We are really enjoying our stay at Punta Perula. We will be here for at least 5 days. The beach is flat and hard and you can walk for 3 mi in the cool mornings. The waves are not too big in Chamela Bay so it is easy for me to launch my kayak and explore the rocky shoreline at the end of the bay. In past years fishing was good and the campers shared fresh caught fish, this year no one was catching much. There are whales out in the bay but we haven't caught sight of them yet.
Best of all there is a really nice guy from Alaska in a huge bus type motor home that has satellite internet and a strong Wi-Fi signal. He provides access for all the campers here for no charge. He owns a King Crab fishing fleet in Kodiak and brought a freezer full of crab with him to share with the campers a few times. On Sunday we had a big King Crab potluck dinner at Punta Perula Trailer Park. We went through 50 lbs of crab legs. No one went away hungry.
On Monday we left at 7 AM for Sayulita. We shopped at Wal-mart in Puerto Vallarta and still got to the campground by noon. They had one campsite open and a fair wireless Internet connection. But you should never go back to a place you thought was the greatest 7 years ago.
 View of Sayulita Coast |
 View of Shrimp Boats off shore |
The town has grown, there are tourists by the hundreds; there are houses and upscale villas all over the hills. However, it has the most polluted beach on our whole trip. Their septic system dumps right where all the tourists are enjoying the town beach. They are building a modern sewage treatment system, maybe next year it will be a lot cleaner.
Sayulita Beach - Pan to see entire view of town
The beach by our camp is still very nice and the big surfing waves are popular with the local surfers. On Wed the waves calmed down a little so I took my kayak for a long paddle in the bay then came back and had fun surfing in the waves. I glad they were not much bigger or I really would have got trashed. I was upside down a few times but didn't hit my head on the sandy bottom.
 Surfers in front of camp beach |
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 View of our campsite from the new road |
We left early on Thursday morning for the little beach town of Chacala. It is only 50 miles away. We camped with a mexican family (Don Beto) on the beach like we did in past years. The town shows a little growth but up in the hills they are putting in what looks to be a very upscale housing development. It has underground utilities and the home sites are perched on the high bluffs above the town and with great ocean views. We took a 2 1/2 hr hike around the volcano though old orchards high above Chacala. They are building a coastal road that looks like it may wash out in the hurricane season. |
 Volcano Crater above Chacala |
 New road in the development |
View of Chacala Bay - Pan to see entire view
We stayed through the weekend when all the Mexican families come to camp. We are near the quiet end of the beach, however the waves are much bigger here and I have not been able to launch my kayak as of yet.
 Looking toward the Volcano |
 Fishing fleet is in |
 Launching into the small waves |
By Sunday the waves started to settle down. I headed out and was surfed back a few times until I broke free and took a nice paddle along the South coast. Had some fun surfing my way back in. On Monday, it looked about the same so I asked Peggy to try to take a few pictures of me heading out for another nice paddle along the North coast. She caught me coming back in on a really big mushy wave. Believe it or not I stayed upright and ended up back on the beach. On Tuesday we left for Guadalajara via Tequila. We had hoped to take a distillery tour in the big Tequila producing area of Mexico but crowded streets, lack of parking made us move on to our campground for the night in Guadalajara. We got there about noon after a little grocery shopping. I'm going to try to wash the dust off RV, so it doesn't look so bad. We will leave very early in the morning for the craft town of Tonala. |
 Oh Oh Here comes a wave |
 Big Huevos |