Mission in Oaxaca, Mexico: Learn to Love the Beach
We are hikers. We love the mountains, trees, rocks, streams, and summits. We have never really considered ourselves beach people. When we ventured to the state of Oaxaca, Mexico, for an unseasonably hot month of May, we quickly learned that we would have to embrace the ocean in order to beat the heat. So we made it our mission to dive in and discover the ocean’s appeal. Mission accomplished! Thanks to some terrific instructors, we are hikers… and now surfers, PADI open water certified scuba divers, turtle rescuers, and snorkelers. Thrilled at the possibilities this opens up for future travel destinations!
Surf Lessons in Puerto Escondido
After a week of urban site-seeing in the city of Oaxaca de Juarez, high up in the arid Mexican Sierras, we headed down to Puerto Escondido to find some humidity. Puerto Escondido is a small hipster town on the Pacific coast. It’s home to Playa Zicatela, renowned in the surfing community for its world-class surf break. Two international pro surfing competitions are held here annually — and there is currently a massive civic effort underway to preserve the wave, as unchecked development has led to erosion. Watching the surfers and body boarders on Playa Zicatela was thrilling, so we booked a surfing lesson to try it out.
Click any photo for a larger slideshow…
As newbies, we met coach Will of Soul Surf School at Playa Carrizalillo, a much more secluded cove with tamer waves. He started us off on the sand, demonstrating the proper technique to transition from a prone position to standing on the board: Look straight ahead, chest lifted; when you feel the catch, pounce (in one smooth motion) into a low crouch position with feet facing long edge of the board, body turned at the waist with front arm pointing towards the shore. After a few dry runs on the sand, he told us we were ready to give it a go. With boards the size of a canoe, we paddled over the swells towards a group of other obvious amateurs.
Coach Will instructed us verbally as he surveyed the incoming breaks, continuously repeating the sequence of necessary steps and giving us additional tips. Finally eyeing “our wave”, he emphatically yelled “Paddle! Paddle! Commit! Commit!” and then pushed us into a wave. We paddled and paddled until we had momentum from beneath. We looked straight ahead, chest up and, in one bold, damn-near-perfect transition, we were both up and riding a wave!! The feeling was indescribably thrilling! Ecstatic to try again (and again and again), we spent the next two hours practicing our technique with Will until we were exhausted. Eager to improve (‘cause we definitely weren’t “damn near perfect” every time!), we booked two more lessons. By the end of our sessions, we had begun to paddle and catch our own waves (without an assisting shove from Will).
Our surfing experience was a reminder to us both that we should never stop trying new things, regardless of the fears that seem to creep in as we age. Fear is the enemy of joy and vitality. Never give in to fear.
Escorting Baby Turtle at Playa Bococho
There are seven species of sea turtles on the planet and four of them visit the Oaxaca coast to lay their eggs. All of these turtles — the Leatherback, Olive Ridley, Hawksbill, and Green Sea turtle — are in danger of extinction, but local conservation efforts are providing a helping hand. At Playa Bacocho in northern Puerto Escondido, we joined a throng of local activists, expats, and tourists promptly at 5:00 p.m. for ViveMAR’s daily release of turtle hatchlings. For a small donation, we were handed a gourd bowl containing a cute baby turtle that was clearly excited to start its “24 hour fever swim” towards distant deep ocean currents.
As the sun dipped toward the sea, we formed an escort line and slowly released the turtles. Our job was to chase off any potential airbourne predators that might try to swoop in for a turtle snack. As we relinquished our tender hatchlings onto the soft, warm sand, they instinctively headed towards the sound and shimmering light of the crashing waves; not a single turtle took off in the wrong direction. Some took a little longer than others to get going, but as the sky shifted from golden orange hues to a dark fiery glow on the horizon, every little life made it into the surf… step one of a long, risk-fraught journey into deeper ocean waters.
It was a beautiful and touching experience to contribute to the conservation of the sea turtles, increasingly at risk of extinction due to coastal development. Playa Bacocho was the perfect location, too, with a mist of sea salt spray suspended in the air, the sky a wash of golden glow, a light breeze, and relaxing vibe.
PADI Open Water SCUBA Certification in La Crucecita
My personal crowning achievement of 2024 was overcoming a long-seated fear of SCUBA diving. Years ago, I did a touristy dive experience in Cancun. With zero training and no wetsuit, I spent 30 minutes of the dive bouncing off the bottom of the sea and then floating towards the surface, with an exasperated dive guide constantly readjusting my buoyancy. I was freezing and completely lacked any feeling of control. For years after, I let that one poor experience tell me that SCUBA diving wasn’t for me.
The day before we left for Mexico, we happened to stop by our friend Jaymes’s house. As he reminisced about a summer spent SCUBA diving nearly every day, I thought maybe it was time I tried it again — with proper instruction! With confidence buoyed after learning to surf in Puerto Escondido, we traveled a little further south to the expat haven of La Crucacita and enrolled in a SCUBA certification course at Huatulco Dive Center. We were in great hands with our instructor, Sean, whose patience was off the charts!
Attaining our PADI Open Water diving certification over four all-consuming days was really intense! We spent 8+ hours a day in the pool on the first two days, practicing a variety of skills and drills. Each evening, we dedicated 6-8 hours reading and studying our dive manual and taking online quizzes. On days 3 and 4, we did all the same skills and drills, only this time “for real” in the open water at depths between 30-60 feet under the Pacific Ocean. Caffrey effortlessly passed all skills like a pro! He even “saved” me by expunging my regulator when I accidentally flooded the mouthpiece and forgot how to clear it. He’s such a cool-cat! Anyways, my drill tests weren’t quite as flawless, but I passed. For me, the most important lesson that I learned from this experience was to keep calm, breathe, and think; trust in the training.
Huatulco Dive Center provided us with all the high-quality equipment we needed for our training dives. PADI’s online manual, videos, quizzes, and tests were a huge help in learning all the technicalities. On our open water practice dives, I did have trouble equalizing my ears and ended up injuring my eardrum. I walked around for weeks with sounds muffled and a crackling in my inner ear; it eventually healed, though. In hindsight, I think I was congested prior to our dives and it impacted my ability to equalize. When we dove again a few months later in Turkey, I had no equalization problems.
Snorkeling at Playa La Entrega in La Crucecita, Huatulco
Before our “Oaxaca Mission” to love the beach, past experiences in the water really held me back from fully embracing ocean activities. A few years ago, we did a snorkeling excursion in the Rosario Islands, Columbia. It was my first time and equipment was provided by the tour operator. While everyone else was swimming around, enjoying the scenery below, I struggled with a flooded mask and air tube. Caffrey finally determined that the problem was in the equipment - the mask was too large for my face and the rubber connector that holds the air tube aloft was broken. The boat operator lent me a child size kit and it worked much better, but by then, we only had a few more minutes. So, the snorkeling portion of the trip was kind of a dud for me… and left me with a negative impression.
In the spirit of trying all things anew, we took a taxi to Playa La Entrega on the outskirts of La Crucecita. At the far end of the beach, we rented some snorkeling equipment and waded into the clear, turquoise waters. The equipment was high quality and fit correctly - we had a blast! Floating along the rocky coastline, we saw a wide variety of aquatic life flitting about in water depths of no more than 10 feet. I was stunned at just how accessible and easy snorkeling was! LOL! I regret all of the times that I’ve been to the beach and shot down the idea of snorkeling. Why did I define my entire outlook based on a single bad experience? How limiting.
