PPS Destinations Report

Boca Paila, Quintana Roo, Mexico

Date:         March 2 - 9, 2003

Speakers:   

Dr. John Pawlovich, MD, Fraser Lake, BC, Canada;  Medical Emergencies in the Office and An Update on Antibiotic  Prophylaxis

Dr. Rodney Wentworth, DDS, Redmond, WA, USA; Ethics in Dentistry

Dr. Eric Callejo, DDS, Dayton, Ohio, USA; Update on Rotary Instrumentation in Endodontics

 Dr. Ernst Schmidt; DMD, Vancouver, BC, Canada;  Integrating Cerec CAD/CAM into General Practice

Reported by Ernst 'Ernie' Schmidt

    This year's winter 'get-away' was conveniently located on the Yucatan peninsula in southern Mexico.  Our group all assembled at the Boca Paila fishing resort for a week of 'R&R'.  Whether the members were suffering a harsh winter on the eastern part of the continent, or, a rather mild one on the western side of the Rockies, we were all glad to get away for a reunion at a warm saltwater fishing location.  Our group consisted of 14 fishermen, 5 spouses  and 5 children.  This made it a unique trip in the annals of PPS history.

    Boca Paila Fishing Lodge is a well-established fishing resort which has been run by the Gonzalez  family (Matron, Pauli and son, Ricky) for some 37 years now.  Located 2 hours south, by road, from the resort city of Cancun, it becomes immediately conspicuous that it is in a location all on its own.  In fact, it is located within the boundaries of the Sian Ka'an Biosphere Wilderness Reserve.  I believe this has something to do with the fact that the lodge was in existence prior to the formation of this Reserve.  The benefit of this immediately becomes obvious.  Basically, one has the whole place to themselves!  Geographically, the lodge is located on a thin (about 200 meters wide) peninsula which extends for approximately 50 kms and terminates at Punta Allen at Ascension Bay.  Cabins are pleasantly placed  right on the open-ocean side rimmed by a beautiful white sand beach.  Guests will then take a 100 meter walk (on the other side of the thin strip of land) to the boat dock which is located on the large inland lagoon.  This appears to possess the best of both worlds.  Sleeping and lounging on the Caribbean side while fishing on the protected waters of the inland lagoon.  Accommodations were pleasantly appointed and the newly renovated clubhouse was a most enjoyable meeting and eating center for the group.  Meals were very good and were notably begun with a delicious soup dish every day.  My favourite meal of the day is always breakfast.  This sets the tone, and, Boca Paila did not disappoint me.  I loved beginning every day with local fresh fruit as well as a hearty a la carte breakfast.  This is truly refreshing when one considers that many lodges today, offer only cold cereal and toast as nourishment prior to the long fishing day.  In addition to the tasty meals, I also think it worth to mention the attention to detail provided to the guests by the lodge staff.  Chico did an excellent job as manager while the guests were served daily by Jose Luis and Francisco.  Two servers and a large kitchen staff makes for excellent service when there are only 18 guests.  All in all, what really helped make this trip a success was that the resort was so user-friendly to both the fisherman as well as the rest of his/her family.  I think this really hit home when I found my 8 year-old fishing-crazed son crying in our cabin.  "I love Mexico and I don't want to go home".  Even more amazing is that the local cuisine was universally enjoyed by the children.

    Fishing the extensive protected lagoon was also an interesting experience.  Success rates for bonefish in the 1 1/2 to 3 pound bonefish was relatively good.  Although a monster bonefish is 4 - 5 pounds, Boca Paila has staked its reputation as one of the premier permit fisheries.  I was quite amazed at how many permit inhabit the flats in the lagoon.  On a good day, a fisherman may see 20 permit and may have a legitimate shot at 5 or more.  This means, putting the fly where it counts and having the permit give it a sniff.  During the week, several permit were caught and released by our group.  Personally, I managed to entice three to take my fly.  The first was a beautiful 12 - 14 pounder which spit out the fly before I could set the hook (I don't think my guide, Victor, has quite forgiven me yet!).  The next two were in the 5 - 7 pound range and although I managed to hook both of them, I did not land either.  It was unfortunate that one of the crab patterns that I was using twisted such that the hook gap diminished against the wider part of the fly body.  Oh well, it was still a thrill to see this magnificent fish so close at hand.  We all had many 'inspections' by the wary permit, however, many of us were still frustrated by this over-picky fish.  What impressed my about this fishery was that the permit were actually 'catch-able'!   I have fished for them before in Belize, however, in contrast to the tailing and foraging permits of Boca Paila, the Belizean permit were always in a hurry to get somewhere else.  As far as other species are concerned, we saw two snook, caught several yellow tail jack but did not see any tarpon during the week.  A bonus for me was the available bird life and seeing two alligators close at hand.

