Nicaragua Beach Profile: Playa Mechapa
Apr 26th, 2008 by Kevin
Do a Google search for Mechapa Beach… you won’t find much. This is one of those beautiful remote beaches you always dream of finding. Rumored to be to be one of the longest (up to 20 km) shallowest beaches in all of Nicaragua, this is one beautiful place. Part of the reason for this is the challenge in getting there. By bus is no less than an overnight trip from the nearest city of Chinandega, if you went up one day and came back the next. With your own car, you will need 4 wheel drive (but that is par for the course in central American countries). By road the best way to access it is through the town of Mechapa, which is essentially a cooperativa (fishing co-operative). The only real place to stay outside of just camping on the beach is the Redwood beach Resort which you will find right on the beach in Mechapa. This is where we stayed. On their web site they also have good directions on how to this beach area. Hosts Stacey and Mike are great and the cabanas on are excellent. They have done a really nice job of creating a secluded get away. The perfect end to a long dusty drive. After arriving we quickly got a drink, kicked off our shoes and went for a dip on the pacific surf.
The first picture above if looking out from the open dining area. You can see the surf in the background just beyond the trees. The second picture is looking back at the cabanas in the trees while standing in the surf. Granted the tide was out here, but the water is indeed shallow - perfect for swimming and surfing only a short walk from this location.
You will hear some great stories from the hosts and get to watch the daily fishing ritual of the cooperativa. Don’t let the remote village fool you - this little community is doing very well for Nicaragua standards but they also work very hard for it. Each evening the boats head out to lay their nets. This is an amazing feat to watch these pongas wait and gauge the best time to punch through the large surf. Through the night they fish and in the morning they return with their catch, which is also a site to see.
The entire village takes part. Everyone not fishing runs down to help as the boats begin to return. And this village has a tractor! The tractor comes roaring down the the surf. The boat is then attached and the tractor quickly hauls the boat back across the sand to start the fish processing.
Later you may see some boats heading north. The assumption is that they take some of their catch all the way to El Salvador to sell, but that is just a guess since there really isn’t much in the way of people north of here in Nicaragua.
This area and the surrounding countryside is amazingly beautiful and diverse from lush tropical vegetation close to dry Mediterranean like ecosystem in the foothills. This may surprise you but outside of the rainy season in the late year, this are is quite dry and somewhat warmer than the southern areas of the Nicaraguan pacific.
This beach is only a few kilometers away from our Las Laderas Property on the Cosiguina Peninsula. You could ride to this beach on a mountain bike very easily. Contact us if you are interested in more details about this property. Mechapa Beach is still very quiet but the roads are improving and the people are coming. A definite gem, for surfers and non surfers alike.
I have a lease on Machapa . 19 manzanas , 530 m beachfront .
yes a beautiful beach , but the estuary has a lot of potential also . you look to be close to a property I sold on the beach . it has a small river running into the ocean and seems to have the only access to the beach as it is all cliffs north of it . just 5 minutes north of Machapa . I am about 3km south of Machapa on the beach , there on the 8th of Sept.