≤b≥FOR KIDS OF ANY age, the allure of the beach≤/b≥ and splashing in the water is eternal. But when the sea & the sand just aren’t enough, it might be time to turn poolside. Some of our hotels allow non-guests to use their pools. The Hotel Arcoiris on Zicatela, for example, will welcome you for a token cover of $30.00 pesos per person, plus a modest consumption of snacks and beverages.

Particularly family-friendly is the Hotel Jardin Real in Bacocho, home to the world-famous Split Coconut barbeque shrine. While the kids splash around in the toddlers or the main pools, dad can enjoy satellite TV sports and the best selection of music in town on either side of the swim-up bar. Never a cover, just eat and drink.

Also in Bacocho PlayaSol Beach Club, belonging to the Hotel Suites VillaSol, charges $90.00 for adults, $60.00 for kids for the day, 11 a.m. to 6. They boast a huge circular pool, play area with swings, slides, trampoline and play houses, lots of green space to run around, as well as the beach itself, plus a cool bar and restaurant for the big folks.

Mom and dad need a break, so here are some suggestions for keeping those young minds and bodies occupied, so that you can practice other, grownup-type pursuits.

Swimming Classes for babies, kids and families are offered at the new Aqua Dolphin school near the Point 954 123 5494) .

The Cultural Center of Puerto Escondido has regularly scheduled activities for children, including Music and Movement for Children, from new-born to 7 years. Exercise with your kids of any age at the Pilates center at Luna Nueva, with Danish instructor Annette (582 1838, cel. 954 109-1794).

The community Center for Social Well Being holds guitar classes. They also offer Children’s Gimnastics Monday and Wednesday, 4 to 5:30 p.m. Crafts, Monday and Wednesday, 5 to 7 p.m.
(Tel. 582 2099)
Calli Centro de Idiomas is particularly recommended for children’s classes. The school’s director, Donna Ramírez, can tailor lessons according to your individual needs. (The school also teaches German, Italian, French, and English, of course.) Donna makes learning fun by incorporating song, games and crafts into the curriculum.
(582-0321, cel. 954 103-9190)

It’s never too early to instill a love of nature in your kids. And what youngster could resist the opportunity to check out real, live critters up close? Just minutes from Puerto, in Barra de Navidad, Galo Sánchez oversees the visitor’s center for the ecological reserve known as Palmazola y Los Naranjos.

He will show you the iguanas, crocodiles and turtles they are raising to later be released. You might even see coatamundis, deer or possums. And you’ll learn lots about the nesting habits of the scores of birds species, both native and migratory, which inhabit these coastal wetlands This is fun trip, well worth the small donation requested.

If you have the time, a trip to Mazunte to browse around the Mexican Turtle Center is exceptionally educational. Playa del Palmarito, also known as Laguna Chica, is the site a nonprofit funded project to safeguard marine turtles, mostly Golfina, or the Olive Ridley species, but occasionally the volunteers here see the arrival of the much rarer and endangered Leather back.