After several years of absence we are finally returning to Costa Rica. This is a trip for surf and wildlife as well as a search for a place to take our relatives next summer on vacation. Our day started at 2:00 AM for the morning check in at Norfolk International Airport with a check in time of 4:15 AM. Our search for this journey began in earnest on the web, seeking the perfect combination of good surf, natural wildlife, including jungles and waterfalls near the sea. Our destination is Mal Pais (bad country). It is located on the Nicoya Peninsula and is pretty much the most southern point of land that juts out into the blue pacific ocean. On earlier trips, we had heard a great deal about the isolated beaches and waterfalls by the sea near the Cabo Blanco Wildlife Reserve. We hope this far region of the country will get us away from all of those cell phone addicts who are so hopelessly addicted to their need to be connected at all times. Kris and I hope to be pretty much disconnected from everything electronically and enjoy the peaceful sounds of birds and surf. From what I have seen on the weather map this evening in our hotel room in San Jose, the surf may be pretty big after all. There were massive storm systems all up and down the coastline of Central America, especially Costa Rica.
When we arrived at Mapache rental car across from the Juan Santamaria international airport, we were overwhelmed by a local festival and parades which will last all weekend (the Patronales Santiago 2003 celebration). There were throngs of people dressed in traditional costumes and huge figures made of paper mache atop the shoulders of many of the party goers. Men and women on horseback were carrying all sorts of things and generally having a great time as were we. What a terrific intro to the country!
4:00 AM and we just can't sleep. Our hotel came equipped with a coffee maker and our favorite coffee, Cafe Britt. After our courtesy breakfast of fresh fruits and breads we loaded up our gear and headed for the port town of Puntarenas to catch the ferry to Paquera. It only took 1 1/2 hours to get to the ferry location and as we arrived at 8:30 AM, we watched in disbelief as our ferry began to pull out without us! The next ferry to Paquera would not be until 12:30 PM. This may mean driving in the dark later which is not an option on those bumpy, muddy roads. There was a ferry leaving at 10:30 to a town called Naranjo, so we decided to opt for that one but it would be adding an extra hour or so to our journey. I came to the decision to take this ferry after speaking my usual "Spanglish" (English and Spanish) with the local authorities who assured me that the roads were, "mas o menos" (more or less) passable. We were set for dirt, gravel and mud for at least a few hours and at the end, more mud and gravel. So here we sit, on the ferry headed to the wrong place and I even talked a few Florida surfers into taking the ferry with us since they had a Toyota Forerunner and we had the Dhaihatsu Terrios. I figured we would be able to pull each other out of the mud if necessary. Hopefully we won't be driving at night as road conditions are pretty miserable down in Mal Pais this time of year.
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We arrived at "The Place", which in the itinerary stated that it was located just 500 feet from the beach and had lovely pictures of the cabins. It eerily looked quite a bit like that advertisement for Expedia.com where the woman is searching for a hotel and finds one with mosquito nets and late in the night they are filled with bugs. We didn't care, we headed straight for the beach after dropping off our gear.
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Like the fool I am, I chose the longboard instead of the shortboard. I have been surfing since 1964 and have rarely not been able to get out into the lineup, but I was in for a big surprise this time. When we pulled up to the beach, there were clearly 4 to 6 foot waves all the way out to the horizon. I have not seen waves this big in a very long time.
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As I paddled out, I kept getting hammered by these huge overhead barrels and the horizon seemed to have no end to the number of sets. In fact, it kept getting bigger and bigger every minute! After my humiliating defeat trying to paddle out on a longboard, I went back to our bungalow and got my shortboard. I was determined to beat these waves and get outside to ride a few. Exhausted, I nose dived my way to the farthest outside break where the aquamarine giants were peeling off as smooth as glass. My first wave was quite intense as I dropped to the bottom of this cavernous and bottomless jewel. It was a feeling of fear and beauty as I flew through the air and down the face. I immediately began to feel 20 years younger and knew then that I had found the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow in this surfer's dream. What was even more surprising is that there were few if any people out in the water for such great quality surf. The ones that were in the water were so spread out that crowding was not an issue. I was, in fact, surfing alone. One must be careful what they wish for, as I had wished for huge waves and was rewarded with way more than I expected.
