Our Bachelor Date – Zihuatanejo, Mexico
You know how on The Bachelor they’re always going on super extravagant dates, especially when they’re in tropical locations? I never thought I’d get the chance to experience one of those amazing dates but, I’m happy to say, I was totally wrong!
Nate and I are pretty frugal travelers but we also know the value in spending money in order to have once in a lifetime experiences. On our trip to Zihuatanejo we were planning on having our splurge be swimming with dolphins. I mean, seriously, how often can you swim with dolphins?
While relaxing on the beach, our friend Monkey told us all about a day trip he sets up for people that includes boating, fishing, snorkeling, and eating! After discussing it we decided our splurge would be much better spent on a day trip than half an hour with dolphins so we asked Monkey to set the trip up for us.
The worst part of the whole trip was that we had to wake up early, early, EARLY in order to get down to the docks. (Ok, 6am isn’t THAT early but on vacation it feels that way) We met Monkey and he guided us down to the fishing docks and introduced us to his friend, Victor, our captain for the day. We climbed into the Moby Dick, excited about our day! Victor spoke limited English and we speak limited Spanish (and by we I mean Nate… My Spanish can’t even be qualified as limited… Silly me wanted to be unique in high school and took French instead of Spanish…) but we were able to communicate well enough and had a grand time together!
It was wonderful relaxing on the boat, chatting with my love, and watching the sun rise over the water as we boated out into the ocean, getting to see so much of the Mexican coast! Finally we found a spot where fish were biting and within the course of a few hours had caught four good sized Bonita fish. We were later told that most of the other tourist fishing boats had come away that day with maximum of one fish. Victor knew what he was doing!
By around noon we were done fishing and decided it was time to head into the water for snorkling. Unfortunately the water was not very smooth so it wasn’t prime snorkling conditions. Victor decided that the first place we went – near a reef – wasn’t safe enough with all the waves (and we totally agreed) so he took us to another snorkling location… The one where Jesus was drowned.
Yes, I know that sounds weird – Jesus being drowned – but it’s totally true! The Catholic church in Zihuatanejo blessed a statue of Jesus and submerged it just off of Playa Las Gatas and it has become a common snorkling spot for tourists and locals alike. To be completely honest, I didn’t dive down far enough to see any more of the statue than the top of the head. There was something about the murky water and the slimy statue that stressed me out so much! I think I’ve just seen too many movies where bad things happen in water. Also drowning is my 100% worst idea of how to die so I’ll do whatever I can to avoid it. Nate did dive down, though, and did his best to get a picture for me.
Once snorkling was over and we had been out in the boat for over six hours we were more than ready to head back to shore. We took a little siesta in our hotel room before heading back to the beach to spend the late afternoon. We brought our fish with us and Monkey’s staff cooked them up for us. It was so fun to enjoy the fish that we had caught just that morning and we found that Bonita was a fascinating fish. It was the darkest meat fish either Nate or I had ever seen and it had a gamey taste – almost like a fishy deer. Super tasty! Just like on The Bachelor our night ended with a fabulous dinner where we got to talk and share our hearts with one another.
The date may have been like The Bachelor’s dates but I’m super stinking glad that I don’t have to share my man with 25 other women.
Check out the rest of our Zihuatanejo trip!
Our Bachelor Date
Have you ever been on a date like on The Bachelor?
Would you have dived down to see Jesus?
