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| A view of El Cocal, hidden behind the palm, from the beach. |
Rustic! Secluded! Beautiful! Quiet! Awesome beach!
That's El Cocal House, a beach house/retreat center near Tournabe, (Tela) Honduras.
In my last post I wrote about the quality of life and remarkably low cost of living that Honduras offers foreigners and I ended my post by saying that "...this may be the best kept secret in the world". Incredibly, this post received more page views than anything I have written so far. One friend made the comment that perhaps I shouldn't be revealing this "secret" for the same reason most guys won't tell you where their favorite fishing hole is. With this thought in mind, I somewhat reluctantly write about this wonderful place called El Cocal House.
This past Friday morning, desperately needing some R & R after a difficult week at the office (just joking), we headed for Tournabe. All of us, including Corey and Kirsten Wells, their two boys and Trey, piled into the Party Bus and headed for the "playa". Boogie boards, backpacks, coolers, flip flops, all piled high in the rear cargo area. Once again the 1 ton package has paid off. The only thing we left behind were our electronics and Tiger.
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| The Great Room |
Arriving at El Cocal House in the afternoon, we immediately hit the beach. The water was wonderfully warm, the waves perfect, the sand soft. Later that evening, after dinner, we all gathered in the Great Room to read, drink coffee, play chess and group games like Mafia or the Couch Game. "Last night the Mafia was on the prowl, unfortunately...". This game was introduced to us by Trey. The boys loved it!
Let me describe briefly the lay out of El Cocal. First of all, it stands high above the beach on wooden post...all of it. It's huge! Fourteen bedrooms, 13 bathrooms, a kitchen and the Great Room. It even has a tower/observation area. Wide decks encompass the front of the place offering many places to sit and watch the waves come in. All the rooms are very rustic and are screened in with louvered slats for walls which allow the ocean breezes to waft through the rooms at night. Coconut palms grace the beach area. Sea kayaks and boogie boards are provided at no cost. The kitchen is well supplied with utensils so cooking for a group is easy or for a minimal fee you can ask the caretakers to cook for your group. Although El Cocal is used primarily for group rentals, the owners were kind enough to allow us to stay there. My family had two rooms with a shared bath, access to the kitchen and all amenities for the extremely reasonable price of $30 per night. It was AWESOME!
Saturday was cool and misty. It didn't stop us from going in the water or taking a long walk down the beach. Later, we enjoyed another evening together, similar to the first night, in the Great Room. Trey brought out his guitar and we sang songs and played more games.
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| Trey (Roberto) |
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| Walking the beach in the rain |
Sunday morning was clear and beautiful. More like amazing really. After breakfast we had "beach church" down by the water followed by swimming, kayaking and sunburning. For a late lunch we drove to the Garifuna village of La Ensenada for fish and shrimp served fresh on the beach.
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| Beach Church |
On the way back we decided to check out Miami. We made it, but as you can see from the photos the road left much to be desired. For the first 5 kms the road went through a swamp and was rutted, muddy and rough. The last 3 kms followed the beach and was much better, but the loose sand sometimes threatened to bog us down. When we got to Miami we did not stay long. The place did not have a "good" feel to it (apart from the fact that there was little to see) and we left quickly.
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| The Road to Miami |
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| Mudded |
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