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After beating my aged body to death in the surf, my wife Kris and I headed back to our room and cleaned up, had dinner and settled in for the evening. As far as the mosquito nets go, we could have dealt with that just fine with one exception. They did not fit the bed and did not close. They had huge gaps in them and the openings were at least a foot across. I sense this will be an exciting evening for the gotchas that will get ya in the night. It is terribly hot and the ceiling fan helps but it is pretty muggy in this bungalow. I guess this won't be the place to take our relatives next year.
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The first two folks we met here have had a rather sad tale to tell. I guess the interpretation of Mal Pais, as "Bad Country" is true. One locked his stuff in his car (a big no-no in most Central American countries) and they broke his window, took all of his things. Another had his car broken into and had his wallet and credit cards stolen. Those poor naive guys. There are signs all over the place that clearly tell you to keep all of your valuables in sight at all times and to watch out for thieves. There is even one thief who is especially malicious who goes up and down the beach with a machete and hacks the sandals of surfers into little pieces just for the fun of it.
We checked out the Mal Pais surf camp today as well. We did not choose that place because we thought it would be a bit too rustic for Kris, but boy, were we wrong. They had screens on their windows to keep the bugs out and much better security. They also have a nice pool and restaurant. Very nice place to stay. We will explore more possible places to stay tomorrow.
It appears as though we did not need the mosquito net after all. There were few if any bugs and the ceiling fans provided a nice breeze. Most places don't open until 8:00 AM so we had to wait for our morning coffee. We decided to head south to the end of the road to see some other places. After a long muddy, pot holed drive, we found "Star Mountain Eco Resort". The grounds were stunningly beautiful, with all sorts of exotic wildlife and jungle. This is a perfect birder's paradise. We had coffee with the owner and as I have done since I have arrived, gave him one of my latest prints, "Paraiso De Bajo Del Mar". Everywhere I have left these prints, the locals have received them with great joy. It is my hope to spread my work around down here and become known to the locals in the area and eventually sell my artwork here. We also saw the "Blue Jay Lodge" which was nestled high on a cliff and looked like some spectacular Robinson Crusoe get away with roped bridges, thatched roofs, and gorgeous walkways through manicured garden's. This is certainly the adventurer's type of place to stay, giving one the feeling of remoteness, yet securely nestled into the jungle landscape, the lodgings blend into the environment beautifully.
Just got back from surfing and as usual, the waves were overhead and bigger. This area is the most consistent place for head high to overhead surf in the entire country according to the locals. It picks up swells from a variety of directions and is the ultimate surfer's paradise. You can count on at least head high waves most every day, except for January when it is rather flat. One guy in the water said they were "kind of small today" and I said, "yea, right". The location of this place is such that the wind is nearly always offshore at some point in the day, usually in the morning and late evening. The consistency of these sizable waves ceases to amaze me.
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We have opened up all of the many doors and windows of our bungalow which gives it a great open air feel. The entire room becomes completely open air with no walls on the outside when it is opened this way. It feels pretty nice now with the gentle ocean breezes blowing through the place. Further down the road we went in search of a nice place for next years trip and just past Santa Teresa we found a truly luxurious hotel called the Floriblanca. It was tremendously upscale to the tune of $250.00 a night, but wow! Considering the beauty of the place, it is certainly a lot of bang for your buck at the Floriblanca Hotel. The grounds are immaculately kept with every conceivable flowering plant you could imagine native to this country everywhere you looked and it also sits right on the beach in front of a perfect reef break which was thundering with huge top to bottom overhead waves. There was no one in the water. The rooms are especially spacious with King sized beds elevated high up from the floor and air-conditioned bedrooms. The shower was all open air with hot water and tropical plants all around you inside and outside the shower. It looked like something out of Architectural Digest. There is a spacious living room, all open air, and has a tremendous balcony overlooking the grounds and beach. This is the perfect honeymoon or anniversary place to stay. To top it off, their resident chef is one of the best in the area and the menu was quite expansive and varied with local cuisine.
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Tonight we went to the "Buenos Aires" restaurant, owned by two Argentinean weight lifters who have two huge dogs, a great dane named Atilla and a rotweiller named Sasha. We drove up this insanely vertical road and it was near sunset. We kept crawling higher and higher and then as I looked to my rear, I was amazed at the view of the entire coastline of Mal Pais and the ocean had lines of swells that went on to infinity. We actually drove past the Buenos Aires and to the cell tower at the top of the hill where the semi road turned into a trail. We descended back down the cliff and finally found the hottest restaurant yet! They had huge T-bone steaks, fries, rice and salad with the best view of the point anywhere in town. Their fresh fish was also incredibly delicious with red snapper accompanied with a garlic or spinach sauce of your choice. I give this restaurant five stars easy. Spectacular food!
