Friday, August 14, 2009

Playa La Bocana

When we visited this area last January, one of our favorite beaches was one called Playa La Bocana. So named because it sets at the mouth of the river Copalita. The river forms a lake of sorts before it hits the sea and drains itself into a river that runs parallel to the beach and exits into the ocean. Not very deep, fresh water and a light current. Perfect for playing in and floating down.

We were really anxious to revisit this beautiful and fun spot so it was the first beach we headed to.

Here is a picture of it taken last January.




Same view, more or less, taken last week.





The ocean was so far up that the river had entirely disappeared, swallowed up by the sea!




In the picture below, you should be able to see the river flowing down behind that bigger rock to the right and then emptying into the ocean. The area by the smaller rock was all beach.




We were shocked that the river and most of the beach was gone. This used to be a huge expanse of sand. I don't think that it was just that the tide was in either. I don't think there is that great of tidal drop here. But I could be wrong.

Nevertheless, it is still an interesting beach to visit.

Below you can see an older man who was surf fishing. He is sorting through the minnows that he caught in a throw net to be used as bait for bigger fish.




He had two young, experienced boys with him. I am guessing they were his grandsons and they took their direction from him. They waded out as far as they dared and cast with fishing poles.




And it was not a light surf the day we visited.









All three of them were quite successful. Of course, they had to continually throw the net to catch more bait fish. As soon as they emptied it onto the beach, all sorts of birds swept in to relieve them of their catch!
Here you see the excited boys running to their grandfather with their biggest catch - a barracuda! (that put an end to my thinking I would go swimming!)





They took him over to the safety of the beach under a small tree, to protect their catch from the marauding birds. They were amassing quite the haul. Including an eel.



I'm not sure if they were fishing for their own family or for fish to sell. Either way, it was fun and interesting to watch them work.
Although this beach was a bit of a disappointment to us this time around, we will be visiting it again before we leave. Next week I am going to take you on a journey to another beach, about 40 kilometers down the road from us.
Playa Zipolite, Mexico's only officially sanctioned nude beach where total nudity is allowed and encouraged. Stay tuned for that!

10 comments:

Jackie said...

Hey, you changed your blog photo. While I think the water looks beautiful and love the boat I am sad to see the big condos looming in the background.
Anyway good story about the fisherman. I have seen this net fishing a lot in Hawaii. However, I don’t think they caught any barracuda so close to shore.

lisa said...

Very nice pictures and nice beach.

Ann said...

Love the photo of the waves crashing on the rocks with the bird right overhead!

john said...

I'll be most interested, Wayne, to see how you handle photography at Playa Zipolite.

Chavo said...

To be young again.

I used to go surf fishing with my dad and he was adamant that we "make our own bait" versus frozen or artificial. Catching the bait was just as fun as catching the fish when you are a little kid.

Looks like 2 surf perch, a young trevally, and an eel. If I was there enjoying myself, I would cut up the eel and use it for bait for a larger trevally on a stationary pole while I was still fishing for the other species.

Or in the venacular of Hawaii, I would "whip" for the other fish while I was "dunking" for the Ulua.

Chavo

KfromMichigan said...

Can't wait to see your picutres from Playa Zipolite!

Steve Cotton said...

We aren't going to see your x-ray again, are we?

Nancy said...

You sound like you are having such a good time! I think a little change of pace must agree with you!

Joy said...

reminds me of the beach in "y tu mama tambien."

btw, i snorkeled amid several barracuda at garrafon park at isla mujeres -- they're safe to swim with, so don't let that ever stop you.

Unknown said...

i visit a pacific coast beach in nayarit often. each time i visit i am always excited to get my first look at the beach. some years the beach is two hundred yards form the back of the house, other times the waves are almost breaking in the pool. this involves the in and out movement of millions of cubic feet of sand. the locals assure me this is totally normal. revbob