Chillin' at Chileno

The storm that was south of Baja has passed, and that means the beaches are back open with a yellow flag. .
We loaded up some supplies and headed east about 10 miles to Chileno Beach. In contrast with yesterday, when a lone lifeguard was keeping everyone away from the water, today the beach was packed with folks enjoying this great spot.

It's located at one of the few modern interchanges on the highway, so you can actually get off going either way, and don't have to go to the next exit and circle back, like along most of the rest of the road. There is also a big development being built adjacent to the public beach, with access roads from all directions.

This beach has lots of services like showers, bathrooms, vendors for beach needs (chairs, umbrellas, etc.), and a lifeguard station and surf advisory shack with info on tides, waves, swells and the like. The huge parking lot is a short walk from the water. Strings of floats and buoys mark off the allowed swim area, which is huge.

Plenty of wildlife and flowers abound. 




There's even folks from Baywatch here!
 
Lots of tour operators bring boatloads of snorkelers here, and there is a separate area for them, as well as an area to launch kayaks, canoes and outriggers.

 This beach has some of the best and easiest snorkel areas on the peninsula. The fish come right up to you and swim by and around you in groups and small schools. They are mostly a foot or more in length, and range from yellow to silver to gray and black. It's not quite as colorful a parade as you see in the Caribbean or in Florida, but the numbers and size of the fish make up for it. Just standing in waist deep water, we saw hundreds of fish swim right by us, even in the crashing waves.

Tomorrow we plan to bring some more equipment and see if we can spot even more fish at the beach.

We headed back to the condo, hoping to have lunch at the swim up bar at the pool, but found out Tuesday is the day the staff doesn't open it in the off season. So that was out on hold, and we put together a quick lunch at the condo with the last of our supplies.

After a rest, and some maintenance on the wi-fi which mysteriously went out, we got ready and drove in to Medano Beach, in the middle of downtown. This is where we swam a few days ago, and also where we ate dinner our first night in town. The Office restaurant see here is an institution here. All the beachside restaurants are allowed to use the space in front of their buildings up to a certain distance from the high tide line, to set up chairs, umbrellas, tables, etc. and serve food and drinks. This goes on all day, with beachgoers settling in for refreshments, and using  the area for shade. Then, as the dinner crowd arrives, the umbrellas are removed, entertainment starts, and eventually tiki torches are lit all around the dining area. Vendors are not allowed in the confines of the restaurant space, but hawk their wares from the edge of the beach. It's quite a scene.

When we came here Thursday, it was Mexican Fiesta night, and their was a big show going on with dancers, mariachis, wrestlers, sing alongs, chants, and contests. Tonight was more subdued, with a substandard 3-piece jazz group playing, but the crowd was very similar. Mostly American tourists, mostly families, and dozens of waiters, busboys and other staff running drinks (and they do run!) and food.

We enjoyed a nice meal of shrimp, sea bass, and fish tacos. The kids and I decide to splurge on dessert and had flan
,

carrot cake,

and chocolate ice cream.
 
We enjoyed our meal immensely. When we left we took a few pictures with the beautiful full moon, poked around in some shops and at the mall before returning home.

One last day of vacation remains, and we plan to spend it visiting Chileno again, having lunch in the pool, and visiting an upscale (very upscale) pizza place that is adjacent to our condo.It's supposed to have an incredible sunset view, and have great Italian specialties and hearth baked pizza.We figure it will be a fitting end to this trip.

Adios for now!