Punta Perula for a day

It's been a long time and I almost forgot how pretty the beach and water is at Punta Perula. Super clear water in the lagoon and the mouth that crosses over to the restaurant on the point. Seemed to me crossing over to the restaurant was easier but now you have to get wet if the tide is not way out.

This end of the beach really looks like Tenacatita used to with about 6-8 palapa restaurants and I almost wonder if a few moved up from Tenacatita because I don't remember that many. All along the beach the water was clear unlike the Melaque west end but similar to Tenacatita.

Glen and I drove up really with the intention of taking the boat trip out to the Islands only for some quick pictures and coming back. They will take you and come back in 3-4-5 hours but we just wanted to see them. Sadly we had not checked pricing and found they wanted 800 pesos for the extended stay and only reduced to 700 pesos for the quick trip. Next time we will figure out a way to go with a few more people to split the cost.

The Bahía de Chamela in the Municipio of La Huerta, Jalisco has about 7 islands of various sizes. The main islands are -- La Colorada, Cocinas, San Andrés, Pajarera. Pajarera is a bird reserve and about the best for snorkling. 

Restaurant on the point

Palapa restaurants

Our restaurant

Clear water at mouth of lagoon

Kids in the mouth of the lagoon

Not much coral but clear water and some fish

A beach road trip

Glen wanted to go to Tenacatita to see what was up with the snorkeling and access to Playa Mora. I suggested we checkout Playa La Boca while we were up there since neither of us had been. Playa La Boca was promoted as a Tenacatita replacement when Tena was closed down but sad to say it does not come close. The promotion was more to help the 2 Rebalsito families that had started restaurants there. We found one restaurant left after a long bumpy ride. To get there take just about any street to the right in Rebalsito and follow your nose past the cemetery on the beach.

The beach and river mouth are pretty but no swimming in the open ocean. The river, Purificación, divides the beaches of Tecuan and Playa La Boca. Rio Purificación is open to the ocean after the rains but closes up in the winter and wanders through the Tenacatita lagoon and eventually coming out at La Vena near Los Angeles Locos.  The grounds of Shangri La on the Tecuan side over look the river and the ocean.

After some fotos we were off to Tenacatita and a swim - pretty as ever. The police are more relaxed, you can bring in beer now and more shade is available compared to last year. Not like it used to be but it's open. No restaurants or bathrooms.

Made a quick stop at Boca de Iguanas and then on to La Manzanilla for a lunch on the beach at Pedro's Tacos. The old Taco truck is parked inside and now it's a real restaurant with tables and shade on the beach. Food is good as ever.

Walking out to the point at La Boca

Ocean on one side and river on the other

Shangri La

Pedro's tacos - order two next time

Stingray Season?

Stingray Season in colder waters is in the summer but we have them here year round. There may be more in the summer or they may gather for mating season ... but don't really know. There are lots in Playa Mora at Tenacatita and also La Vena river mouth by Los Angeles Locos. Actually much of Tenacatita Bay as far south as La Manzanilla.

We were planning on going to Boca de Iguanas and the beach restaurant Las Palmas until someone reported they were stung right in that area. The last thing I wanted was to have to deal with a 2 year old or 9 year old after a sting. Boca is a long way from Melaque and I don't know where the clinic is in La Manzanilla .. or their hours. I suggested we stay in Melaque and have a much smaller chance of running into those critters.

There have been a number of conversations about what to do for a sting including using a beach vine made into a tea or poultice. Can't find any references to that plant as a cure ... so hot water and a doctor as soon as possible sound the best. They also say elevate the foot so hot water in a towel maybe.

Stingray in Playa Mora in February

For lack of a better name - Planta de Raya

Blue Bay and La Vena Beach

I'd heard of this beach before and pictured it as being much more difficult to access and more primitive than it is. You turn into the Blue Bay road and the first guard is right there near the highway. He only wants to see the drivers ID so he can take your name and know that you are going to La Vena restaurant. A second guard is near the hotel and you tell him you are going to La Vena. Drive past the hotel and along the beach, around the hill and you'll come out at the river mouth. Park anywhere from there to the restaurant.

About 20 of us went last Sunday in 4 cars. Brought our own food, drinks, a tent and tarps for shade and beach toys for us and the kids. Not only is this a beach much like Tenacatita but it's also a river mouth. The river is cross-able near the ocean and swimmable upstream. Someone said snorkeling was pretty good but there were a bunch of 'rays' in one area. One woman walked around the point and came back with a good sized bag of oysters. A really great day with lots of fun.   Nice restaurant for beer and food, 2 public bathrooms with showers and places for your garbage.  Great place to spend a day.

After we got back I wondered what the source of that river was because it is no small stream, at least at this time of year. There are no rivers that cross the highway anywhere near this area. To the south is Boca de Iguanas and to the north is Tenacatita. I asked on a few message boards but nobody knew. I eventually found on a Tomatlan site a reference to "La Vena" being an arm of Rio Purificacion but how did it get so far south. Then I found a .PDF file on a study of the area from the University of Colima and embedded in the study was the map below. It turns out that Rio Purificacion turns south just south of Tecuan and north of Tenacatita, forms the Tenacatita lagoons, and then continues south to come out at the north end of the beach by Blue Bay. That was my detective work for the week.

