Stone Island is not actually an island. It’s the end of a peninsula that can be reached via boat from the south of Centro, Mazatlán.
Here is what I was told and why I wanted to go visit: It’s great for going to the beach, the water is a little calmer because it’s more protected, so you could more safely go into the water there. There are restaurants along the beach and you can sit in the shade. You can go horseback riding along the beach there.
Encouraged by the endorsement, I meet with a new acquaintance near my house, so we could go together to stone island on a Saturday morning. We take the bus to Centro. My new friend needs to get some money before going, so we spend a bit of time and leg power to walk through Centro to find a suitable ATM, and then we walk to the dock.
When we get to the embarcadero, we are not really sure where we need to go. After a small detour to a restaurant across the beach, we find out that we need to go back to where we entered the beach to a small yellow building with a small pier. Getting a return ticket is easy and very affordable.
There are several small boats with benches – water taxis. The boat ride is fast, at most 5 minutes if even that. When we arrive, we follow the signs to the playa – and promptly get lost. It was a lovely walk through a small village with houses and gardens and workshops, and I take in the scenery. We are getting tired of walking and hungry, however, and the sun and heat exposure are also taking a toll on our energy.
Finally, we come across what seems like a tour of Mexican tourists who are boarding a number of pickup truck taxis. They are pickup trucks with a bench on either side and a tent-like roof for shade. We board one of them with the last group of the tour after asking if they are going to the beach. They drop us off at a restaurant, El Velero. We basically just hitched a ride because there is no charge for us. How lucky!
We follow the tour inside and discover a large establishment built on the beach with a palm leaf covered roof and a lot of tables, open to the beach on the other side. Picking a table close to the beach with a wonderful view, we get a waiter who speaks English well and serves us with a great deal of humour. Finally, we can rest our feet, enjoy the shade and fill our stomachs.
After the meal, we go to the beach and commandeer a couple of long chairs with sun umbrella. Many vendors come by and try to sell us their wares. We politely decline each one of them as we don’t need anything, though we donate to the firemen who also provide lifeguards to the beach.
One man came by with a big iguana, and people came to pet the reptile. A lady came by with a snake, and I am glad she didn’t come too close and moved on quickly. Maybe she saw my facial expression of terror… I did not get a photo of her.
Watching the ocean, I do not feel that the water is calmer here compared to the beach close to my house. The waves look fairly powerful to me. The water is very shallow for a long walk and so it has a chance to warm up in the sun. The temperature is lovely. When I get to the break point of the waves, though, I am not able to get in any further. Still not even quite waist high in the water, I at least dip down to get my entire body wet. There is a guy with a whistle and a lifeguard outfit and rescue can. He whistles and yells at everyone in Spanish, gesturing to go closer to the beach. I guess he also finds the waves too powerful for comfort. There is no way to swim here, and I go back to my long chair.
My friend and I enjoy a virgin piña colada at the beach, looking like the typical beach bums. However, I carefully fold myself on the chair to avoid any further direct sun exposure as I already got nicely burned during our detour walks earlier. The breeze also disappeared after a while, and so we decide that we’ve had enough for the day. Discovering the horses would have to wait for another time.
This time, we get a taxi back to the dock on the island. We find out where we went wrong, and it turns out it would have been a short walk had we not taken the wrong road on our way to the beach. Live and learn… next time I will be better prepared.
On the short boat ride back, we make a small detour to a high dock, where we pick up a couple of workers who climb down into the boat. Quite something to watch…
If you ever do this excursion, make sure to keep your boat return ticket until you are back on land again. They check when you leave the boat.
The air-conditioned bus back home is great to relax and I am glad to end the trip with a shower and aloe gel on my sunburn. A good reminder why I never go to the beach. But it was a nice excursion, and I might do it again, with lessons learned in the back pocket, if friends were to invite me along.
Nice! Too bad about the horses. I know you would have loved to ride!
C