It’s Another Tequila Sunset

What to do? What to do?

Ever sat on a terrace watching sunrise with a mild Caribbean breeze cooling your fresh ground coffee? Ever spent daybreak listening to cackling, cooing and tweeting birds in palm trees, the putt-putting of small scooters, distant surf crashing on coral and murmuring commuters heading to work by foot? Ever had too many choices on how to spend your day?

What I grew up understanding in the US is called “retirement,” in Akumal, Mexico is really permanent vacation. And I am loving it.

The mid-winter Caribbean off the Riviera Maya coast is colorful, turbulent and inviting. Just 20 compass points north of the equator, daily high temperatures here are in the mid-eighties (Fahrenheit, high twenties Celsius) with a near nonstop seabreeze. While family and friends back in the States slug it out with snow, sleet, ice and sniffles, l’m heading out to sea.

The shoreline here in Quintana Roo is a curvy necklace of white sand beaches ornamented with rocky points and frothy inlets. Nearby cenotes bubble cool, clear water through thick mangrove swamps out to the sky blue sea. These three ecosystems, fresh water springs, swamps with sleepy rivers and the temperate ocean provide an expansive universe for aquatic life I’ve never seen before.

The name for my new home, Akumal, comes from the Mayan language and means “home of the turtle” which is appropriate because there are plenty of them here. In fact it is a regionally mandated sanctuary for them and the waters here are their nursery, feeding pen and playground. What a great environment for a guy who has not strapped on a tank in 20 years to test his scuba skills. Is diving with compressed air like riding a bike? I am eager to find out.

Scuba Refresher Dive

So on a recent weekday morning an hour past dawn I stand outside a local dive shop, at Playa Akumal, gear in hand, the only pupil of Javier, my personal PADI certified instructor. Over two hours I am patiently “refreshed” on diving fundamentals like buoyancy, navigation, underwater communication. I remember alot and find the hardest part to be putting on the wetsuit.

It takes five minutes to motor to our reef protected dive spot. We drop backward over the rail of the open launch and descend to a depth of forty feet. Javier puts me through a few hand gesture drills to comfort me and himself that I am ready for open water. Immediately we swim with green sea turtles and loggerheads, shy stingrays, parrot fish and an amazing feathery fish I have never seen before.

My only snafu comes when I look down beyond my fins to see my weight belt drifting to the bottom as I slowly rise in the opposite direction. But I manage to retrieve the belt, get it back on, receiving mega thumbs up from Javier commending my composure which is really a charade accomplished through dim memory of similar underwater foibles decades ago.

We end the swim circling a rusty, seafan-ornamented motorcycle frame planted upright in the sand fifty feet from the surface. It is a sturdy, striking monument to some beach biker, or his babe. After fifty minutes we make a slow, controlled rise to our boat surrounded by a swirling cloud of sardines. Pulling back his mask at the surface and smiling broadly Javier tells me that the aquascape here is known as “Motorcycle Reef” and invites me to return soon for a “real” dive.

Sunset Sail

Three days later I am back in the water, but this time on top. I am skimming through gentle Caribbean chop with my new neighbors from Manitoba, Cathy and Conrad.

Together with two others we have booked a sunset sail on a 36′ Hobie catamaran called Katarina. There is a fair breeze out of the South/Southeast and we are moving parallel to the coral crusted mainland escorted by disciplined flying squads of Pelicans.

Our sprightly, barefoot crew points out landmarks along the way while they keep us libated and sustained with cerveza, water, soda and chips. Just beyond he familiar palmetto roofed Capella Santa Marta perched like a pilot’s house observing sea traffic we see the roof of our condo complex. What a backyard we have.

Now there’s talk of tequila after “the swim.”

The swim? I thought this was just a scenic cruise. The crew sets a new course for the spewing mouth of a coral wrapped inlet. Steep shoulders of powerful breakers thrust us into a quiet lagoon This is Yakulito, one of thousands of spring fed lagoons with water clear enough to see parrot and other colorful fish from the fabric woven front deck of our catamaran.

Soon we are in the cool water with vests, masks and snorkles. The current is strong, not from the sea but from the cenote. The water is clear so it’s easy to see hundreds of tiny colorful minnows, green, blue, yellow and pink darting about oblivious to our presence but busy with their own maritime missions.

It’s a beautiful, unexpected bonus to our perfect sunset sail. But the best is still to come. As most of us toast the day with shots of tequila, we all soak in the intoxicating colors of a glorious sunset. A perfect ending to a perfect day in this Mexican paradise.

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There are two certified Dive Shops on Akumal Beach, (Akumal Dive Shop and Akumal Dive Center) and with similar names are easy to confuse. Each has been in business since the 1970’s, offers a range of diving, boating and sightseeing trips and is competitively priced. On your way to the Beach you will also encounter lots of inspired hucksters with a wide range of offers. My advice is to stick with certified providers.

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