About Yelapa's beach

We arrive to a beach full of lounge chairs and palapas behind. This divides the tourists from what is behind the palapas; the local dwellings. Inside the palapas, there are 5-10 locals drinking beer and talking amongst themselves. They watch us foreigners arrive in the water taxi which has two stops: the pier and the beach. Everyone needs to make a living and everyone has a way to give their fellow local a kick down. Whether it be name dropping or some kind of trade of services, "cheaper" seems to be the operative word.

But for some reason, I don't want this place to be spoiled. I can see a native Indian ethnicity in the children, in the way they trade, and I want that sincerity and authenticity to last. I want to keep Yelapa a secret because it has become so commercialized. But I can't, and I'm not the first to recognize it's simple beauty.

The kids are waiting for fishing boats so they can unload the daily delivery of restaurant supplies. Soda, rice, sugar and other sundries.... Meat and vegetables are hard to find in this town. There is little refrigeration. When a fishing boat comes to shore, it has to be parked on the sand if it's not anchored in the water. The way they do this? In Brazil, they use logs under the boat and have 5 men push the boat onto the sand. In Mexico, they rev up the motor and speed onto the shore, just in time to let the motor up so as not to touch the sand. The boat comes at an alarming speed to the shore and up onto the populated beach.