Learning to Splash Like a Duck

After leaving the tranquil beauty of la Luna, we moved into almost the heart of Puerto Escondido to a delightful cabana at the Casa de Dan y Carmen.  Dan, whom we met early into our stay, is a Canadian expat who came to surf Puerto's waves and, loving the area, bought up large tracts of land to build a hotel and breakfast cafe.  The cabana we stayed in was a beautiful small apartment, complete with spiral staircase to the bedroom and a charming outdoor shower.  We discovered later that this was where Dan himself lived while he was building his hotel.  

Watching the sunset from Dan's rooftop

Dan's hotel was comprised of several buildings and a beautiful tiled swimming pool, but its best feature was an open rooftop which afforded the most amazing view of the neighboring buildings and the Zicatela Beach.  Guests were allowed to freely come and go from this rooftop, so we happily took drinks and treats up to the roof to watch the sun set over Puerto Escondido.  While my roommate Caroline was greeting the day on the rooftop one morning, she encountered a couple of surfers staying a few cabanas down from us.  They joined us for a slammin' breakfast at Dan's Cafe and then invited us to join them for a drink or two at the beach.  

The Zicatela Beach stretches along the main thoroughfare of Puerto and is dotted with hotels and restaurants.  The sand is beautiful and dark, appearing almost black as it is moved and packed by the roaring tide.  In the sun, however, the sand sparkles and as we walked along barefoot, our feet looked like they were covered with a fine layer of black glitter.

After I carefully made my way back to shore, shaking with
equal parts fear and adrenaline, I snapped this photo
of my companions diving like ducks in the waves

The waves at the Zicatela are not the calm, frolick-friendly type of waves, sadly.  The rip-curl was so strong that as I stood on the wet sand, I was knocked backwards and then sucked forward with the retreating wave.  Our two surfer friends, familiar with all types of waves, warned us that attempting to swim in these waves would be dangerous if not fatal.  If we were interested, though, they would show us how to "duck dive," or dive down under the waves.  If a person dives below the wave just before it crests, she can lie flat just above the ocean floor as the wave breaks and she will pop up behind the wave like a cork in the water.  It is a most singular experience and was without a doubt the most terrifying and exhilarating thing I've ever done.  I barely had time to suck in a frenzied breath or two before I had to dive down again.  As I dove, I could feel the violent churning of water above me, threatening to pummel and pound me if I rose too soon.  Once or twice I didn't dive quickly enough and was somersaulted around until the wave passed.  It was awesome, absolutely awesome in the true sense of the word, inspiring in me a sense of awe and humility at this amazing force of nature.