Blue Bay Hotel

Blue Bay beach

La Vena - Rio Purificacion

Setting up camp

The map showing the river course

March for Tenacatita in Guadalajara

March for Tenacatita in Guadalajara

Around 1,000 people march on the state palace in Guadalajara to protest the land takeover at the Tenacatita beach by a wealthy businessman.

More Blog posts on current situation at Tenacatita

A Beach in the Balance--Mexican Riot Police Attack


La Huerta apoyará a comuneros de Tenacatita


“La posesión de los ejidatarios era ilegítima”


Al menos 800 habitantes de Tenacatita siguen cercados por la Policía Estatal


Tenacatita: ganó la violencia


Tenacatita - No Mas! Aug 2010

Tenacatita evictions over land dispute

State police evict homeowners in beach community of Tenacatita
From the Guadalajara Reporter

Villalobos has been trying the get the low-income families evicted from the land for two decades, ever since he purchased 42 hectares of Tenacatita beachfront land from the wife of a former state governor in 1991. (He apparently obtained the federal beach concession rights in 1993.) Many of the businesses on the undeveloped beach are palapa seafood restaurants that have been serving tourists and locals for more than 40 years.

Francisco Martinez Flores, the ejido (local land commune) commissioner for El Rebalsito, said the ejiditarios own the 42 hectares and have the land titles to prove it.

La Huerta Mayor Carlos Ramirez Nuñez called the eviction "unfair" and said municipal authorities would do all in their power to help the families return to their homes.

But if they get ever back to their homes and businesses, there may be nothing left of them. After the families left in pick-up trucks with their belongings – some making as many as 10 trips to and from the highway – police brought in heavy machinery, presumably to demolish the palapa huts and homes, and blocked the only road leading to the beach. None one was allowed in without an "official" escort. Both the La Huerta municipal secretary and a Puerto Vallarta-based Jalisco Human Rights Commission observer had to give up their cellphones and cameras to police before they were allowed to enter the area, according to reports from Spanish-language daily Milenio. La Huerta municipal cops who turned up to provide "additional security" were also barred from entering. The area resembled "a war zone," commented one foreign resident at the scene.

Guadalajara Reporter article

Read personal accounts from people that live in the area here

Guamuchil

Guamúchil, huamúchil, cuamúchil, Manila Tamarind, Pithecellobium dulce
(wa-MU-chill)

We went up to Tenacatita yesterday and decided to check out Agua Caliente on the way. Agua Caliente is just a little north of the Tenacatita road on the river and thru town used to be the main road to the beach. Elke and John had not been there but Marcos and I had. Elke and John had also never tried Guamuchil and there was a large reclining tree next to the river just full of the fruit. Guamuchil is not something most people would go out of their way for but they are popular in road side stands and can be used for agua fresca (almost any fruit drink)

I was lucky to get the spelling right for a Google search ... and then looking further found all these others. They are possibly part of the Tamarind family and you don't eat the black seed. These looked totally ripe but were a bit drier than I've had before.

After - we drove thru town and out to Tenacatita and I think we spotted Bill's place on the far end across from the river.

Often planted for living fence or thorny hedge, eventually nearly impenetrable, guamachil furnishes food, forage, and firewood, while fixing a little nitrogen. The pods, harvested in Mexico, Cuba, and Thailand, and customarily sold on roadside stands, contain a thick sweetish, but also acidic pulp, eaten raw or made into a drink similar to lemonade. Pods are devoured by livestock of all kinds; the leaves are browsed by horses, cattle, goats, and sheep; and hedge clippings are often gathered for animal feed.

A Sunday at Tenacatita with Ron and the kids

Ron, a long time buddy, just got down from Seattle and spent a week with me here in Melaque. He and his wife Dora who is from Mexico are moving down once again and he will meet her in Vallarta in a few days. Vallarta has more jobs and they will be working ... but Vallarta is busy and crazy so Ron is not sure. Colima and/or Manzanillo might be the next location if Vallarta does not work out.

Anyway ... Ron and I took the kids up to Tenacatita last Sunday and had a great time. Seven kids total. Bought two barbecued chickens with rice, salad, salsa and tortillas ... to-go in Melaque to save a little money. Then just bought drinks in the restaurant. About 200 pesos in the restaurant and 200 pesos for food to-go with extra salad and rice.

Ron finally bought a digital camera and the last two fotos are his. The first one is mine from the rocky point just to give some perspective of where we spent the day

Tenacatita from up above

The water dogs - Jania, Xiomara and Mia (with a choke hold on me)

The sand fleas - Marcos, Jania and Eddie

Tenacatita, Costalegre, Jalisco Mexico

A People Day at Tenacatita, Jalisco Mexico

A people day at Tenacatita

Friday June 24th
Denis, my neighbor, had not been to Tenacatita or La Manzanilla and it had been a month for me. Surprisingly busy for a summer Friday with a few bus loads of weekend tourists. Humidity was up as well as the waves. I walked up on the bluff between the main beach and the snorkeling beach (fotos) and noticed huge waves breaking on the beach just north of us. We took a palm grove road on the way out and found an empty and exciting beach - dangerous waves and currents.

Tenacatita Beach from the bluff

Mexicans sure know how to play in the surf

... and play on the beach

Below is the exciting beach just north of Tenacatita

Jania and Marcos

Link to more fotos of the day