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I tried in vain to get out for a surf and got beaten back to the beach badly every time. I was so frustrated! The surf was also choppy for the first time and those huge double overhead waves would just not stop and give me a break. We decided to check out the "Sunset Reef" hotel which is at the very end of the road to the south of Mal Pais. The little muddy road ends at a rustic fishing area with boats and frigate birds all over the place feeding on the scraps, along with the local resident vultures. We were in awe and decided immediately to switch hotels. The rooms are huge with air-conditioning, hot water, a pool with a Jacuzzi and the place sits right on top of the beach with the most perfect left point break wave you could imagine. On the way back, I surfed a small point break at Mar Azul (blue sea) which was named appropriately for its pristine blue water. This wave was what I had always dreamed of for a perfect point break. I finally got to ride my new 9' 2" Frierson longboard in big surf! It was in the chest to head high range and super fun. The waves are smaller on this side of town and much more manageable for an older surfer like me. We move into the Sunset Reef tomorrow night! Looks like my moth swallowing nights at The Place Hotel are over! I nearly choked on a huge moth last night in my sleep, if you want to call it sleep. We kept waking up at "The Place" every hour or so because it was so uncomfortable because of the heat. Can't wait to check into our new air-conditioned room and get some rest.
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Today we packed up our things and headed to the Sunset Reef Hotel. They are normally $75.00 per night, but since we were staying 4 nights, they gave us a deal at $58.00 per night. The air conditioned rooms certainly feel nice. Late in the day the surf was from waist high to head high and perfect for longboarding. The meals at the hotel are excellent and the local boys running it, Mario, Sebastian, Maurisiou, are very fluent in English and great hosts. The service is superb and the meals elegantly served on nicely decorated tables. I believe we have found paradise at the end of the road here. Water surrounds the entire place and we are located on a perfect point beak. The water is a glorious aqua bluegreen and very thin, transparent waves just keep coming in endlessly. The serenity of this peaceful place with jungle that tumbles to the sea with magnificent cliffs and big rocks is beyond description with words. The pool also seems to run off the horizon as you lazily lay in the Jacuzzi nurturing your aching muscles from all that paddling and hauling of camera gear. My wife, Kris, has become the local beach guardian angel and the visiting surfers have been very thankful she has been there to watch their stuff. There is a very strong current at the rivermouth of the pointbreak which makes coming in from a surf a bit of an exhausting experience. Word has it that the big swell is coming Thursday! We bid farewell to our wonderful friends from Peru, Virgilio and Karin. They were wonderful friends we met at "The Place". It is so nice to travel and meet up with nice folks like this from all over the world. We surfed and dined together for several nights before they left for Jaco Beach to stay with friends and celebrate his birthday. Too bad he won't be here to see this point break really fire off some sizeable waves.
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Today we woke to questionable surf but we sure did sleep well in our room. After last night's feast, we decided wisely not to have breakfast since we were still full from that. The coffee and toast were perfect. After breakfast, we decided to do a canopy tour just a short walk away from the hotel. You get well trained by a man named Stephano from Italy. We practiced on a short cable with the harness and such prior to taking the 30 minute hike up into the jungle. We really felt quite safe and our guide showed us all of the flora and fauna along the way. Stephano is a botanist and taught us a great deal about the medicinal qualities of all the plants and how to extract the beneficial qualities from them. What was especially nice is that Kris and I were the only ones on this little venture. No tourists! Once we reached the platform, they hooked us up and our first glide on the zip line cable was amazing. I went a bit too fast but figured out the breaking after my first descent. What a breathtaking view of the jungle. If we don't do anything else this trip, the canopy tour will be just fine with me. We hope to take a boat out to Cabo Blanco tomorrow to see the volcanic vents and animals on that island. I thanked Stephano for teaching us so much and left him a print. The cost was also a bonus, as it was only $30.00 each for at least an hour of glide time in the canopy.
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This afternoon I surfed Playa Carmen and it was the usual 4 to 6 foot life and death surf and even bigger on the sets. The swell is growing fast. It is amazing how it goes from near flat to gigantic life threatening surf in just a few short hours. The young guys managing the Sunset Reef Hotel have been extremely polite and very helpful in our quest for surf and wildlife. They showed me the computer model for the surf this week and it is calling for 6 to 8 foot surf by afternoon and bigger on Friday. It sure seemed like it at Playa Carmen, the beach break. We are also experiencing our first rains today and Sebastian said July was a good month to come as it is kind of a mini dry season.
