Guanacaste Region, 1999
Author: Finface

Most of the following are trip details and background. skip down to DIVE DIVE DIVE for diving particulars

COSTA RICA 1999

As one of those Quintessential ultimate cheap bastard types, I'm always on the lookout for cheap airfares to possible dive destinations, so it was with great glee that I spotted a special for $188 round trip to Costa Rica from Atlanta. Thusly did we begin the road to the BEST VACATION I EVER HAD (BVIEH)! Somewhere in the early summer the itch to dive became overwhelming, yet it seemed that all the available choices of airfares were either to destinations I was either burnt out on or at prices I refused to pay. I have a standing policy of never paying retail for vacations if it can be avoided. I find that keeping a sharp eye out for deals is always preferable to dealing with travel agents whom I put on the same evolutionary level as tow truck drivers and lawyers (Kill all lawyers ----except mine). How many times have we all done this: "I'm calling about your special to so and so --my travel dates are flexible, I'm primarily interested in your advertized price." "What days are you interested in traveling?" "I just told you I don't care when I go, I just want your lowest possible price." "Ahem, cough, cough. OK, let's try this date and see what our computer will give us." A HALF HOUR LATER "Well, I can't seem to find that particular package available, but I can put you up in a superduper 5star all inclusive for 500 dollars a night --such a deal!" "ARRGGGAH!!!" Believe me, travel agents don't come for free, and if you believe the myth that they make their money through hotel and air discounts, then I have some property in extreme south Florida that I'd like to sell you. Fire your travel agent and do it on your own.

Oh yeah, the vacation. Like I said, the dive itch was becoming unbearable. Of course there's always Cozumel as a back up, both in terms of affordability and quality of diving. Having been diving now for some 20 years Cozumel is a perennial favorite, yet I found myself in the mood for something new and different --MUST SEE PELAGICS! Palau or Australia was out of the question and even the Caymens, Turks, and Honduras was proving too pricy airfare wise. ALM was running a bait and switch on a fare to Bonaire, so gave up on that after a couple of weeks of inquiries. It was looking like I'd settle for Cozumel after all.

Now I had no problem with that, really, except for my one thing. My wife Joyce had just received her open water certification the previous summer and had had difficulties there due to unusually strong currents. I needed to look for something more suitable for her diving level least she get turned off on diving altogether --the jury was still out on the subject after her Cozumel experience. I'm telling ya, the currents were wicked. They were running two to three times faster than anything I'd seen on any of my previous trips. There was just no stopping to relax on most of the shallow dives --you'd try to find a lee side of a reef overhang and dig yourself into the sand getting as negatively bouyant as possible, and the current would just rip you right out of there. You can imagine what it was like for a newbie diver. While she was getting her check out dives I was off with Aldora Divers flying the wall and having a great time. When I saw here after her dives she was almost in tears. Her first dive went something like this: Dive instructor to students, "Everybody ready? Follow the rest of the group as soon as they get in the water. OK, go, go, go!" Dive instructor in the water, "Everyone ready to descend?" Wife, "No, wait my mask..." Dive instructor, "Good, OK let's go, everyone head down!" After confronting the dive instructor about this we both agreed he had no choice in the matter due to the currents. Had he let the students take their time on the surface they would have become hopelessly separated from the rest of the dive group --unfortunate, but it had to happen that way. I understood completely; `ya gotta adapt' to the dive conditions, but trying to explain this to my lovely wife only put me in the same doghouse as the instructor. And, oh yeah, there was one other teensy thing (looking back, I can't believe what a bonehead I was to even contemplate it's possibility). NEVER, EVER, UNDER NO CONDITIONS SHOULD YOU TRY TO GET MARRIED IN A FOREIGN COUNTRY AND HAVE YOUR BRIDE-TO-BE COMPLETE HER OPEN WATER CERTIFICATION ON THE SAME TRIP. I don't care how comfortable you both are with each other and it may seem like a fun idea at the time --DON'T DO IT, MAN! As it turned out we never managed to get married in Mexico (a near impossibility, I think) and had to wait to tie the knot back in the states.

