Sian Ka'an - the Birthplace of the Sky
This spring I was wanting to return to the Yucatan for some fishing but was also looking for a place that offered good non-fishing activities so that Catherine could join me. After reading an article in Wild on the Fly magazine, we opted for the Playa Blanca Adventure Resort. Playa Blanca is owned by the same people as the Casa Blanca Fishing Lodge and is located about 100 miles south of Cancun on the private island of Punta Pajaros. Fishing options included Bahia Espiritu Santo and Laguna Santa Rosa with the former offering the best chance at the coveted Grand Slam. Non-fishing options included the local ruins, kayaking, canoeing, swimming, snorkeling, and about 15 miles of private beach to walk.
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We flew into Cancun on Friday afternoon and were hit immediately by the humidity. We collected our bags, headed for our shuttle and took off to the Hyatt Regency Cancun, our stop for the night located on Punta Cancun. |
| Here is our view from the room: |  |
We dined at a small Mexican restaurant within walking distance of the hotel, opting out of the Hard Rock, Planet Hollywood, and all the other Americana that has taken over Cancun. Mariachis played "La Llorona" for us as we ate and the food was excelente. The next morning we took a walk to the next point before we had to take off for the airport and the start of our real adventure.
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We arrived at the general aviation terminal to find the hostess from Playa Blanca, her husband, the pilot, and the smallest plane that I had ever seen up close. This was to be our transportation to the island just north of the Casa Blanca lodge.
The flight was actually great, it was the most fun I've ever had flying actually. Coming into the airstrip we took a big turn and got to look down on the flats, seeing sea turtles and some bonefish muds. After landing we got on a ponga and crossed the bay to the Casa Blanca boat dock where we were greeted with lemonade. We walked to the "movie room" of the lodge which looked out on the Caribbean and waited for the next leg of our transportation to arrive. Soon we were in the back of a pick-up heading south another 40 minutes to Playa Blanca. Finally, we had arrived.
The lodge is set up with several rooms, a main lodge building for meals, and a palapa for hanging out by the beach. There were several rooms that were connected into one unit and one room, the one we had, separated from the rest and on its own. The accommodations were great, we had an excellent view of the beach, a hammock to lie around in and beach chairs to sit on under the overhang to read.
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The lodge itself was great with a big dining area and bar inside, a large patio with chairs and hammocks outside, and a deck on the roof where we would go to watch the sunset each night.
The beach palapa was a great place to hang out and read during the day or to do yoga, which Catherine did each morning. I also got to receive a Thai Yoga Massage there the last day after I returned from fishing. Here's the palapa and Catherine teaching a yoga class in it one afternoon:
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The daily schedule at Playa Blanca was pretty flexible and managed well by our host, Chuck Glass of The Corporate Sportsman. In general, breakfast was from 6:30-7:00 and consisted of fresh fruit and juice, a pastry of some type and the best heuvos rancheros I've had plus about any other egg dish you wanted. Those fishing took off at 7:15 or 7:30 depending on location and a full day of fishing got you picked up at 3:30 or 4:00. I opted for half-days most days though that was pretty flexible too, I fished two half-days, one three-quarter day, took a day off, fished a full day and then fished another half-day. Non-fishers had lunch around 12:30 and I usually joined them for fresh fish or lobster salad. After returning to your room in the late afternoon you found an appetizer waiting, usually some type of cerviche or chips and guacamole. Guests congregated around 6:30 in the evening on the roof deck and dinner was usually served between 7:00-7:30 in the evenings and always had a soup or salad, a main course, and a desert. We did not loose weight on this trip, the food was superb each and every meal. Other activities - trips to the ruins, trips to Punta Estrella for lunch and snorkeling, etc... were scheduled in on as as-needed basis.
On this trip we had a total of 13 clients at the lodge. We were joined by Todd, Lea and Bali from Bend, Oregon and a big contingent from Texas that consisted of Bill & Susan, John & Catherine, Phil & Wendy, and Whitney & Kimberly who were there the first half of the week.
Playa Blanca was very unique in that it had its own Mayan ruins on-site which made for some very easy exploration. In the afternoon of our second day we walked over to check them out.
