Our friend Laura was visiting from Portland this last week and there was one calm day that looked good for a little paddling. We decided to try out the idea of renting kayaks from the hotel (currently called the Loreto Baja Golf Resort & Spa).
We were outfitted at the front desk. The rate is ten dollars an hour for a single, but they gave us a break on the price, maybe because we’re neighbors. Down at the beach, our bright yellow Lifetime “Daylight” eight-footers were waiting. We loafed around the Point, enjoying the considerable maneuverability of these half-length boats, and then drifted into the lagoon.
There were finally fish to look at in the quiet water there, mostl
y little pintanos, and plenty of crabs. The birds put on a better show, with a couple kinds of herons and an egret or two. We paddled around the big mangrove island and the wind came up, so we thought about beaching by the golf course and walking back, but we rounded the point successfully again.
Pulling my boat back up the beach was harder than I expected, so I unscrewed the little plug in its transom and sure enough, a fair amount of water poured out into the sand. But for a trip this length it’s not much of an issue.