You know you are really on vacation when you go to sign the rental agreement for your snorkel equipment and debate whether or not the date is the 19th or 20th, so you ask, and in fact it is the 22nd.
9am with snorkel gear in hand, we headed off in search of Penka, a more secluded, awesome snorkeling beach recommended to us by Tom. Tom is our friend that works at the resort. He is from Spokane. We like him. We will probably be going back to him for more advice on what to do, because he did not lead us astray on this one.
Penka is literally not on the map. There is no way you would know about this place unless someone told you. As we turned off onto a little dirt road, we were greeted by a guard (we weren’t quite sure why we had to check in with the guard... until we kept driving). The worst of the worst roads we have seen yet. I don’t think I can even describe the dips in the road as potholes... ditches, maybe. Whatever you would describe knee deep holes alternating with big sharp rocks and dirt mounds. The road was so bad that we passed a car that someone had ditched on the side of the road (and on the way back later in the day, we passed by a car with a popped tire). Twice we had to stop the car, get out and go scope it out to see whether or not we should brave it or park where we were at. But both times we went for it, and we came out alive. Jimmy did well. When we got all the way down to the end of the road, we had to park the car and hike down to the water. We weren’t sure what to think about the fact that our car was the only one there.
All I can say at this point, is ohhhh my... so BEAUTIFUL!! A whole secluded white sand gorgeous beach!
There was one other family there when we arrived, but after about 30min they left and we literally had the entire beach to ourselves. We hopped right in the water and went out snorkeling. It wasn’t the clearest water for snorkeling once you got out there, but we still saw tons of fish. I finally braved taking my camera out in its waterproof case (yes mom, it survived ;) but it was too cloudy to get good photos of what I wanted.... annnnd I was a little preoccupied trying to take pictures of my friend. I just have to mention this, because it was certainly one of my highlights! I was adopted as the parent of an adorable little yellow fish. Very little. At some point when we first went out, I just happened to look down and found the little guy attached to my tummy. I was very entertained by him as he swam circles around me and in and out between my legs. When I put my hand out, he would come float in the palm of my hand. He followed me EVERYWHERE. It didn’t matter how deep or shallow I went, he never left my side for about 30min. When I would swim faster, he would come up and swim right in front of my mask, with his little tail fin wiggling right in front of me. I wanted to keep him. Nick didn’t seem quite as amused by my strategies to try and sneak him home. But like I said, Most of my time was spent trying to capture him on camera. I at least got one photo of him :)
Nick and I spent the next couple of hours in and out of the water, tanning on the beach, and just staring in amazement at the paradise we had found. We had our snack that we packed for the beach. Note to self, next time I need to clarify that we are bringing already made bagels... not bringing the entire container of cream cheese to melt in the sun :) Sorry Nick, it’s just a funny little detail that I don’t want to forget about.
The entire day we were only joined by two other families that both came and left. A snorkeling tour stopped by in their boat for a few minutes. They found an octopus and pulled it out of the water and let us come see and feel it.
After a long, full morning and afternoon out in the sun, we headed back home to get ready for an early dinner. Nick fell into a nap not long after we walked in the door, so I let him sleep and went up onto the terrace to finish my painting. For dinner, we went back to Coconutz. I think it is going to be hard to get away from this place because they just have a really cool atmosphere that nobody else on the main street can seem to compete with.
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