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This is the main pyramid at the site. |
| And this is the temple where the chacmool is housed in the small alter building to the left. A close-up of the chacmool is below: |
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We went back to the ruins one morning at sunrise to try and capture it then, at what is a very magical time.
The other set of ruins is at Tupac which is a short kayak or canoe ride through some mangrove lagoons. Here we are setting out in the boats and Catherine leading the way through the mangrove tunnels.
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After a short paddle across the lagoon and through a tunnel into another lagoon we arrived:
The ruins here consisted of a small temple that had what looks like a signal fire box on top. There were bats inhabiting the temple now. The interesting part was the handprints left on the outside of the temple, were these prints in blood? There was one Quetzicoatl head left pretty intact, the rest were just a stub.
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We climbed to the top to look at the osprey nest now on the signal box and also got a good view of a very big barracuda swimming in the lagoon. |
On Wednesday I took the day off and we went to Punta Estrella which is the home of the owner of the island. There was the mother of all palapas, a huge structure with a dining area, two bars, a big padded lounge area, and several hammocks. There we did some surf casting, relaxed, had fresh cerviche, and did some snorkeling.
Bobby, the manager of Casa Blanca, came by in the big whaler and took us all off to a big coral head where the snorkeling was simply fantastic. We saw lots of tropical fish, rays, and all types of coral. I didn't know if we would get Catherine out of the water, she took to snorkeling like a fish takes to water. Some people liked Punta Estrella so much that trips were made there the rest of the week in the afternoons for those wanting to go.
Our biggest surprise was the fox that we saw the first few mornings but never, and I mean never, when I had a camera around. I took to taking the camera to breakfast each morning in hopes that the fox would return but to no avail. There were also lots of songbirds present this time of year that were migrating back up north for the summer. We also saw the local deer, a gigantic hermit crab, the ever-present frigate birds, and more iguanas.
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Once a week at both Playa Blanca and Casa Blanca they have Mexican Night where we take the party to the roof with mucho cerveza, shots of tequila, and a few michiladas thrown in to spice it up. The party then moved inside for a Mexican buffet dinner and flan for desert along with some music by our staff. It was a time for guides and clients to kick back and relax a bit mid-week. It was also a good time to eat a scorpion if you wanted to, the scorpions are evidently a Grand Slam tradition at the lodges. For better or worse, I didn't have to eat a scorpion.
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Catherine contemplates dining on scorpion |
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Can you get any happier than this? |
The fishing at Playa Blanca was excellent with a good shot at a Grand Slam, if not in a day at least over several days. We had one person in the group hook a slam in a day, had several visual slams and I actually did my slam within 2 half-days of fishing so it is possible if luck is with you. I gave the full slam what shot I could on the day I got the tarpon and bonefish in Laguna Santa Rosa by trying for a permit off the beach where we had seen them snorkeling.
There are two fisheries at Playa Blanca. One is the very close by Laguna Santa Rosa area which has a big tarpon lagoon and some nice bonefish flats. The other is Bahia Espiritu Santo which is a further drive and can involve a long boat ride but offers the best shot at a Grand Slam.
Getting ready in the morning
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Launch at Laguna Santa Rosa |
Going to the tarpon lagoon |
I fished the bay the first day and found it to be too much for a half-day fishing. We got into good bonefish right off the bat and after landing around a half-dozen I decided to go in search of permit but we found none in the 1.5 hours left for me to fish. The next two mornings I hit the tarpon lagoons in back of Laguna Santa Rosa for my first real shot at tarpon. On the first morning I had a miserable time trying to hook them but finally managed to jump one fish. The next morning I was determined not to make the same mistakes and managed to break off one fish, jump one fish and finally land a 15-20 lbs tarpon - my first one. After the tarpon we went back to Santa Rosa proper and hit the bonefish for about a half-hour. I did get the back-lagoon slam that day with a tarpon, a barracuda, and a needlefish - I think that was all that swam in that area. I managed to get one average bone plus a Yucatan monster of 4.5 lbs which made several big runs into my backing. That evening I hit the beach hoping for my permit but it never came to be.
