La Manga Kayak Trip

When the alarm went off on my iphone yesterday morning to get me up for the bi-weekly San Carlos Sea Farers kayak trip, I came close to staying in bed. I'm so glad that twenty minutes later I changed my mind. What a great trip.

This informal kayaking group is sponsored by the San Carlos Yacht Club, although you don't have to be a member of the Yacht club to kayak with them. If you don't have your own kayak, a fellow named Brian will deliver a kayak to you anywhere in the area and at some point will catch up with you so you can pay him.

The group met at a coffee and bagle place at the Marina called Barracuda Bob's. I got my bagle - as per FAA guidelines for motion sicknes (haha) - took ginger tablets and met about twenty new folks. The first people I met were from Pollock Pines! That's happened before. The first time I went to Roatan Honduras I sat down for lunch on the first day I was there, and the fellow at my table was from - Pollock Pines! Small world.

We caravaned out to Del Sol Beach. You get there by driving out to Soggy Peso Beach, but when the paved road dead ends, you continue down the dirt road to get to Del Sol Beach. It is here we launched our boats. I was far from the only one who did NOT wear a life jacket. As Fern - the head of the kayak club - said, "well you swim can't you?" Yes thank you!


The water was fairly calm for out departure. I decided to take my camera on this trip. Again, so glad I did. The skill level of the kayakers ran the spectrum from very experienced to first time kayakers. I think I consider myself an advanced beginner. Today was a short easy trip to the small fishing village of La Manga, where we would have lunch at La Manga Restaurant. This group is casual enough that you don't have to stick together like glue. While the majority of the kayakers stuck together for a leisurely paddle directly to our destination, a handful of us - including me - paddled around to the other side of the point into slightly rougher but very scenic waters.

It was in the rougher waters I decided to make my first attempt at photography from a kayak. It's probably not the smartest move I've made. But, although I was bobbing in about two foot waves, I managed to get a few nonblurry pix.


And although I was risking dropping my camera in the water, as someone who has never been able to read a book - or even a map - in a moving car - I think the fact I was actually able to keep my balance in the waves and snap a few shots gives testament to my improving motion sickness dilemma.


After a bit we renegade kayakers turned back and joined the rest of the group. Lest anyone fear for our safety, the lifeguards were on duty in full force. A small motor boat was anchored about twenty feet from shore with a full contingent of pelicans on board and at attention, overseeing our activities and at the ready should anyone need a rescue,

while a couple of pelicans at the rear of the boat checked over the motor to make sure it was in good working condition.

We docked on a small beach in La Manga and walked about 1/4 mile to the restaurant.


The village of La Manga is extremely rustic. There appear to be maybe twenty houses maximum, made out of various building materials. Everything from rusty tin, to concrete. There is no running water here.


While it is true that after a lifetime of living in the high standards of my western lifestyle that I would find it difficult to live in such a crude, and sometimes unsanitary living situation, I nonetheless found the simplicity and lack of legal mandates and building codes very rejuvinating.


Having recently unloaded about 50% of my own possessions with a hope of making my life much simpler, the village felt refreshing. That being said, I wouldn't be surprised if the residents themselves felt differently, possibly wishing they had more of what I have in the way of living conveniences.


I DO fully recognize that my simplistic view of La Manga fishing village is based more on idealism than reality, but nonetheless, that's the effect it had on me when I was there yesterday.

The La Manga Restaurant serves mainly seafood items, in fact I don't recall seeing any other kind of meat on the menu. Large tubs filled with cold salt water held freshly caught clams.


Some of the menu items were unfamiliar, and offered no description as to what they were. So when two fellas in the group ordered a seafood stew that was first heated and then served in an elevated bowl made of volcanic lava, we were all curious and even envious. I plan to go back to La Manga this weekend sometime and have this stew. I can't recall the name of it but I'll tell you after I've tasted it!


La Manga Restaurant is open air, plastic chairs and tables, excellent seafood and of course, dogs are welcome.



The La Manga Restaurant does not serve alcohol, so a volunteer from the Yacht Club drove down a cooler of beer at the appointed hour, 11:00am... I thought it was kind of funny but whatever... A few of us tossed our crumbs to the large flocks of seagulls on the rocks below.


Since I've been in San Carlos I haven't had any bad food at the restaurants, but up until the past few days it's mostly fallen into a mediocre category and been a little disappointing. But after the Cotton Club and La Manga, I'm now happy that I've found a couple of places that I had hoped to find.

We returned to our kayaks for the trip back to Del Sol Beach. The winds had kicked up now and the waters were much choppier. We found ourselves in 2-3 foot waves at times. This might not sound very big if you're body surfing, but in a tippy kayak - especially for the beginners - it was a bit more than some had bargained for. I kayaked alongside Fern - the group leader - for much of the trip back. She knew I was refreshing my skills and reminded me of a few "dont's" on the return trip. A couple of times for a few seconds I thought I may be in over my head, but I focused and took it one stroke at a time, and in the end kind of enjoyed it. I almost tipped once but pulled m;yself back up.

We had to land in the surf. I haven't done that since my last sea kayaking lesson at Half Moon Bay about eight years ago. If you're not familiar with ocean kayaking, even once you've got your boat onto the sand, if there is even as much as an inch or two of surf under you, you can get into trouble. Two of the kayaks collided on shore. One of the kayakers hit her head but was apparently OK. Another came in sideways and needed some assistance. Fern reminded to go in straight and I remembered that I should paddle hard and aggressively. I had a clean landing! Yeah! No assistance needed!

I'm ready to go out again, but will think twice about taking my camera if I want to continue playing in choppy waters. The entire outing was really great. Plan to go again soon.