Yesterday afternoon Harvey and I tried kayaking around the cove. Since the waters were very calm once we got past the waves, we decided to also paddle out of the cove and even past the literal Morgan’s Rock, a jagged tooth of rock sprouting from the ocean with a couple tufts of grass growing on it here and there. The Rock is actually part of the neighboring cove even though it doesn’t look it from the Ocotal beach (the ecolodge’s). We sat around for several minutes at a time, just feeling the waves lift and lower us on the water. It is an eerie feeling when you are so low in the kayak that you watch a swell block out the horizon and rise above your head, only to carry you up set you back down as it passes you, not truly a wave until it reaches the beach. Even with these peaceful pauses, the speed with which we were able to reach the rock told me that reaching San Juan del Sur by kayak within four hours was easily possible. After making sure that the next day’s weather would be safe, I made plans to set out early in the morning for SJdS with a fishing boat, the Eco I, as an escort.

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Today I left the beach at around 6:50AM. It was high tide, and there were many small waves crashing onto the shore and my kayak as I tried to make my way over to the fishing boat anchored a couple hundred meters out. Once I was properly soaked, I got past the waves and greeted the two fishermen, Jacinto and Alejandro, passing them my backpack after removing my large water bottle and sunglasses. Jacinto checked his phone—it was 7:00AM, time to start. I shoved off the Eco I and started paddling.

The monotony of the trip was broken by scenery and “visits” by animals. A needlefish jumped out of the water a couple yards in front of me; frigate birds would start a dive towards the water and suddenly pull up, their prey apparently swimming for cover; over a dozen butterflies (not all at once) fluttered wildly over the waves of the open ocean–a comical sight. I couldn’t help thinking that if I was only a few miles further off shore, I may attract dolphins. However, despite my motored escort boat I didn’t feel safe kayaking out that far, and my job was to determine the duration of a trip to any of the coves south of Morgan’s Rock. Throughout the trip the coastline was a comforting danger—I could easily see the waves crashing violently into the many rocks protecting the shore, so I always maintained my distance from the coast even though there may be less wind to slow my voyage.

Huge rock formations and green forests provided most of the interesting landscape, although I also passed the well-known surfing beach, Maderas (which I will save more details on for a future post) and the Survivor filming site Playa El Toro. While in the open ocean I took two or three breaks of about a minute each to drink some water and stretch my fingers and shoulders, as well as to rearrange the Buff I had put on my left shoulder to block some of the harsh rays poking through the clouds (one of which, by the way, looked stunningly similar to a hummingbird’s head, with eye detail and everything). Once I entered the San Juan del Sur bay, passing the immense US Navy Hospital Ship on my right, the wind picked up to the point that I had to take several more breaks to loosen my shoulders. I had no idea how long I’d been kayaking, but I was ready to ride a wave onto shore and use my legs for a change. When I was a couple hundred meters from the beach, the fishing boat pulled up behind me and dropped anchor. I went ashore and bought the fishermen and myself a drink and some snacks, then kayaked back to the Eco I and tied my craft to the larger one. From leaving the Eco I at Morgan’s Rock to returning to it from the San Juan del Sur shore, the trip had taken two and a half hours.

Our ride back was much more relaxing, and I asked Jacinto questions about potential and current ocean excursion offerings while Alejandro fished and made a comment every now and then. One fun activity that Jacinto mentioned is diving with an air-hose the way it used to be done with huge brass helmets (except now one simply uses a mouthpiece), so I plan on trying that out as soon as possible.

Kayaking in the sea brought back memories of the last time I had a paddle in my hands: while exploring the blue caves in the cliffs of Koločep, an island off the coast of Dubrovnik, Croatia. Although the Adriatic Sea is radically different from the Pacific Ocean, my arm muscles certainly thought the same of the two experiences.