So it was that I was trying to find an alternative dive vacation for myself and my lovely wife, when one night hanging out listening to music in a bar and bemoaning the lack of dive opportunities with my buds ("Come on man, let's just go SOMEWHERE. I hear there's a rock quarry in Alabama you can dive at.") when out of my mouth comes, "Well, there is a killer airfare to Costa Rica, but the diving might be unsuitable for a novice diver. To my great joy and surprise my beautiful and jewel of a wife says, "I'm OK with that, you should have said something earlier" ---THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! Had she not said that we would have never gone on the BVIEH (best vacation I ever had) and you wouldn't be reading this long boring preface!

So. After extensive research on the net (a pleasure, not a task) I was able to come up with the following: our airfare by charter plane through vacation express came out to be $227 with taxes per person; a three bedroom ocean view villa with AC and a pool for $700/week and with seven of us going = $100/pp/wk; two 4X4 Daihatsu's for $350/car/wk = $100/pp/wk. If you do the math it = $427/pp/wk for lodging, air, and transportation. Now that IS a deal!

Our planewas delayed due to weather and work on therunway at ATL, but we arrived about 2 pm in CR. We landed at the new Liberia airport only 20 minutes away from our villa in Playa Coco, saving us a grueling 5 hour drive from San Jose. By the time we got thru customs, got our baggage, went to the car rental, etc. we were in Coco by about 4pm sat.

A quick note on car rental. It WOULD be possible to rent a non 4X4 vehicle if you are just using it for driving around Guanacaste province and you drive accordingly on rough roads. If you plan to visit any national parks as we did, or do extensive driving get a 4X4. You might want the 4X4 just for comforts sake; the extra ground clearance and suspension come in handy. Think in terms of most of the roads being like very rural gravel roads in the states, with some of the rougher sections being pure dirt, filled with potholes and fords to cross. Our first drive to Coco and then the dirt road to Ocotal was done with great apprehension and eyes wide, but by the end of the week it was no big deal. You learn where to cross the ditches and which side has the fewest potholes. This is for short trips like the 2 miles from Ocotal to Coco, for longer trips get a 4X4. The guys at the car rental (Alamo) had that creepy used car salesman feel to them, but were very competent nonetheless. I'd read horror stories on the net of car rentals in CR but had no problems personally. THOROUGHLY checking the car for damage when you rent is still in order. We added about 10 marks to the damage sheet during initial inspection that weren't on it. The rate we paid included insurance but with a hefty deductible; make the call on whether or not to get full coverage on how many wrecks you've had in the states. I called my credit card companies before the trip and although one said I was covered under their card terms for 4X4's they excluded off road driving and hedged when asked what defines "off road". Best to assume your not covered by your card.

I'm trying to answer all the questions that I had before the trip so bear with me, otherwise skip ahead. Lodging in Guanacaste province is plentiful and runs the gamut. You can find extremely great deals during the green (their word for rainy) season. It rained heavily for 3 of our 7 days of our green season trip, raining out some of our activities, but we didn't seem to mind much. We were told that the current green season was the rainiest in CR history, with extensive flooding in some areas in the prior month to our trip. Will have to see what the airfares are like during the dry season before deciding when we'll return. Lodging and car rental increase during the dry season but not prohibitively.

LODGING RECOMMENDATIONS

Playa Coco, Hermosa, Ococtal all have diving operations, and a plentitude of places to stay, but can't speak for other areas further south. For Coco, look up Villa del Sol on the web and check them out. The owners, Serge and Jocelyn were EXTREMELY helpful in answering question via email before the trip. Can't say enough good things about them. The Hotel Villa del Sol is within walking distance to the town of Coco. We stayed in Ocotal which required a short drive into town but the view from our place was worth it. If you're just diving with the guys, recommend staying in Coco; you can walk to all the bars and restaurants and enjoy the locals more. The town of Coco itself is a small rural fishing village with a beautiful beach and nice scenery. One grocery store with everything you might need. Lots of restaurants; everywhere we ate was great. My wife Joyce had four, count em, four Lobster tails served on her plate for dinner the first night for under $10 us. Dinning out was inexpensive and recommended. A moderate to great meal with a couple of drinks,10% tip, and tax included ran from $5 to $10. The local Ticos, as they are called, are some of the nicest people I've ever met. None of the Disneyish feel towards tourists that you get in Mexico and some of the Carribean islands; just real people going about their business and happy to be where they are. Very little apparent poverty; everyone seemed well dressed and clean, no one living in lean-to's with corrigated roofs. No trash on the roads, no one harassing you for something, just farmers and fisherman working, playing, going to school, walking into town, living their lives. Even of the Ticos I talked to, few of them expressed any desire to get out of CR and go to the Great land of opportunity and traffic jams. In fact, a couple of them had lived in the states for a time and decided to return home.