    Boca Paila fishing was done from brand-new 16 foot Dolphin skiffs.  These boats had an excellent casting 'platform' and, like a true flats boat, offered no snags for the fly line.  All nine of the available guides were professional and full time employees of the lodge.  It was noted by several of our group that the guides took their positions very seriously and gave it their best shot.  A few times, while fishing alone with my guide(s), I had to call for a time-out as my stamina was running low.  The guides seemed hell-bent to get me my permit and did not rest any longer than necessary.  Several times I had to tell my guide(s) that I was on holidays and that when fishing became like work, it might not be as enjoyable for me.  Personally, I don't think they believed a word of it.  For that matter, neither does my wife!  The 'word' was that being a 'Boca Paila' guide was prestigious in itself and therefore attracted only the best employees.  My advice to future visitors to this lodge is that one should be prepared for a full-days fishing  Boca Paila does not hire lazy guides!!

    Now for the fishing story that really counted in my eyes!  As the week wore on, I was continually pestered by my 8 year-old that he wanted to go fishing with me.  How do you tell him that all the boats are occupied by the grown-ups and that none are available?  Feeling a bit sheepish, I promised to ask Chico if something could be done to get us to the Boca for some fishing.  Chico quickly arranged, on two occasions, for the understudy guides (brothers Hector and Obet), to take us fishing in one of the spare/older boats.  I felt a little uncomfortable because I thought I was imposing on these two staff members.  As it turned out, we were outfitted with a small spinning outfit, several fly jigs as well as land crabs for bait.  The 'guides' quickly gave me the impression that I got them out of some other less-than-exciting task and made it clear that they did not want to give up and go back until the last rays of light had expired.  The result was that Stefan caught his first barracuda, yellow tail jack and several bonefish.  In addition, Obet, poled along the flats and gave us several more shots at tailing bonefish.  My point in this fishing story was that first; I scored major marks with my son.  This will figure big-time in future fishing trips.  Second, it spoke volumes to the operations of Boca Paila.  We were treated as guests in a class hotel.  If you had a wish or a need, it was a given that they were going to satisfy it.  Frankly I wasn't used to this kind of service.

    By the now, you the readers, are thinking, 'yeah, but, what about the non-fishing spouses?  Bet that didn't go over too well!'  During our week stay, the lodge arranged for our non-fishing guests to visit nearby Tulum, Xcaret as well as boat tours into the Biosphere.  The latter deserves mention as it was a very unique experience which I luckily gave up valuable fishing time to enjoy.  In order to get to the fresh water lake, there was a 45 minute boat ride up a narrow mangrove-lined river.  In order to navigate the boats up this river, the guide had to maintain a minimum momentum/speed in order to maintain steering control.  The result was a ride comparable to something at Disney Land.  As the salt water was left behind, the freshwater areas were commonly lined on one bank with mangroves while the other bank was lined with a pampas-like vista.  At the head of the river, we achieved a shallow fresh water lake with a 350 year-old small Mayan ruin on its bank.  From here, the four of us hopped into the flowing crystal-clear fresh water and snorkeled down the narrow channel while the guide followed us with the boat.  The experience of snorkeling in chest-deep crystal-clear water with a white bottom and viewing the small colourful fish between the mangrove roots had to be one of the highlights of the trip.  If you ever visit the resort, make sure you do not miss this trip into the Biosphere reserve.  In addition to the interesting history and snorkeling, the birdlife was also worth checking out.  In addition to the above, I should also mention that family did not have to be continuously entertained as above.  The beautiful beach right in front of the cabins were worth many hours of playing and snorkeling as well.

    For the professional members of the group, we had great presentations by the PPS directors.  I was delighted with the quality of presentation by my colleagues and I learned a lot from each one of them.  After a great fishing/family holiday, I was motivated to go back to work and institute several change based on the cutting-edge information presented by each member.  John Pawlovich, MD, gave a concise update on Medical Emergencies In The Office and then followed that up with a review on Antibiotic Prophylaxis with an emphasis on Subacute Bacterial Endocarditis (SBE).  Rod Wentworth, DDS, is affiliated with organized dentistry in WA state as well as UW and gave a review/outline of dental ethics.  Eric Callejo, DDS is affiliated with Ohio State (OSU) and presented on the Tulsa system of rotary endodontics as well as other aspects of current trends in endodontic therapy.  I did my best to follow with an integration of CAD/CAM CEREC technology in today's general dental practice.

   All in all, I would rate this venue as an excellent location for all levels of fisherman.  Whether one is a 'focused' hard-core' fisherman, or, one who is half-hearted and wishes a winter break with diversions for the rest of the family, this unique location does it all.  Bonefish are small, permit are tough and the action is continuous.  If you have any further questions about the Boca Paila venue, please feel free to email me at pps@shaw.ca.

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