Reverting back to our old swim meet days, Ben got up at daybreak and got down to the pool deck to discover that they had removed all the pool loungers and placed tables all over the pool deck. Ben was one of the first down so he picked some plastic chairs that had been stacked at pool side and put them around the table nearest to where he had rehearsed viewing the eclipse yesterday. As people filtered down, they took up stations until someone in management arrived and broke the news that the entire pool deck was reserved for an Eclipse viewing party and that we didn't have reservations. Well this was news to us because nobody had mentioned anything of the sort when we checked in, or as Ben went through his eclipse viewing rehearsal. Fortunately, the table adjacent to where he had set up was not yet booked, so Ben arranged to get on the reservations list and would pay the $450MX ($28US) admissions per person when the woman in charge of the Eclipse celebration showed up. Fortunately, the fee was just $50MX more than the normal breakfast buffet, and the breakfast was included from 8am to noon, which coincided with the Eclipse viewing period. It felt a little like a gouge to charge hotel guests extra to use the pool deck to view the Eclipse that they had booked their stays presumably to view the Eclipse. But, in the end, it turned out fine because it was quite an extensive buffet and included juices, coffee, tea and mimosas. The tables and chairs were certainly better suited for eclipse viewing that pool loungers. It seemed like a pretty first class way to enjoy an eclipse, as opposed to roughing it in the wilderness like Ben did for the 2017 eclipse in eastern Oregon.
We ended up sharing a table with two other parties. One was a couple of women from Minnesota, and the other were a husband and wife from Everett that Ben had met the day before while rehearsing for the eclipse. There were large families of Mexicans on either side of us. At first people were upset because they were told that the beach was closed, but eventually, the management relented and allowed guests to sit on the beach, and eventually even let them take some of the plastic pool chairs onto the beach. Because it was high tide, there wasn't a whole lot of beach, but the resorts restrict access to the beaches so they weren't crowded with locals.
There were high but thin clouds present during the eclipse which were not dense enough to obscure the eclipse viewing through the eclipse glasses, but they did make it hard to make out any stars besides Venus during the totality. The Solar Eclipse Timer app was helpful in announcing when to put on and take off eclipse glasses and solar camera filters, as well as when to look for other eclipse phenomenon, such as temperature changes, animal behavior, pin hole camera effects, shadow effects, and watching for the approach and retreat of the umbra. It also reminded us to look around at the horizon during the eclipse to see the circumferential sunset effect. It was so easy to be overwhelmed at seeing the totality that the reminders were a big help for everyone's maximizing their eclipse experience. The temperature drop was very noticeable, dropping at least 20ºF. The responses in the crowd were also memorable with a lot of OMG's in both English and Spanish, as well as other languages because there appeared to be guests from many other countries as well.
Even though this was Ben's second total eclipse, it is impossible not to be enchanted by the sight of the totality with the dancing corona circling that black hole in the sky where the sun is supposed to be. It was the first totality Janet, Mark or Erin had experienced, and now they understand how difficult it is to explain just how incomprehensible a totality is different from any other type of eclipse. When it goes from 99.9% to 100% the whole world changes in an instant. I can't emphasize how seeing a totality must be on everyone's bucket lists.
As soon as people caught their breaths after the sun came back on, the universal experience is to wonder how they can see that again. When is the next total eclipse of the sun? August 12, 2026 in Greenland, Iceland and Spain! And then August 2, 2027 through the southern Mediterranean and Red Sea! Good excuses for planning future trips across the pond.
Ben spent the rest of the afternoon downloading images and video from his equipment and sorting through them while Janet relaxed and got in a good nap. In the evening, we had "snacks" at the hotel bar, which were burgers and quesadillas with 2 for 1 mango margaritas, of course. We then walked a bit along the Main Street to the north, checking out restaurants and wandering through a few tourist malls.
Tomorrow will be low key with nothing hard scheduled. Ben and Mark will probably fish the surf, while we are booked to go out on a real fishing charter on Wednesday, and an inland cultural tour on Thursday. We leave on Friday to head back home.
