River and sea
Two bodies of water, four hundred metres apart, and only one of them is reliably safe to swim in.
The sea
Open Caribbean, no reef, a shelving beach and a strong undertow for most of the year. People do swim in it. People also get into trouble in it, most often in the afternoon when the wind is up. There is no lifeguard on this stretch. If you swim, swim in the morning, stay where you can stand, and do not do it alone.
The river
Cold, clear, about 22 degrees, and shallow enough to stand in for most of its last kilometre. The pool where it widens below the footbridge is where everybody swims and it is the right answer. It is a seven-minute walk west along the sand.
The river mouth
Where the two meet, the sea is calmer because the sandbar breaks it. This is where the village swims and it is the safest water within walking distance. Four hundred metres west.
Tubing
The standard trip: a motorbike taxi up the valley for about forty minutes, then a rubber tube down the river for two hours back to the bridge. It is good. Go early, take water, take nothing you mind losing, and use somebody the village recommends rather than whoever is standing on the lane. Reception will point you at two names and will not take anything for it.
The Sierra
From the beach at first light, on a clear morning between December and March, you can see the snow on the Pico Cristóbal Colón, forty-five kilometres inland and the highest coastal mountain anywhere. It is visible for about an hour and then the cloud comes in. It is worth getting up for.
Seasons
December to March is dry, windy and busy. April to June is hot and quiet. September to November is the rainy season: heavy, short afternoon storms, a greener river, fewer people, and the lane sometimes turns to mud. July and August are in between.
