This post should have been up in the beginning of 2016, but better late than never. We made it our goal to head to the ocean on a monthly basis in 2015. We love living close to the sea and know that this is a once in a lifetime opportunity. While it took some planning and effort, we were able to enjoy the ocean each month. We visited a total of twenty-two beaches in this last year. Seriously, Nicaragua never ceases to amaze us.
January
Playa Masachapa – with our MCC co-workers
Playa Jiquilillo at Sunset - notice the moon
February
Playa Mathilda – camping on the shore for $5, yes please!
Playa Mathilda – Kevin’s favorite swim beach
Playa Gigante
Playa La Redonda
Playa La Redonda
Playa Colorado
Playa Colorado – with our friend Sharon
Playa Popoyo
March
Playa Majagual – photo taken by Jodi Sunderman
Playa Majagual – photo taken by Jodi Sunderman
April
Playa Pochomil
Playa Masachapa featuring Miss Casey. We planned a special day with our neighbors, piled up in a truck and headed to the beach. It was an wonderful day together, the kids enjoyed swimming and the adults enjoyed the shade. I was reminded at the difference between my beach expectations and those of my neighbors. The first thing that they did when we arrived was find shade and I don’t think they ever left. The above picture of Casey features the thirty seconds that she was in the sun (for the purpose of the picture). For the rest of the day, she was on her mom’s lap. She was not allowed to play in the sand or put her toes in the water. Again, different expectations, not bad, just different.
May
I (Cassie) was up in the U.S. for a couple of weeks in May. While visiting friends and family in Los Angeles, we made a visit to Huntington Beach.
And as I headed north a bit further, I was able to visit the beautiful pacific shore of Washington State.
Laguna de Apoyo
Kevin is going to cheat for the month of May. Unfortunately, he was not able to make it to the ocean. But we did head to Laguna de Apoyo, which is an extended crater in a form of an inverted cone, in the middle of the long volcanic chain here in Nicaragua. The natural beauty of this lagoon, along with the flora and fauna and the calm and clean water makes it one of our favorite places to spend a day at in Nicaragua.
It has always been a goal of ours to swim across this lagoon. On the lovely Sunday when we visited, we went for a long swim, about a couple of hours and realized that we were nowhere close to even crossing the lake. It might be a bigger feat that we can handle, but it is still on our list.
June
In June, we were fortunate to welcome two MCC couples that we previously worked with in Nicaragua. Marisa, Adam, Nate and Liz came to Nicaragua for the month of June. We spent a few days together visiting some of our favorite Nicaraguan beaches and also checking out some new ones. It was lovely!
Playa Popoyo
Playa Popoyo
Playa Amarilla
Playa Colorado
Playa Coco
Playa Ocotal
July
In the month of July we headed to some nearby beaches of Managua, they are about an hour from our home. We spent an afternoon exploring a couple of new beaches and then spent the night camping on the beach. We met a generous family who offered us a spot on their beachfront property. We had a great night sleeping next to the crashing waves.
Los Cajones
Los Cajones
Costa Azul
Playa Quizalá
Playa Pochomil – a view from our tent!
Playa Pochomil
August
We were not sure if we would make it to the beach in August. It was a busy month with the start of new jobs, but on the very last weekend, some friends invited us to go to Los Cardones at Playa San Diego for the day. It was a relaxing day and the beach was absolutely lovely, it is only an hour from our front door.
Playa San Diego
Playa San Diego
Playa San Diego
September
In September we headed to the ocean during the Independence Day break. We spent three wonderfully relaxing days camping on the beach. Here are a few of my favorite spots from that weekend.
Playa Majagual
Playa Mathilda
Playa Hermosa - where Survivor Nicaragua was filmed
October
In October we headed back to Playa San Diego, which is about an hour from Managua. It was Estela’s first time to the beach and my parents were here for a visit from Minnesota, so we took advantage of living close to the ocean and spent a day there. We mostly enjoyed watching Estela see the beautiful ocean for her very first time, watching her get dirty in the sand and brave the waves with Kevin. It was a glorious day.
Playa San Diego
November
On a random Thursday in November, Estela and I decided to pack up and go to the beach. We visited some new beaches to us which are about an hours drive from Managua. We had an amazing day together, playing in the water, being pushed over by the waves and building sandcastles.
Playa Casares
Playa Casares – a rocky fishing beach
Playa Casares
Playa Huehuete
Playa Huehuete
Playa Boquita
December
December was a crazy month, with a wedding in Colorado, finishing a semester at school, moving across town, hmmm, what else? We decided to head to the beach on New Year’s Eve, nothing like fulfilling our resolution on the very last day possible. We loved our afternoon hanging out at Los Cardones.
Playa San Diego
That was our year of beach experiences. Each time it was a delight to put our feet in the sand and play in the waves. We hope to keep up this practice of beaching in 2016.
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