Playa Conchal

We wanted to snorkel right off the shore somewhere, since we hauled all of our equipment down!  We researched that Playa Conchal was perfect, so we drove almost an hour to get to this secluded bay.  In order to get there, however, we had to drive through a crazy touristy beach with tour guides bombarding us every 5 feet ready to sell us goods, tours, sun umbrellas, you name it.  We have not experienced this so far!  We have lived in non-touristy areas, so this was an unwelcome sight.  So many people! So much congestion and noise!  It was weird.  We're used to being isolated and quiet.   We finally pushed through the chaos and headed to our destination.  We had also read that this bay was perfect for paddle boarding.  We hauled a cooler, 2 paddle boards, and all of our snorkel equipment, just to realize that the weather was windy and the seas rough.  The determination to make it worth it overpowered Adam and he set up the paddle boards anyway and struggled to carry the cooler to a quieter area of the beach. He fell off the paddle board with Lily a few times. It was a little bit hilarious!  He was so determined to make it worth it, so we all tried to have a good attitude!  The beach itself was truly gorgeous and we definitely enjoyed playing in the soft sand!  The snorkeling proved disappointing with the rough water, but we went out anyway and saw a few cool fish, an eel, a sea snake, and got stung by little jellyfish.  We had to drive our van across a river, through a cut-out in the rocks, and across a beach and are so grateful that the van made it!  That thing, with all of its problems, is a rock and has powered through some tough terrain!

These first pictures are actually at a different fishing beach called Playa Lagarto.  We saw some kids out doing their daily family chore of catching fish for dinner, so I asked this boy if he could show me how.  They wind fishing line around a wooden thing that reminds me of a kite string holder, walk out in the water up to their waists, throw the line out with a couple of sardenas on it, and slowly wind it in until they get a bite.  He caught 7 fish that morning and I didn't catch any, haha.  So fun to see how these people live though!  I love it!  They are so simple!