Beaches

Playa Municipal, Zihuatanejo
Originally uploaded by johannal

Zihua’ is one of my favourite spots on the Mexican Pacific and one of the best places for safe swimming if you have children.

We love to spend the day here doing nothing much on the secluded Las Gatas beach on the other side of the bay.

26-foot pangas leave continuously from the main pier for the exhilarating 10-minute crossing.

To cool off, I like to lean over the side and trail my hand in the pristine waters of the bay. If you’re lucky you may see some flying fish.

Once you reach the protected white sands of Las Gatas, choose a shady spot (small charge for a sunbed and hire of inflatables – recommended) .

Excellent roped-off areas for safe swimming and sorkelling behind the reef.

The last boat back to the pier leaves around 5:00pm.

Wonderful sunsets.

I’ve been wanting to write something recollecting my beach wedding on Mexico’s Pacific coast. Now seems a very good time… just a few weeks before we celebrate our tenth anniversary. I’m happy to be able to share these memories with you.

Following our coverage last Easter surrounding the national debate on beach cleanliness, the Environmental News Network reports an interesting new beach fashion trend in the Pacific state of Baja California. Beachside entrepreneurs who rent horses for jaunts along Rosarito beach are dressing the animals in ‘nappies’ (diapers, if you prefer) in an effort to cut down on beach pollution.

The horses can usually be hired from in front of the Rosarito Beach Hotel, which dates back to 1926. The article quotes Roberto Machado, who has rented horses on the beach for 23 years, who estimates that one horse produces about 26 kilos (57 pounds) of manure each day. Rather questionably, astute local businesses pay for the ‘sacks’ to have their business name splashed across the horse’s rear.

The start of the Easter holidays is traditionally marked by many Mexicans with a dash to the beach. This year is no different with, for example, an estimated 1 million holidaymakers heading to the dark sandy beaches of Veracruz on the Gulf of Mexico this weekend. This is despite a mini-scandal that broke last week that has sparked a national debate regarding the safety of bathing in the country’s coastal waters.

A handful of beaches in the states of Veracruz, Guerrero and Oaxaca have been categorised as unsafe for swimming (animated graphic) and following an urgent mini-summit, the Tourism, Health, and Environment Ministers and a Navy Admiral announced that results from water samples would now be published monthly on their respective websites.

There is an excellent discussion thread on this topic on the Lonely Planet website.

Not that much of this news has filtered beyond Mexico’s borders – although the Dallas Morning News did publish an article by Laurence Iliff last month. Pacific resorts such as Zihuatanejo and Acapulco have come in for some particularly heavy criticism. “Our waters are healthy,” the News article quotes Acapulco Mayor Alberto López Rosas as declaring after a recent public dip in the bay. Rosas presented me with a tiny statuette of a cliff-diver two weeks ago, although I saw the telltale yellowish rings of gloop myself at La Quebrada that very evening (pictured left). Strong currents accepted, contamination along stretches of the surfing beach at Revolcadero was the worst I’ve seen on any beach anywhere.

Of course, the Mexican hotel sector is livid. On Friday, Mexican Hotel & Motel Association president, Miguel Torruco Marqués, pleaded for this information to be withheld from the public because it “hurts the purse of thousands of Mexicans.” This position is regrettable, although the timing of the announcement just before the busiest holiday of the year did inflame the situation. Donning the current administration’s new badge of transparency, Tourism Secretary Leticia Navarro defended the Federal government’s decision to make the results public and chose to draw attention to the 132 beaches (of 140 that are monitored) that are in “perfect condition,” and which “present no risk” to public health. This openness is to be applauded and will hopefully prod the powers-that-be into taking the appropriate concerted action – backed up with resources from the Federal government.

Rather than being “named and shamed”, perhaps the local authorities and hoteliers would be more persuaded if a positive system of rewards could be introduced similar to the Blue Flag ‘awards’ in Europe. Crucially, a criterion obliges public health authorities there to inform the public promptly and issue warnings if “the beach… is expected to or has become grossly polluted or otherwise unsafe.”

It should be stressed here too, that tourists themselves have a responsibility to take their litter home with them. Last year, the Mexican Navy cleared 58,000 tonnes of solid waste discarded on Mexican beaches – a sea of rubbish by anyone’s estimation.