Tides & Travels: Mexico

Authors Note

Declan here. Today’s writing will be broken into two parts: “Mexico the Trip” which will follow the food, activities while I was there and the more “tourist” side of things.  The latter part will focus more behind the scenes things, EDC, permissive and non-permissive environments, staying situationally aware, and knowing when the risk outweighs the reward. 

Mexico

What started as an impromptu and last minute guys trip, quickly turned into truly one of the funnest and eye opening experiences I’ve had to date. We departed Reno to Phoenix and from Phoenix to Cabo San Jose, which would be the same route we followed home. First time out of the country, and it was a good place to start. After getting the rental car; which was a hassle in itself, BUT having the ability of self travel and getting out of situations slightly outweighed the absolute terrible time trying to get it.

Drove the 45 minutes to Los Cabo, and boy did I think California driving was bad. It was a different world entirely. 

I arrived at the resort with more than half the day to enjoy. Right on the marina, the weather was beautiful, the food was cheap (anywhere but the resort) and the beer was plenty. Dropped our bags, got a quick layout of the room, and the first stop was the pool. Lounge chairs scattered about a rooftop pool with the most amazing view of the ocean and the marina. This is where I would find myself every morning for the next 5 days. Enjoying the weather, the occasional coffee and a good book “Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion” which was a fitting story given my location. Definitely give it a read if you want a good title. 

Fishing was set for Monday and Tuesday, a charter boat would take the 3 of us blue water fishing for pelagic fish such as Tuna, Wahoo, and Dorado. 

And I would go spearfishing somewhere in between. 

Off to a great start when our safe stopped working in the room, turns out it just needed some batteries. 

Living in the desert really can make you fall in love with the water. I grew up doing every sport in our small town which included swimming, which would spark my love for the water at a young age. Being in Washington these last 4 years solidified that. Although this was much different. Being so close to the ocean, driving by it every day and actually being able to swim in the warm waters of the Sea of Cortez and the Pacific were miles apart. I truly could’ve stayed forever.

Spearfishing started early in the morning, woke up at 6 in time for breakfast and made our way to the dive office.  Was planned for the day before but due to the ATM’s being down we rescheduled for the following morning. Everything was ready and we headed to the boat, an hour later we were at the spot. It’s always a great feeling when you hear your guide tell you “Ah! Did you see the ‘Chomp Chomp’?” Righttttt before getting into the water. Luckily just a friendly Black Tip Reef Shark that was rather timid. Under the water was an entirely different world from what I was used to, the frigid dark blue almost black waters of the Northern Pacific. Here it was a light blue with a tinge of green, clear waters seeing 40 feet to the bottom. Teeming with life. Mexican Hawkfish, Crevalle, Burrito, colorful reef fish like Puffers and Parrot fish. 2 GIANT Moray Eels, which I came face to face with while searching the holes in the coral for a trigger fish I had seen. Brightly colored coral clung to the rocks and sea urchins snuggled into any crevice they could find. It was truly breathtaking. We ended up getting 5 fish, truthfully, anymore and I'm not sure we could’ve eaten them all. 

Getting back to the marina, any restaurant there will cook them anyway you’d like for a small fee. And we feasted on what would have been an expensive meal back home. 

I won’t bore you with the small details. And I certainly should have taken more photos, sometimes the moments get ahead of me. 

The following part will be about what I previously mentioned. I know not everyone enjoys the EDC and details I'm going to mention here which is why I’ve broken it into 2 parts.

IF that’s the case, Thank you for reading. Enjoy your lives, live in the moment, and remember the small things. 

EDC

Now, what I’m sure some of you came for. EDC or Everyday Carry while in Mexico. These are not ads and I certainly don’t get paid to promote them but the items that will be mentioned are plain out just damn good items. As someone who has carried a gun in some way shape or form virtually every day for the last 5 years, it was definitely something to get used to not having. Although it's great to practice other forms of defense and not always relying on the first form of protection, I don’t recommend it for the first time. Being in a foreign country. Practice at home,  or your home cities, and know how and when to use them. Let me preface this, I’m not a professional, but these are things I’ve learned in my research and first hand experiences. For more information check out “Eds Manifesto Podcast”. Ed Calderon is a wealth of knowledge when it comes to that. In Mexico knives aren’t necessarily not allowed but they will get you some unwanted attention if they’re visible. Pocket knives aren’t the best unless they’re in a pocket and not clipped. I carried a SneakReaper Industries branded Victorinox bird's beak. Cheap and plentiful, plus I was fishing, so I had a story. 

I had my SLNT wallet that’s RFID blocking to prevent the skimming of cards and I just like it. Additionally i had $100 usd in cash for a “rainy day” if i was approached or robbed or even needed a bribe, that was its sole purpose.

Other means of entry, these picks go with me everywhere, specifically this set of Covert Instrument lock picks, I also have a Sparrow hall pass, door card shim that fits right in your wallet. 

Watch, beyond being just a great tool I think everyone should have, they are great for a few other reasons. One being conversation starters, regardless of language some things just translate over, one of those being a nice watch. Can take the edge off a situation and add a little humanity back into it. Secondly, they are a great bartering tool. As much as I would hate to give up my watch, if it meant the difference between coming home and not, I suppose I could justify it. 

Lastly I carried a Snakestaff Systems ETQ, the 1.5 in version. Small, compact, and has directions on it , god forbid someone has to use it on me. 

Permissive VS Non-Permissive Environments

Even though you have a means of protection, some places simply wont allow it, nightclubs, bars, shopping centers, all places that could have metal detectors, and or security checkpoints. Knowing your exits and being able to use other means of protection, or improvise weapons should always at least be in the back of your mind. In addition to the small paring knife I also had a sharpie with a g10 spike insert, and a G10 Elvia V2, a reverse edge, POLYMER based blade. Gets passed the basic metal detector and a lazy pat down. Ceramic blades are good options as well. Food for thought. 

Knowing your exits IMMEDIATELY when entering a new building or shopping center, should be in my opinion be the first thing you do. 

Know how to de-escalate your situations, and don’t make something out of nothing, you can definitely be too paranoid. Enjoy your time and don’t let paranoia trump your memories, but, make it home. 

Fish caught from spearfishing, cooked up right on the marina