There were parts of Lo de Marcos which sent us back exactly a year ago to our experience in Arambol, India. Although it lacked the hippie vibe, whimsical piggies, ambling street cows, and the scooters had been replaced by golf carts, it offered gift-giving roosters, overflowing palms, dirt roads and a wonderful taste of life in an authentic Mexican beach town. There was just something surprising that felt familiar and wonderful about it.
Especially because we just sorta landed here. In fact, we weren’t really planning to head to the beach at all, but when a one-week housesit popped up at a very convenient time, we figured, why not snag a couple weeks of warm ocean breeze and a reason to break out our flops in January in this tiny Mexpat-y fishing village?
In was actually during these few months when we began realizing, everything for our life was starting to fall into place and this was exactly how we wanted to live it moving forward. And, we distinctly remember sitting on this beach and discussing this, only to find out a few hours later that at this exact time, a mob of President Trump supporters had just attacked the White House.
<Sigh> And we couldn’t have landed in a better place…an hour north of Puerto Vallarta assured we were far away enough from the tourist masses to offer some tranquility and authenticity while still offering mouth-watering mariscos (seafood) options, a laidback lifestyle and lots of reasons to relax.
The beach at Lo de Marcos was serene and community-oriented. It never felt crowded at all, and was a great place to do meditation or yoga practice on. After two weeks in the community, we already knew and recognized a number of people and were surprised to see how active and vocal the local Facebook group was, which was made predominantly of the American and Canadian expats that live there either year-round or during the winters. A downside to this was, it was very easy to revert to English here with expats and locals alike. Not really the best for an immersive experience, but this obviously must work well for some.
And if the main beach was “too crowded,” we found a blissfully desolate one about a mile south of town by walking until the road ended. It was also an idyllic place to watch the sunset over the ocean, which you disappointingly couldn’t quite lay your eyes on at the main beach. (Even though in theory it seemed like it should be facing due west.)
Strolling around the town of Lo de Marcos, it was easy to find bursts of color and interesting things to look at.
Local hombres gather at the pub for cervezas and dominoes every afternoon. They seemed intensely into every move and didn’t bat an eyelash from their gameplay when we strolled by. Who knew dominoes could be so hardcore?! It reminded us of the men who played chess in Ukraine.
Our Airbnb we stayed at for the first week ($21/night) offered a lovely rooftop patio for yoga and working, as well a view into the palms as we prepared meals into our kitchen. There’s nothing quite like gazing at palms while chopping papaya and pineapple to be tossed into a conveniently provided blender.
The outside of our place. We got to summit a fun spiral staircase to get to our room each time we entered. Also, views from our “office.”
Back at the beach where we would commonly watch surfers, stand up paddle boarders and brave ninos as they jumped through the waves. For us, the water was a little too chilly to fully submerge!
The beach had quite a few simple restaurants which offered very affordable seafood options caught that very morning. Dishes ranged from $40 pesos (about $2) for a ceviche tostada or fish taco to $150 pesos ($7.50) for more elaborate marisco dishes. Not too bad for beachside dining! One thing that was annoyingly expensive, considering the local price of avocados, was guacamole for $70-$80 pesos ($3.50-$4.) I guess they figured with all the expats they could get away with this. And they did! We, however, stuck to guacamole in our room for $.50!
The basketball court in the middle of the town.
Mini markets and liquor stores were abundant.
Mmmm. Mexican sweet treat truck. Sure to give you a mega hit of sugar and carbs. This was on the cobblestone street. We found it amusing that streets were not identified by their names in LDM, but by their qualities. (At least according to the Mexpats!) So, for example, there was a cobblestone street and a concrete street.
A vendor with his cart. They often sell chip-like bocadillos (snacks) which they will only give to you once they’ve immersed them in a giant glob of what else? Hot sauce?
The local fish market where you could buy shrimp, marlin, octopus, crab, donkey snails(?), fish and other delicacies at rock bottom prices.
Or, visit the tortilleria where you can buy a whole kilo (a whopping 2.2 pounds) of warm corn tortillas for $20 pesos ($1.)
But in typical Explorer Genes style, we also enjoyed the food Mother Earth provided. Like coconut water!! ?
Or, the grossest fruit of them all! Lo and behold, it’s the notorious Noni fruit. Noni originates from Asia and the Pacific islands, but has found its way all over the tropics. It’s allegedly packed full of healing properties that Polynesian healers have used for thousands of years to help treat a variety of health problems. Not sure how this is possible because human reflexes say it’s absolutely repulsive, and reflects a porridge smelling of bad cheese, vomit and feet. We had noni juice once and that was enough for this lifetime.
Greg collects our bag full of food so that we can relocate to our second home in Lo De Marcos.
We were a little nervous by what “RV PARK” might mean when we accepted the housesit. Fortunately, as we entered the open gate, it revealed to be super small, quiet and unobnoxious. Because of COVID, it was also only about 30% occupied.
We housesat for an American couple from California who snowbird down here every winter. It was a cool experience for us, as we’d never really got the chance to have a full taste of the RV life. And it was quite posh indeed! They even had an ice maker which punched out ice using clean water in about 7 minutes. ? Plus, our front door was about 50 meters from the beach so we joyously were able to hear the waves while we slept. Not something that happens too often on our $40/day budget!
And of course, we also got to borrow a cute pup for the week so we had some company on the beach. Trace, an aging and not-too-lively beagle/spaniel mix, mostly enjoyed food, treats and gawking at us during mealtimes. He was super sweet and easy to care for.
A tour of our tenement on wheels and the town of Lo de Marcos.
The wetlands in town hosted a variety of birds and a unique respite in the tiny town.
Another entrance to the beach.
The Tlaquepaque Bungalows & Resort seemed like a lovely place to stay, for anyone seeking a more upscale holiday experience in Lo De Marcos. Rooms are about $4400 pesos for the week. ($220)
The brightly gazebo in the main plaza
The size of the palms was simply astounding. Especially when you started looking at the sheer number of very heavy coconuts attached to them! Don’t get hit by one. When we were in India we saw multiple memorials of people who had “died by coconut”
Grabbing dinner at one of the beach restaurants near our RV.
Catching some beautiful light.
Mmm. The ceviche tostadas ($40pesos/$2) were just divine. They make them differently here as well…by mincing up the fish very finely.
However, this was NOT the best ceviche tostadas in town. For those, we had to go on a hunt to find the loved-by-locals “ceviche lady” near Granja El Paraiso.
And as usual, the locals knew what they were talking about, and the street food was the best. Not only were they the best ceviche tostadas we’ve EVER had, they were ridiculously cheap. $90 pesos ($4.50) which included two shrimp, two fish (both very loaded) and a drink. And huge bonus…fresh and healthy! This was the nice thing about being at the coast and not being only surrounded by the delicious buckets of lard-y tacos and fried delights we had experienced inland.
Visiting the town’s “biggest” market required using one of these adorable shopping carts.
Trace says hi to new friends.
One of the local pharmacies where pretty much anything you want is readily available for peanuts.
We were elated to see that Lo De Marcos also offered a cacao shop!
Climbing the rocks near the southern beach
Not a soul in sight, just one mile south of town on a pleasant road.
Pretty much anything in the town could be reached in 20 minutes on foot. However, sometimes we needed quick ice cream fixes and the bikes were super helpful as well. The mountain bike tires were immensely helpful on the rugged and dirt streets.
We were lucky enough to get to experience La Jungla, a local favorite restaurant, which had their grand reopening while we were there. We even got to dine with Phil, a Coloradan who recently decided to settle in Lo De Marcos more permanently. Good call. Seems like a great place to be…
