We arrived in Huatulco this morning on time even though the Captain told us yesterday we would be late because we left San Juan del Sur later than planned. He was concerned because there is usually a very heavy wind and sea just off the Mexican coast south of Huatulco. [Added: Tehuantepecer, or Tehuano wind] This is caused by a Bernoulli effect squeezing the winds that come down Mexico to the ocean. That appeared to be what we encountered last night. About 11:30pm I heard them start up outside and when I had to get up briefly at 3:00am they were really roaring. I was told by someone else they started to abate about 4:30am (people on the ship get up at many different times; some get up at 4:30 on purpose to swim or walk the deck for exercise). One thing that had changed, probably due to the winds, was that by morning we no longer had the 50+ birds flying around the ship. After leaving the Panama Canal we had two Gannets and by yesterday there were over 50 flying around the ship. The windows to the deck 10 lounge were covered with leavings. Those got cleaned off while we were in port today.
Huatulco is a small village but despite that it does have a mooring long enough to let a cruise ship dock there (photo one).
As mentioned before, I had canceled all of my Mexico excursions due to my left knee acting up on me. That’s still the case but it eased a little today so I did get off the ship in late morning and walked into town. It was an easy, flat walk and not too far. The only bad part was even before noon it was over 90 degrees. So, I did not stay out long.
The town has the usual shopping street (photo two). Despite the shops I often had to say “no” over and over again to those working the crowds for tours and objects to sell.
In the center of town was a small church. It was unique in that it had no walls; it was open on the sides (photo three) so the breeze could flow through. Nice design. A tall wired fence surrounded the church to keep animals and such out. I think I recall seeing something like that in Samoa, early in the trip, but otherwise this design appears unique.
During our stay in port the ship went through many different drills and exercises in addition to cleaning the front windows. That was interesting to watch in between playing trivia and other routine things (our team won the afternoon trivia so I now have yet another Princess coaster to pack).
We left port late afternoon about 4:30pm. We backed out of our spot and then turned the ship 180-degrees to point the bow forward in order to proceed up the coast to our next and last stop before Los Angeles: La Paz. It was a bit strange but we had an armed escort as we left the port (photo four). That surprised me but I guess Mexico wants no news that could hurt tourism.