Melaque lat. 19 13.225N long. 104 42.591W

            The town of Melaque became our home for about 10 days. It is located on the northern shore of Bahia De Navidad. It is a quaint town with quite a few tourists, to our surprise, and a mellow vibe. Well, sometimes mellow. That seems to depend on if there is a reason to celebrate. We happened to be there during the beginning of Lent. Which is celebrated as Mardi Gras or Carnaval in other parts of the globe.

           Early in our stay we made a trip to the neighboring town in the south of the bay, as it is a known cruiser hangout (due to a large protected lagoon) and home of a rumored beach break. We quickly stumbled upon said wave, which ended up being not much to write home about, and a few new acquaintances that became fast friends.

            Don and Kristen are from NorCal wine country and were at the end of their year long hiatus from the rat race. They have been going to Barra for nine years and claim to know more people there than in their home town to the north. Mike, Janine, and Auggie (their doxen) are from the west coast of Canada and have as well been heading to their little piece of paradise they call Barra for years. Their Modus Operandi is first of the crew to get to the beach claims a table and the rest supply the beer for the day.

            With boards in hand we strolled up to the beach and inquired about the wave, seeing as there was a Patagonia longboard  posted up next to Don. After a brief run down of the wave, we were immediately invited to join at the table.  A few waves and a much needed few cold ones later (we are definitely getting into warmer climates) Kristen is giving us a tour of the town. Before the sun has set we are back at their apartment enjoying cold beers and a little Don Julio. One thing leads to another and that marked our first night not staying on the boat as we ended up impaired of the skills to navigate public transit with our surfboards.

            Some days later, with another new friend “tex-pat” Mike in tow, (a fellow surfer from Texas who has been wandering Mexico off and on for the better part of ten years), we headed out in search of waves. The trail ended in Barra with no surf to be found. As a conciliation prize, we were surprised with a parade. This was not the Rose Bowl affair. Imagine a peso budget with the zeal of a mid-west prom. As we searched for a location to get a good view we bumped into Don and Mike from the beach and cheered the paraders’ on together outside of Don’s place. 

While watching the parade file past us it was brought to our attention that its route wound through all the surrounding towns, starting in Barra and ending in Melaque. Tex-pat Mike and ourselves quickly hopped the bus to Melaque and got a second showing of the chaos.