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Launch for Espiritu Santo |
My next day of fishing I decided to go back to Espiritu Santo so I fished a full day. We began in quest of permit and it didn't take long to find a small group of them that we spooked initially while it was cloudy but waited out the sun and got serious about them. I had a take quickly but pulled in a snapper instead of a permit. A few casts later a permit took and I missed it but within minutes I was into a fish that took off on a long run and after a pretty good fight I landed my first permit.
Contrary to everything I'd read, we stripped flies for the permit. I would scoot the crab along the bottom in quick, short strips then let it sit a bit, the fish usually took right as it stopped. This fish, and the ones later, all came to a #2 Raghead Crab in tan.
We went looking for tarpon to shoot for a slam since it was only 10 a.m. when the permit came to the boat. The tarpon were not cooperating though. I cast to a shadow in the mangroves only to hook a big 45-48" cuda that took off on a tear with my tarpon fly. I actually got him upside the boat before he sliced the 80 lbs. shock tippet. More poling we found not tarpon but more permit. I grabbed the 9-weight and quickly had one on and lost it. A bit later I was into another, a twin to the first one I'd caught.
We moved to another lagoon still looking for tarpon and found, again, more permit. This time I got one that went about 6 lbs., a bit bigger than the other two. Three permit in one day! While not a slam it was a pretty good day.
My last day I chose to fish the Laguna Santa Rosa flats for bonefish exclusively and had the best morning of bonefishing I'd every encountered. In 3 hours of fishing I landed a dozen bones, mostly tailers and single or double cruisers though a few came from schools. The best fly was my pink rubber tailed Gotcha that seems to catch most of my bonefish. I had several in the 3 lbs. range and lots of 2 lbs. fish. A great way to end the trip.
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Renee, mi guia |
The last day we awoke to a beautiful sunrise, went for our last swim at the beach, had breakfast then packed up for the return home.
The trip home that ultimately took 16 hours and 9 vehicles began with the truck ride to Casa Blanca where we boarded the panga across the bay to the airstrip. There I got to ride shotgun in the co-pilots seat for the flight back to Cancun which was great fun.
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The "airport" near Casa Blanca |
The lagoons around Casa Blanca |
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Pesca Maya lodge above Ascension Bay |
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Coming into Cancun airport |
Landing |
After that it took a van to the main terminal, a Boeing 737 to LA, a bus to customs, the same 737 to Seattle, a bus to the parking lot, and our car to get us home. We arrived safely at 2:00 a..m and immediately went to bed.
I carried 3 rods along - a 7-weight for bonefish, a 9-weight for permit, and a 10-weight for tarpon. You could probably get by with two but if you are looking for the slam it is good to have all three rigged for the proper species with you. All my rods are Sage RPXLi's and all reels are Ross Canyons. I also overweight my rods one size for lines so casting into the pretty stiff winds is possible. I used 9' 8 lbs leaders for bonefish with an added 2' of 2x flourocarbon tippet, and for premit I went with 9' 16 lbs and 3' of 0x flouro tippet, both of these were SA leaders. For tarpon I used a Climax tarpon/sailfish leader but cut the butt section back a few feet to make a 7' leader that had a 16 lbs. class tippet and a front section of 80 lbs. shock tippet.
For bonefish I used just a few flies - a standard Gotcha, my pink rubber bunny Gotcha, and a Squimp. #6 seemed to be the size that worked in all flies.
For permit I threw a bunch of patterns but only had takes on a #2 tan Raghead Crab.
For tarpon I only had takes on a 1/0 Black Death. I threw a Coachroach also but only managed to catch a few cuda on it.
Take snorkel, mask, and fins, the snorkeling isn't bad just off the point south of the lodge and is great at Punta Estrella. Only one shark encounter the whole trip by another member of the group there. Bugs were only an issue part of the time, we only put on DEET to go to Tupac, the rest of the time wasn't bad. Take LOTS of sunblock, we had to ration near the end. I'm sold on Columbia PFG fishing clothing and wore an assortment of it all week long.
