Adventures of Beth and Dan: Coyuca Lagoon and Turtle Farm

Acapulco was our first port in Mexico. We hadn’t been to Acapulco for several years and found it to be very busy and not as nice as we had remembered. We book a tour through Viator called Acapulco’s Coyuca Lagoon and Turtle Farm. Our tickets said we were to be picked up at 11:30 but then there was another time of 9:00 so we decided to get off at 8:30 and wander around a little to see if there was good internet off the ship. We walked up out of the port and made our way through crowded dirty streets. Locals tried to be our guides and we were bombarded with oneobe trying to always sell us something. I thought I might buy another Diet Pepsi if I could find it but after 45 minutes of looking and fending off vendors we walked back to the ship. Our tour was to take us through the Coyuca Lagoon and also to some city sites and a turtle farm where they gather the turtle eggs from the beach and then carefully incubate them releasing them when they are ready back into the ocean. We were to also have an authentic lunch at a beach front dining area. While walking back to the ship I saw a sign saying Beth Davies!!! I went up to the man and asked if he was our tour guide! After exchanging information we found out that the rest of the group left at 9 and he was waiting for us to show up :(. He knew we had the 11:30 time but thought we might show up sooner so we had a private tour with just him and it all worked out. He gave us a good bit of information about the city and drove us to a good overlook for photos. Then we stopped at the turtle rescue farm and we were actually able to each release two turtles into the ocean after taking a very informative tour of the small rustic facility. The owner and her mother run the Camp Tortuguera and take donations to keep the facility going. They have all the eggs labeled as to when they were collected. They are shaded and protected. Then when it’s time for them to hatch they watch them closely and only release them into the ocean when they are 45 days old. You first hold them gently up to the wind so they can smell it... then they make a trail for them to get started and you put them down and off they go toward the ocean... it’s just a really wonderful experience and we loved it!!!

After the turtle release we headed to the lagoon where we boarded a small skiff. Our skipper was a very knowledgeable young lady who really knew her birds. She could tell right away that she had bird lovers so we were able to exchange information and knowledge. She knew also the colorations of the immature and adult waterbirds. After about a 50 minute ride our guide took us to the waterfront beach location for lunch. It was very basic with no electricity and no choice in the menu. The lady who owned it got our fish order before we left for the boat ride. She would make us red snapper with two different sauces. We were offered a beer or bottled soda. I took the beer and Dan the soda. We sat under a thatched roof on picnic tables with the water lapping at our feet. All around us were ducks, cormorants and herons. There were hammocks if we wanted to stretch out and relax. The lady cooked on a cement open air fire pit burning coconut husks for fuel. She had no car for transportation and our guide said she uses the bus to get to town but it is an all day event. She had one son and he said it is typical that men leave the woman when she is with child. Most women work to support their families with no help from the men. Children often don’t know their father and most only go to school till 11 or 12. They then work to feed themselves or the family.

Our lunch was served on mismatched plastic plates. We had the fish, rice, black beans, a salad with salsa for dressing and then sopas which were home made corn tortillas ( very small) with black beans on them and a little sprinkle of cheese. It was filling and good although our fish had lots of bones which made eating it tedious. After lunch the guide asked us if we would mind if he gave the cook a ride back into town as he had room in his car. Of course we were happy to help her. She wanted to find an outfit for the baby doll she was carrying as it would be baby Jesus in the local Christmas celebration. As we took the ride back to the ship our guide told us he had no children. He and his wife decided it took too much to raise a child. She worked at a huge time share location at the Mayan Palace. He drove us by it. He worked at a travel agency and said their biggest sale was flight tickets. In Mexico if you make a mistake getting your ticket it costs a flat rate of $200 to change the ticket!!! Many folks are afraid to book on their own due to this. He said he does the tours in the side and works 7 days a week.

We were ready to get back to the ship and shower after a warm sweaty day. Our next and final port would be Cabo San Lucas.

The old fort in Acapulco right across from the dock

The bay where we are docked far to the right

A lovely overlook view

Here is the lady that runs the turtle farm and some of the baby turtles that are ready today to be released.

All the turtle bowels are marked as to their age

You can tell males from females because if their tails. Those with tails are males.

Here is where they are buried in protective enclosures that are shaded.

Our guide walking down the shaded enclosure and taking us down to the ocean for our release of our turtles!!

Here is our young guide for the lagoon ride. She owns her own boat!! Girl power 😄

Our waterfront restaurant

The lagoon and Egrets

A photo of boats like ours

Going through the mangroves... we saw egrets, many different herons ( great blue, tri- colored, yellow headed , tiger , green and little blue) the Woodstock, cormorants, white ibis, green kingfisher, Osprey, caspian terns, Gallineau and black necked stilts.