Montañita & Salinas. The beaches were pretty good during the last few days of March. But, Montañita isn’t on my list for a 2d look. The town touts itself as a place to surf and drink, but it wasn’t much of either happening when I was there; it was just a backwater. The Charo’s Hotel held promise, but they were doing a big reconstruction job, and the hammering went on from dusk ‘til dawn. In addition, while it wasn’t the ‘Feast of the Saint of Montañita,’ it was ‘pledge week.’ All afternoon and into the night they were blasting the names of donors over loudspeakers set up throughout the town.

Salinas is a different story: the mini-malecon is well kept and the city is large enough to offer a variety of restaurants, if not much else. It was off-season there, and quiet, but nice. The pacific was calm as a lake, and refreshing. I finally had some ceviche…at Cevichería Chelita, located in ‘Cevichilandia,’ a grouping of similar restaurants. It wasn’t very interesting, just fish in lime juice with a bit of red onion and a red pepper flake or two. I was expecting some avocado and some tomato, or something, in there somewhere. Silly me.

Street in Montanita.

Salinas