Sun, sand and Sol (Sol, arena y Sol)

Sol, arena y Sol  (Sun, sand and Sol beer).

A mischievous grin lit his face. Our friend Chuck recently asked, “Do you even know where North Beach is?” Okay, I get it. We are not beach people. We like sitting in the shade, by our own pool, with our own refrigerator close at hand, with a supply of snacks and cold drinks. Boring, but true. 

So, imagine my surprise when Lawrie asked me if I wanted to go to the beach. “The beach? Really, the beach? Okay.”  Then there was a long pause while I thought about it some more, adding, “I guess.”

Surfer with blue and white kite twenty feet in air

We packed up our swimsuits, towels, sunscreen, and sunglasses, then hopped in the golf cart. Parking in front of the Na Balam Hotel, we sauntered through the gardens, headed to the beach. We greeted a couple of the staff members that we knew and paid for a double lounger partially shaded by a palm tree.  

Ten minutes later, a bucket of icy cold Sol cerveza arrived compliments of our friend, Luz. Alright, maybe I could get to like this beach thing.

Third kite surfer joining the other two

Leaning back on the sunbed, we lazily watched as two very fit young guys launched their windsurfing kites into the wind. 

They made kite-surfing look ridiculously easy as they skimmed and scooted across the waves, bouncing up a good twenty feet in the air and flipping into a somersault with the awkward board strapped to their feet.  

We could do that too, if we really wanted to. 

Exercise the hard way!  Popsicle salesman. 

Then a third young guy started untangling lines and readying his black and yellow kite. We silently scoffed. He couldn’t possibly do nearly as well as the other two. He was a bit on the chubby side, with a spare tire around his waist.  However, once he got the kite airborne, he did just fine keeping up with his competition. 

I snapped dozens of photos of the action, all the while staring covetously at another photographer and his very expensive Nikon D4, or maybe it was the Nikon D3X.  Equipped with a humongous telephone lens and a tripod, I am fairly certain that the kite surfers in his photos were a lot more visible than the ones in my photos. Sigh, only in my dreams.

Regata del Sol al Sol in the background with Navy ship

Menu in hand, our waiter arrived, suggesting that with the north wind blowing, we might want to eat inside at the restaurant. He was worried our food might include a side order of sand. We decided to stay put on the lounger and enjoyed a tasty lunch, only slightly seasoned with blowing sand, while watching more of the beach action. 

In the distance, we could see the participants of the 45^th Regata del Sol al Sol were wrapping up their weeklong visit to the island with the children’s day of sailing. We watched as a dozen or so sailboats arrived loaded with children. They circled around a naval cutter, sitting offshore as a marker for the boats, and returned to the marina. This part of the Regata del Sol al Sol is hugely popular with boaters and islanders alike, giving local children a pleasant life-long memory of this annual event.

Rebuilding the weirs to stabilize the beach

Soon we were drowsy from food, sunshine, and cold beers. It was time to pack up and head back to our shady little casa. Time for an afternoon siesta. 

We do know where North Beach is. I have photos to prove it!

Hasta Luego          
Lynda and Lawrie

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