Day 14 - Tues 2nd Apr 2024
Participants: Tam & Kev
We are up at 6.45 am to watch our arrival in Huatulco, Mexico. It looks lovely with many small bays and no high rise hotels.
We are off the ship by 8.00am and walk to the end of the pier. We talk to a taxi driver called Pepe who says he will take us to Playa Maguey for $25 return. He also says he has a friend who has a bar/restaurant on the beach who will look after us. The bar is called Las Hamacas and is coincidentally the exact bar that I had researched as the best one for us. It's at the quieter end of the beach and 2 sunbeds and an umbrella are provided for us so we're set for the day. Although there are things to do in the area it is mostly about the numerous bays and beaches, so we always planned a relaxing day at the beach in this port.
The only man on the beach
It is very quiet as it's early (that changed later) so the first beer of the day is called for at 9.20 am. Don't judge - it's a well known fact that holiday beaches work on a different timescale to anywhere else in the world.
Not sure why I'm hanging on to 2 beers. I promise Tam got one of them.
At 10.15 am we have margaritas along with a quesadilla and some guacamole. In effect this is breakfast and a jolly fine one it is too.
This little chap came to pay a visit as well.
We spend the morning swimming and relaxing. A lady comes around offering massages. I'd looked at the prices in the spa on the ship for Tam's 60th birthday tomorrow and the cheapest was $160 for 50 minutes. Even Tam wouldn't pay that. The lady asks for 300 pesos (around £15), so off goes Tam. She returns 45 minutes later and says that although the facilities wouldn't match up with the ship, the massage itself was very good.
By 12.30 pm the restaurant is full - nearly entirely with locals, which is lovely. We order a Paloma each and then a Victoria beer and split a grilled fish. Oh my lord it's absolutely lovely.
We leave about 2.00 pm . They provide the bill. Let's see:
4 beers
4 cocktails
1 quesadilla
1 guacamole
1 grilled fish
Sunbeds and umbrella for the day
Total comes to £58! Now that's a bargain. Also the food was lovely and the cocktails strong and well made.
As you can see by the number of boats the beach is a bit busier later in the day.
Happy grins after cocktails and beer.
I suspect this is the reason the grilled fish tasted so good.
We contact Pepe
and he says he'll be 10 minutes, but it turns out to be 25. There
is a taxi driver hanging around the beach, so it probably have
been easier just to get a one way taxi.
Back at the port Tam wants to get a colourful plate to hang on
the garden wall. She finds one in a shop and asks how much. 75. I
say to her that's cheap - 75 pesos is just under £4. No, it's
$75. The guy says that it's very good quality you can put it in
the oven. For $75 I would want it withstand a thermo-nuclear
explosion!
Back on the ship at 3.45 pm and we go to the aft of the ship for a quick swim. We get a beer for the sailaway at 6.00 pm. It's really quite unique as the ship is moored very close to the beach and we look down on loads of people standing along the shoreline to watch the ship depart. The taxi driver had told us that the port is not really very busy and there were only 2 ships in March, so it must still be a bit of a novelty. Either way, I know it's really fun and we've thoroughly enjoyed Huatulco.
This shows how close the ship is to the beach.
Bye bye everyone. I hope we see you again.
Back to the room to shower and then straight out to celebrate Tam's last night in her 50's. We eat in the Salty Dog tonight and this is our second casual dining restaurant. Tam has the white soup and fried chicken sandwich whilst I plump for the poached egg thing again and the beef rib poutine.
Not a clue as to what's in the white soup. I suspect Tam would know.
We both are on
Chardonnay tonight and take a glass with us to Club Fusion to
watch an American comedian. He's actually quite funny.
Back to the room at 10.00 pm and we start watching The Princess
Bride - still one of my favourite films. Mind you, it's been a
long day and Tam starts to fall asleep amost immediately. Lights
out at 10.30 pm.