We felt like seeing the beach from the sea and booked an afternoon tour on a catamaran. From one to six p.m. This costs 85 Dollars.

Shortly before 1 p.m. we are picked up at the hotel. Our driver heads north along the coast for about half an hour. Then he enters a well secured gate, drives up on a paved road through lush gardens with huge hotels to the left and right. We end up in front of a huge lobby, and a group of six Americans joins us. Some minutes later we reach a port.

We have to give away our shoes (the reason the guides says: “We want no sand on the catamaran”). A boat takes us to the catamaran and the Americans immediately take rum punches and settle at the front.

A second boat comes with some 15 Americans and Englishmen, they also take rum punches and some prefer wodka on ice. Some of passengers continue to drink all the time… beer, wine, rum punch etc. Not exactly the company we usually look for.

But the ride is great. We follow the gorgeous coast line and come across some islands.

It is drizzling, but we escape the rain. We stop in a bay. All the guests get snorkels, flippers and swimming aids. I go into the water like always, just with my goggles as the only aid. The guide shouts: “Hey guys, are you ready, we move to the beach now, but do not step onto the stones, they are sharp”. We all swim for almost one hour. I enjoy it very much. For ten years, I have not been swimming in the sea watching fish below me. There are some black fish with a yellow stripe in the middle and many small fish. I can also see some sea urchins – it is really not advisable to put the feet on the ground here. Ursula took this foto from the boat. If you enlarge it, you see the group of Americans with their swimming aids sticking out of the water.

May be, I have to do such swimming in the sea more often, it is just a wonderful feeling to swim in the salty water, taste the salt at the lips, and float like an airplane to watch the world below.

Back on the boat, I now take a rum punch. The staff prepares a snack with sandwiches (the soft American ones), tacoes and fruit. Immediately, when the buffet is ready, the Americans stand in line. I thought, such lines were only typical of the Russians in Sowjet times?

Soon it is about five p.m. and the sun starts to set behind the islands.

The staff is hoisting the sails. Gently we glide on the water and watch the sunset. Beautiful.

The catamaran drops us again in the port and half an hour later we are back in the El Manglar hotel.

To finish off the day, Ursula and I share a fish a la plancha in the Bula Bula. Ernesto, the waitor, is happy to see us again and the cook waves from the kitchen. Ursula has a wahoo fish and I eat red snapper. “Hasta luego”, Ernesto says. “Well, puede ser hasta siete años”, I clarify, because I was at the Bula Bula seven years ago and may come back in some seven years again. I liked the Bula Bula, because it cooks fish just grilled (no fancy sauces or bread crusts around it). Good night.