Lounging on Isla Ixtapa . . .

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Today the ship is in Zihautanejo. Mel (my sister) and Andrew (her boyfriend) decided for today’s adventure we should go to Isla Ixtapa. I’d been there in December with friends and loved it so I was happy to go back and enjoy it with them.

We tendered ashore and got a taxi to take us to the neighbouring bay of Ixtapa. We passed by the resort and shopping area and stopped at Playa Linda - a beach at the far end of the bay. There we caught the water taxi. The water taxis are small motorboats - big enough to (tightly) fit about 10 people, including the driver. The water taxi took us out into the ocean and out to Isla Ixtapa.

The water taxi dropped us at the end of a beach. The beach is lined with restaurants all with beach chairs and tables with umbrellas in the sand in front. We walked towards the opposite end where it was a bit quieter and settled onto some lounge chairs.

We spent time lying in the sun, swimming in the sea, drinking in the shade. It was lovely. It is so pretty and peaceful on the island.

This morning, before we’d left the ship, we heard first from announcements - then saw on TV - that there had been an earthquake and there were tsunami warnings for much of the Pacific. According to the officers on our ship, we weren’t really in the area of biggest concern, we should be fine, they’d keep us updated. Once we’d heard that, we didn’t think much else about it. But about an hour into our time on the beach, the couple lounging near us starting packing up. They told us that they were evacuating the island, that because of the tsunami warning they were worried about safety on the island. We were confused because the staff at our restaurant had just taken food and drink orders from us. Further down the beach we could see that quite a few people had lined up for the water taxis. We decided to wait a bit where we were - seeing as we’d have to wait in line for the water taxi anyway.

The beach mostly cleared out, yet the people who worked in the different restaurants stayed. There were a few other people scattered along the beach. Still nobody told us anything. And so we stayed. We kept sunning and swimming and snacking. And Mel and Andrew really dove into their bucket of cervezas! I won’t get into greater details about that part of the day . . .

Later in the afternoon, we packed up and headed back to the mainland. There hadn’t been any problems at all, so we were glad we’d stayed and were able to enjoy the day.

Back in Zihautanejo, I showed Mel and Andrew around the main shopping area. I had to head back to the ship for work and I left them wandering the markets - still look for more cervezas. Enough said.

One more port day with the family. The cruise is going by too quickly!

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