La Playita: A Local Beach, a Hidden Gem

Looking for serenity? Or a party? Depending on the day, you can find either at La Playita, one of our favorite local beaches. La Playita, found at the end of a dirt road tucked among the mangroves near Puerto Real, is just a mile or two from our home in Cabo Rojo.

The beach can be completely deserted, offering a serenity that’s hard to find anywhere else. But a holiday weekend can bring entire families partying for the day, and even overnight campers, though there are no facilities.

This picturesque stretch of white sand offers shallow waters, palm trees, and mangroves. You’ll see fish and even rays jumping out of the water, pelicans flying by, and sand crabs scurrying around. Unfortunately, you will also encounter some trash, and maybe meet a stray dog or two. People park their cars right on the beach, so it’s not a bad place for people with accessibility issues. The water is calm, warm, and fairly shallow – perfect for swimming, splashing, lounging in the water sipping a drink, fishing, or kayaking.

Photos

So grab your beach chairs, pack a cooler with drinks and some frozen Gasolinas (party in a pouch!), stop into Mercado’s Bakery to get sandwiches and chips and use the bathroom– remember, no facilities – and settle on in under a sea grape tree with a good book. Enjoy!

Info

Map

Mercado’sBakery

Messy Suitcase Mini-Tour: Playa Corcega in Rincon

We spent a sweet morning at a beach in south Rincon that is popular with local swimmers and snorkelers. It’s a quiet beach with soft golden sand, but not a lot of shade. A reef can be found about 50 meters from the coastline. Unfortunately, the water kicked up a bit and kept us out of the water. Next time!

There are no amenities and no services, but the village of Rincon is a couple of miles away. Bring a cooler and your lunch.

Info
Map

We own a House in Puerto Rico!

We are spending the day enjoying Playa Almendros in Rincón after yesterday’s house closing.

That’s right, we now own a house in Cabo Rojo!

There’s a sea turtle swimming around out there, poking his head up now and then. A sea turtle greeted us at a different beach, Playa Ostiones, the day our offer was accepted a month and a half ago! Do you think it’s the same turtle, welcoming us to the island?

I feel a new sense of belonging here now that I own a home, even though I don’t live in it yet!

Whale Watching in Rincón

We are living in western Puerto Rico at the same time (January through March) that humpback whales are migrating, mating and birthing in the ocean at this end of the island, in the channel between us and the Dominican Republic. So we decided to book a whale watching trip. We chose Taino Divers out of Rincon, who operate a two-hour sunset cruise from Black Eagle Beach. They don’t promise you’ll see whales–they are wild animals, after all–but we saw plenty, while also enjoying a choice of cold beverages, from water and soda to rum punch!

We could have swam in the 1,000-foot-deep ocean if we had thought to wear our suits. Next time! Maybe we’ll even be able to hear whales singing underwater.

First view

Humpback whales are mammals the size of a school bus who live in the ocean. They’re called humpbacks because of the shape they take when they dive deep into the water after popping up to the surface.

Humpback

These whales hunt and feed up north in the summer, then head south to warmer waters and fast during the winter, living off their blubber while they focus on migration and mating. They travel in packs called pods, so we saw several groups swimming together.

Our guide said when we see the flippers, that means the whale is diving deep, so it’s time to look for them to emerge elsewhere.

Not sure what the point of the blowhole is. We saw those spraying into the air.

Thar she blows!

The cost was $64 pp plus tax and tip. Definitely worth it for an awesome experience! We’ll definitely be going back with our son Gavin when he visits next week.

Watch for the video!

We’ll have a whole video on the humpbacks coming out on our YouTube channel soon. You might want to take some Dramamine before watching it, because the boat was rocking in the water.

Learn About Humpbacks

Here are a few acts about humpbacks from livescience.com:

Humpback whales are not the biggest whales—that’s the blue whale. Still, humpbacks can grow to 60 feet (18 meters) long, and they can weigh a whopping 40 tons (about half the size of a blue whale), according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Their flippers can grow up to 16 feet long, which is the largest appendage in the world. Their tails are also massive and grow up to 18 feet (5.5 m) wide. Like most whales, females are larger than males.

Visit the website to learn more!

Links

Taino Divers

Humpback Whale Info

Social media & sharing icons powered by UltimatelySocial
Facebook
Instagram
YouTube
Twitter
Pinterest