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I was relieved when the "bring your own crowd of 8 guys" from San Diego checked out today, as they would have made surfing and being one with the wave a hard thing to do. They rushed in this placed and rushed out just as fast, headed for a much less surfable Jaco Beach. Little did they know, they were rushing away from what was going to be some of the very best point break surf this season. I hate to see these surfers rush here and there at breakneck speeds, tearing up their rental vehicles and scaring the locals and animals with their hyperness and aggressiveness.
Do you recall me mentioning what a beautiful "mini-dry season" we were experiencing? It's over! Today the rain is coming down in torrents. The surf is huge but very choppy and lots of driving wind and rain. Here comes our tropical storm! Word has it that the sun won't even be back until Monday, after we leave. I pray that prediction is wrong, but right now it sure seems pretty much on target. It is now 5:00 PM and the rain has been coming down all day. Earlier while Kris was resting from our go here go there search over bumpy muddy roads for surf that was huge but unrideable, I decided to take a hike by myself into the wildlife reserve up on the hill. It was pretty exciting being alone up there in the jungle and not knowing what was waiting in the darkening, rainy forest. I heard all sorts of animals and there are lots of deer,anteaters, and monkeys up there. I encountered a troupe of monkeys high in the trees and they began stomping, yelling and throwing big branches at me. I kept pushing ever forward into the darkening jungle until it got a bit too spooky and turned around to go back down the hill. As I went slipping and sliding with my camera gear, I got some great shots of the animals. Time for a shower and a margarita!
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We awoke to a glorious, sun filled blue sky today with no wind. The waves today were a spectacular 6 to 8 foot at Mar Azul! I rode the longboard for about an hour and got some incredibly huge waves and had to switch to the shortboard because the drop in was so radical over the reef. The waves had so much power and it was nice being able to duck dive those enormous mountains of water to get to the outside. I also kept getting sucked into the reef paddling out. These currents here are so strong! These were clearly some of the biggest waves I had seen in a very long time. My earlier session at Playa Carmen had me questioning my sanity for having gone out. No one had made it outside today and miraculously I got out along with one other guy who was obviously as frightened as I was at the power and size of these waves. I caught only one wave but it was so enormous and took me all the way to the beach when it ended. We were also blessed with a beautiful sunset this evening. As we sipped our cold drinks we were eternally thankful for having been blessed with yet another perfect day in a surfer's paradise.
We awoke to thundering surf, probably the peak of this gigantic swell. It was sheet glass and perfect overhead but my old body just could not rise for the occasion. Instead, I bubble wrapped the boards, took off the fins, and packed up the rest of our gear. Down the muddy road we went with tears in our eyes as I watched the others taking off on screaming left point break waves tearing up the face as they went down the line to the beach.
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Our journey down the muddy pot holed road after those rains had a massaging effect! We had at least a two hour drive to do to get to the ferry and this one we planned on catching on time, which we did precisely. They were boarding as we arrived. On the ferry we met a Californian named Don who was very interesting. If you have ever read, "In Search Of Captain Zero", by Allen Weisbecker, you could relate. Don actually encountered Christopher (Captain Zero), the guy mentioned in the book on the Caribbean side of Costa Rica. He said the guy looked like a walking skeleton with a caved in nose, green teeth, and did not even surf anymore. He was the perfect poster child for drug abuse and why no one should do them. All of his years of cocaine abuse made his forty something body look like 80 something. He was a complete derelict.
Don was very helpful and told us about his life in Costa Rica, as a teacher and his wife manages a hotel there in Mal Pais. He has two children and was checking in on his property this trip. He showed us some good short cuts to Boca Barranca, which was going off like crazy. This is a perfect point break wave in the Puntarenas area. We dropped Don off at a friends place and headed for the Hampton Inn in San Jose. After we checked in we decided to go to the famous International Mall and buy some gifts for our friends. To our surprise, they did not take American Express travelers checks anywhere in the mall. That sure seemed kind of silly to us, so we did our shopping at the airport for about the same price and got a lot of very nice things at the Cafe Britt stores. These stores at the airport make up about 40% of Cafe Britt's sales annually.
The airport here has expanded greatly and is much more efficient than it used to be. We did a bunch of shopping and then boarded the plane for the states. All in all, this has been one of my favorite trips to Costa Rica. This was our seventh and best yet.