nature – S/V koukla

Our trip from San Carlos to Los Angeles en route to Roatan was short and sweet. We spent three days in L.A. Beautified (haircuts for us both, the works —mani/pedi/brows/lashes — for moi). Played some pickleball. Saw one of T’s childhood friends for a BBQ (at which we drank too much and ate too little, a well known recipe for the disaster which inevitably befell me and almost waylaid our 5 am departure the following morning). Somehow we (meaning I) pulled it off and made it to Honduras not only in one piece with no additional messiness, but also with one less piece of luggage (stored in L.A.) Speaking T’s love language fo sho and got the trip off on the right foot after a very shaky start.

Roatan was hot, but not nearly as infernal as Mexico. We’d stayed at Las Rocas before and got our same little cabana, surrounded by lush greenery, a porch with a hammock, and the ever-present-and-still-unnerving armed guards. Makes you wonder what could go on without them … We took a couple of days to settle in and catch up on sleep, then I kicked off our activity spree with a water taxi to the West End to get my pickleball fix. They play every day except Sunday, 8 – 10ish, with two courts and another super friendly crew. So on the days i didn’t dive I gladly braved the formidable heat to get my pickleball on.

That said, Las Rocas is a dive resort. And dive we did. (That’s why we went, after all.) My goal was to get to 100 dives — and I’m never mad at a goal — so I did 33 dives to get to 100 exactly! The diving there is both beautiful and crazy convenient. The marine life is super abundant and rich, the water clear and warm (average 84 degrees), and the dives themselves diverse and interesting and always 100% zen. Literally dozens of different species, with a shark, sea turtles, spotted eagle rays, stingrays, barracuda, squid, moray eels, and some super sweet swim throughs thrown in for bonus dramatic effect. I took the GoPro out for its virgin runs, despite owning it for years. (Always seemed like too much to add to the whole already cumbersome diving sitch.) But as is the case with most things procrastinatory, I couldn’t believe I hadn’t pulled the trigger earlier. Soooo easy, soooo cool, and soooo worth it! On top of all that diving deliciousness, the boat that leaves three times a day was literally steps from our cabana’s front door, they set up all our equipment and broke everything down before and after each dive, and they stored it all in the dive shop and loaded it back on the boat before every excursion. Chef’s kiss on the entire Las Rocas diving experience.

My sister-in-law joined us for a week, and that was ridiculously fun. We talked and laughed and drank and ate on loop, dived, played pickleball, watched the weekly beach crab races (far less interesting in practice than it sounds), and did some puzzling (with much kinder chasers to the masochistic one I started the vacation with) together. She’s an amazing, true, joyful, thoughtful, supportive, always game friend and confidante (37 years!) with the perfect mix of mischief and joie de vivre. Love you, Jude!

We ended up staying on Roatan for almost a month — twice the time of our first trip in 2023 — so we were ready to go when our departure date finally arrived. Milked the hell out of our time there, and enjoyed every second. Next up: a brief stay in Los Angeles again (Marina Del Rey, to be exact) before we head to Greece for a few months. The added bonus of diving so much on Roatan is that I likely won’t feel the need to dive in the overpriced and frankly underwhelming underwater worlds of Greece. One (admittedly super heavy) bag we can leave behind + one (consequentially super happy) husband = total travel win-win. Onward!

We left Mazatlán at the perfect time in the morning to ride the tide and avoid any wind nastiness. Best Mother’s Day gift ever. We planned to go to Playa Bonanza, but conditions were such that we kept going to Agua verde. Took us two days to get here, and it was well worth the trip. They said the Sea of Cortez is beautiful, and from what we can see, so far they’re absolutely correct.

En route, tons of turtles: some solo, some with avian hitchhikers, some in pods, all (seemingly, at least) incredibly chill. I wondered if they get lonely, or crave companionship of some kind. Do they welcome their transient feathered friends, or are they indifferent? Do they have feelings (at whatever level of consciousness), do they enjoy their travels, or do they simply pass their days and drift mindlessly wherever the current takes them? Curious, I turned to the Almighty Google and learned that sea turtles are essentially solitary creatures. They migrate hundreds — sometimes thousands — of miles from feeding to nesting grounds … the rare times they travel in groups, and still not necessarily. The females faithfully return to their own natal beach to get their nest on, while the males are the ultimate wanderers, never usually returning to land after they hit the sea. That said, neither would win any parenting awards. While the absentee fathers are drifting off doing their own thing, the mothers are euphemistically free-ranging it: laying their eggs, digging their nests, and heading back to the ocean, leaving their babies to hatch on their own and fend for themselves. “I’ve done my part, sweeties … smooches, good luck, and bon voyage!” Many live to be over 100 years old, so if you make it, you really make it. So there you have it. You’re welcome.

Back to our regularly scheduled program … The passage had promised to be a rocky repeater, but day one was unexpectedly pleasant. Not a ton of wind, with a beautiful sunset and a bright full moon. Later that night the wind picked up so we could finally turn the motor off. Unfortunately that also meant the rolling waves were back —strong, but at least not debilitating. We ultimately arrived at Agua Verde without major incident. greeted by a fish skipping along quickly, vertically, and totally comically on its tail (although maybe not funny to him; looked like brotherman was trying to get the hell outta dodge), and a 100-strong dolphin pod (which I wasn’t quick enough to capture on video. Gotta work on that …)

Agua verde is simple and unassumingly beautiful, with a pristine beach and a backdrop of dramatic rock formations. About a half dozen boats anchored; sweet little beach with a couple of restaurants, huts, and tent palapas; pretty clear water; breathtaking sunsets; and quite the abundance of pelicans. We thought people were throwing chum in the water since they were so active and plentiful, but turns out there’s just that much fish there. We rowed to shore and had a deliciously fresh fish taco lunch, visited the mini market, headed back. devoured baby back pork ribs and rice for dinner.

Day 3 T busted out the Pakayak: a monstrous modular kayak that I’d been against because of the cost, size, and general unwieldiness. Plus we were only going to get one (again, size, ugh,) so I also had major FOMO. But he’d researched it, ignored the fact that we’re on a monohull, and proceeded to store it our berth (more ugh). Ultimately, and wisely for the sake of our marriage, he had the good sense to store it on the bow. Six months later (!), it was finally launch time. A little rocky at first, but he ultimately conquered it and made an island circumvention.

Day 4 I had a first leap off the boat into the ocean. refreshingly perfect temperature. T had another (much more successful) trip on the Pakayak, and we had dinner at restaurant #2 — grilled fish with soggy yet somehow tasty rice. Bonus: I slaughtered him (seriously, it was a blood bath) in three back to back backgammon games.

Finished The Clockmaker’s Daughter: a mixture of tedium and intrigue, with the latter just edging out the former. Started on the often-cringily-trying-a-bit-too-hard-but-usually-entertaining-nevertheless David Sedaris’ Let’s Explore Diabetes with Owls. Our idyll was interrupted, however, when our generator gave out on us, and Captain T was uncharacteristically unable to fix it. So … with no generator to top off our power, it was time to move on to a marina and get ourselves sorted. Next stop: Puerto Escondido.