Mexico 2008 - Playa del Carmen

Mangrove adventure

In august 2008 we booked a trip to Mexico, destination Playa del Carmen! We stayed for two weeks in one of the RIU resorts, which are standing side by side in front of the beautiful beach. In this year, the Caribbean area was under fulltime attack of hurricanes like Gustav, Hanna and Ike. We were lucky they stayed away of the Mexican coast. Cuba and the Dominican Republic were less lucky.

Playa del Carmen has great fishing waters, its opposite is the island of Cozumel. This is where the second biggest reef in the world starts, up on till Honduras. The currents from the gulf of Mexico, Caribbean sea and Atlantic ocean, make sure there’s a lot of food in these waters, which habitats an enormous amount of species.

The area of Playa del Carmen is inhabited by the descendants of the Maya Indians, very nice people by the way! They are very recognisable because they have no neck, the calcium in their drinking water widens their spine during life and stops it from growing. And you can’t expect those people to feed their children out of a bucket, can you!? A couple of months before, I bought myself a travelling rod, a long time wish. All these years on far destination tropical holidays without one, is something I still regret. So it was a big disappointment to find out you are not allowed to fish from the beach in front of the resorts, on charge of a 100 dollar ticket! So there wasn’t going to be a lot of fishing this holiday, I only booked one trip back home over the internet at Pesca Maya in Ascension Bay. They offer deep sea fishing, reef fishing, flats fishing and fly fishing.

Because my buddy from Holland, who arrived two days before we left, isn’t much of a sailor who likes big waves, we booked the tour on the flats and around the mangrove islands. My buddy’s main target was a bone fish. He told me so many stories about this fish, that my ears almost fell off. At 6 in the morning we were picked up at our hotel with a 2 hours’ drive ahead, one hour on a good road, one hour through the jungle on a bad road. We got out of the van like we had been stuck up in a washing machine. At the hacienda of Pesca Maya we were treated with great hospitality and had a great Mexican breakfast with sweet potatoes, pancakes and ham-cheese omelettes. We paid around 500 dollars for an 8 hour trip. The guide introduced himself as Wilbert and a little while later we were feeling airborne over the laguna waters in his fast flying boat. In these tropical surroundings with the beauty of the turquoise waters, mangrove islands and passing pelicans, it really gave us a rush. We stopped after twenty minutes in front of a mangrove island. Wilbert dropped the anchor and we started fishing with poppers and stick baits, casting them at the shore. We immediately caught some small barracudas which was a lot of fun. I also broke my travelling rod while casting, probably a manufacturing default! Wilbert provided me with another rod, great service on his behalf. A little later I got a spectacular drill. A barracuda grabbed the popper and headed out left till it got attacked by something else off a heavier calibre. It took off to the right and suddenly came at ease. I could feel there was still something on but it wasn’t fighting at all. The three of us were laughing our ass off when I only pulled a barra head out of the water. In the next couple of hours we fished numerous islands and caught some more barracuda on Rapala’s and poppers. I lost a mangrove jack fishing with white buck tail on a jig head. The water was so crystal clear you could see the attacks coming, like missiles fired from the bottom. We were really enjoying ourselves and Wilbert asked if we wanted to try something else. My buddy suggested "bone fish" of course!

When we arrived at the flats, we started the quiet mode and changed our poppers for a fly and fluor carbon line, attached to a jig head which is used as a casting weight. While my buddy was still preparing his gear, I got my first strike and it was really unbelievable! Like my hook was attached to the arrow of a crossbow, man this fish is fast! The excitement and arousal was too much for my buddy, who started screaming "bone fish"! Because of the nerves and commotion, he couldn't knot his lines anymore. We stayed on that spot for a while and caught 7 bone fish, my buddy was the happiest man on earth that day. Fishing bone fish is a truly magnificent experience, I'm very impressed by its speed and strength, considering size and weight of this fish. Just after noon heaving lunch in the red hot broiling sun on a new spot near the reefs at open sea, I asked Wilbert if it was ok to have a swim and some refreshment. He smiled and said it was fine, but that his father once caught a 750 kilograms tiger shark in in this area!!!?? Considering that, I decided to stay in the boat and melt further away. Wilbert suggested we should catch a little barracuda which we should keep as bait fish for sharks. I caught a small barracuda along the reef and we changed gear using a 8/0 circle hook and a piece of barra filet. Wilbert took highest position on the boat and told us where to cast. We saw a beautiful nurse shark cruising the reef and after 3 attempts the hook was set. Shark on a spinning rod, how exciting! Soon my buddy hooked one next to the boat and we both could get them in, what a beautiful animal. After we took some pictures we quickly released these beautiful fish. Time to get back, what a fantastic experience, one of those days you'll never forget in your life! Back at the hacienda having a cold Corona we thanked and tipped Wilbert before heading back to the resort!

Pesca Maya recommended!!!!!!