican Yucatan (5 hours driving south of Cancun on increasingly rough roads) takes 2 days from our Pacific Northwest corner. We usually stay the first night at the airport hotel, where they were honoring the Dia de los Muertos (our flight was the day after).
After stocking up on snacks and other essentials, we headed south in the blustery wake of a tropical storm, finishing our drive in the dark over the last section of rutted dirt “jungle road.” Waking the next morning, I enjoyed the view from our bedroom:
The nearly-deserted beach from the pier at Playa Sonrisa. The mini-resort has beachfront cottages for up to 5 couples (usually more like 3 are in attendance). The reef-enclosed bay is a protected marine preserve.
We always enjoy the pelicans.
Snorkeling twice a day in the warm, clear sea is our idea of heaven. Just floating weightless is energizing and healing.
We usually snorkel right off the Playa beach or drive along the dirt road to different pullouts for access to the reef, but we always hire a boat for at least one outing to deeper spots.
Some of Thor’s fish videos to come in next post!
On the drive back to the airport, we took a brief break at the Mayan temples of Muyil to enjoy the lovely park, the temples, and a band of lively spider monkeys swinging through the trees. (Monkey video also to come later.)
Thor and I call our recent modified hikes and trips our “Geezer Adventures,” since we are now compensating for various disabilities, and we’ve reached that milestone of 70 years (full disclosure: I will be close behind Thor as I turn 70 in two months). It’s been a particularly challenging couple of years, in addition to the pandemic, so we really needed this trip to remind ourselves of our joy. The warmth and beauty of Playa Sonrisa are indeed healing! “Gracias!”
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You will find The Rambling Writer’s blog posts here every Saturday. Sara’s latest novel from Book View Café is Pause, a First Place winner of the Chanticleer Somerset Award and a Pulpwood Queens International Book Club selection. “A must-read novel about friendship, love, and killer hot flashes.” (Mindy Klasky). Sign up for her quarterly email newsletter at www.sarastamey.com
