All I needed to do was set up my umbrella, spread out a towel and voila! Bao decided that the beach wasn't so bad, after all.

Of course, the tide was out. I think that helped. I'm noticing that the further the water recedes, the better Bao seems to like it. Puerto Penasco is on the eastern shore of the Sea of Cortez, formed 15 million years ago when an earthquake dislodged a chunk of the Mexican mainland, creating both the Baja Peninsula and the body of water that separates it from Mexico proper. The beaches on both the mainland and the peninsula are famous for their tidal surges, which are quite dramatic. The water can rise ten feet up the beach in just 30 minutes.

I suppose this is quite scary from a Shih Tzu's point of view.

Besides, Bao doesn't much like water unless it's in his water dish. He swims like a stone. It's not that he doesn't try. The little legs pump furiously but it just doesn't work. Too much body and not enough leg, I suspect. Has anyone got a Shih Tzu that likes to swim?

And I also think Bao finds the whole thing with the tides a bit baffling. Some mornings when we come out for our walk, the water is practically lapping at the embankment that separates the hotel grounds from the beach. Other mornings, there's a vast expanse of sand and the water is so far away you can't even hear the waves breaking. On these occasions he stands looking out at the water and then at me as if to say, What's going on here?

If they're right about global warming and rising tide levels, this place won't last another 50 years. But on the other hand, neither will I.