Tuesday, January 31st, 2023 Queen Victoria, Huatulco, Mexico
Updated: Jun 22, 2023
A blazing hot day in Huatulco, Mexico - this is our first visit to this port; what was once a small fishing village has been developed into an extensive tourist resort. It's easy to see why this area has received a lot of investment as there are 9 bays and 36 beautiful beaches. Most of the ship's excursions were beach-related and so we opted to do our own thing. Walking along the pier at about 10AM it was already feeling a bit uncomfortable with no breeze or shade. The ship was docked at Playa Santa Cruz, a single pier, nice beach, a few hotels, and the usual array of tourist shops in a small town. We were immediately accosted by the usual crowd of taxi / tour drivers trying to sell us “the best tour of the area”. Brushing off these only slightly aggressive tour operators we made our way into the small town, only to receive the same treatment from the shop and restaurant proprietors. We’ve been to Mexico a few times and so somewhat expect this kind of behavior, times are tough, and they are only trying to make a living – most would back away after receiving a firm “no”. Playa Santa Cruz did not have much to offer; we found a small open-sided church where some respite from the heat could be had, a few art shops and of course the ubiquitous jewelry shops. The town was really small; without the heat you could walk through the whole thing in 5 minutes – so we decided to take a taxi to the neighboring town of La Crucecita. Most of the taxi operators in the town were only interested in selling full tours, so we made our way to the taxi stand on the edge of the town square. One enterprising driver met us on the square and offered to take us to La Crucecita for $5 per person in his large, air-conditioned van, while he was pulling up the van, we asked another taxi driver who was sitting in his car, and he offered to take all three of us for $5. It pays to shop around! A short, five-minute drive away, La Crucecita is considered the “old town” and the young driver dropped us at the square in the center of town. The place was bustling, mostly with locals going about their daily business and the occasional Cunard tour group trudging through. Like many Mexican towns, La Crucecita has a bit of a run-down but quaint feel to it. At a corner café we ordered some snacks and cool drinks, I watched as young, well-dressed businessmen and women whizzed by on their scooters – the occasional picked truck coasted by with a contingent of local militia piled in the back, armed to the teeth with automatic weapons like something from a Hollywood drug movie. Despite the police presence, or maybe because of it, the town felt very safe – we never felt threatened and were only once bothered by a street salesman, who was very polite. The shops were a mixture of local and tourist with quite a few pharmacies; there are many medications available in Mexico that elsewhere in the world require a prescription, prices are also very low. Half a block down the main street we found the local Mercado, a large warehouse-like building housing many stalls selling all kinds of clothes and hardware for locals, and also some tourist stalls – there was also a small food court from which the most incredible smells wafted through the building, disappointingly, it was a bit too early for lunch. Crossing the main square we entered the large church which dominates one side and, like the church in Playa Santa Cruz, was open on the sides. The church had spectacular murals on the ceiling and the light breeze blowing through the open sides provided some slight respite from the intense heat outside. There were a few taxis lined up outside the church and a quick query revealed a price of only $3 to get the three of us back to the ship: quite a variation in taxi rates! Back on the dock, I noticed several large scrapes along the side of Queen Victoria – I can only assume these happened during our transit of the Panama Canal, some touch-up painting is required. There was time after we got back to take afternoon tea in the Queens Room – a Cunard tradition. I find it hard not to overindulge at these events, it takes immense self-control – I often don’t have it! Crustless sandwiches, cakes, scones, and gallons of tea while listening to a string trio (back in the old days it used to be a quartet – that’s cost cutting for you) – it was great. The sail away was executed with the usual precision, we watched from the Commodore Club and as the ship pulled back from the pier, we got to see the full coastline with the many bays and beaches, it really is a beautiful area.
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