Oh yeah, the BVIEH. Enough of the background. Most of our trip was spent simply lounging around the villa, enjoying the pool, the beach, the stars (when the sky cleared), our company, eating and drinking in town, and the jaw dropping view from our balcony, but here are a few of the highlights to the actual trip.

DIVE! DIVE! DIVE!

We dove with DeepBlue diving adventures out of Coco (www.deepblue-diving.com) and they were hands down the best, nicest, most acommodating dive operation I've had the pleasure to dive with. They truly went the extra step to make sure your dive experience was to your liking. Their web site says something to the effect, "We haven't forgot what it's like to be a vacationing diver" and their attitudes reflected it. They handle, rinse, sort, and set up all your gear, all you have to do is use it. Their gear rental was new stuff at great rates. Dive rates included a surface interval lunch anchored off a secluded beach.

Our first dive was done on Monday (Sunday was a rain out) and was on one of the many near shore sites as opposed to the Cat or Bat islands which require a longer boat ride and higher cost. Visibility was around 15 ft and it was cold (65F). Expected conditions to be different than Carribean diving but have had better dives. Second dive was still cold (I was wearing a 3mil shorty) but vis picked up to about 25 ft making things much more tolerable. You can't get overly excited about seeing your gazillioneth moray in the Carribean and this was more to my liking; finally something new and different. Puffer fish by the boatload, three or four octopi, lobster, moray's, and a very large (about 6ft wingspan) stingray --thought it was a manta at first it was so big. Don't expect Atlantic diving --it's not. What it was unique. Different conditions, different critters, different diving.

If you skipped down to the dive portion of this report, let me just say that my wife was a newbie and on her fifth dive ever and entering the dive realm again with some anxiety. She held my hand all through the first dive, but Terry, our divemaster, gave her all the time she needed and let her proceed at her own comfort. After assessing the situation, on the second dive Terry paired off with my wife Joyce and I buddied up with the other divemaster Michael. Joyce immediately bonded with Terry as Terry was completely attentive and patient to her newness. This also freed me up to look around more and enjoy the second dive. I thank Terry personally for helping Joyce get over her newbie jitters allowing her to begin to develop a love for the underwater world. The conditions were definitely harsher than what I would recommend for a newbie, but with Terry's help, Joyce came through with flying colors.

Wednesday, broke bright and clear and Terry gave us all the go ahead to do the trip to the Catalina islands (they like to assess new dive groups before doing the Cats or Bats). The topside view of the Cats was almost worth the trip alone; stark wave-pounded cliffs with hundreds of frigate birds circling the peaks. Terry had also made sure Joyce and I had full wet suits free. As we descended I immediately noticed that vis had increase to about 30 to 40 ft range. It was still cold but the extra wet suit did the trick, making things much more comfortable. There was some surge present, but no one had any trouble with it. Five minutes into the dive and, "clang, clang, clang" Michael was signaling "four baby Mantas, dead ahead, swimming by. Alas, I personally was unable to catch a glimpse of them. Saw two or three large rays again (or same one, two or three times). Terry pointed out two small nurse sharks sleeping in a rock crevice. Spent the remainder of the dive looking at the usual critters and hunting for mantas, but I cared not, I was in my element.

Had Lunch anchored in the lee side of the Cats enjoying the view and talking about what we'd seen. The more we talked the more I realized how many different varieties I'd seen in one short dive. The more experienced divers and myself agreed on the concensus that there was all sorts of stuff all around us, if only the vis was better the animal life would be astounding. You had the distinct impression that there were pelagics swimming all around us; if only you were in the right place at the right time you'd see them.

Dive four was done at a pinnacle near the Cats. Alas, still no pelagics, but there was one point in the dive when the current picked up slightly, vis increased and we crested a ridge; we were surrounded by large schools of fish of every type imaginable. I couldn't move my head fast enough to catch every variety in view, all moving in different directions in large schools. It was towards the end of the dive and I was cold enough to be about ready to give it up even though I had plenty of non deco time remaining. Looking back on it now in my minds eye I can still see that scene. Ten large parrot fish schooling in one direction, four or five large queen angels swimming among them, several hundred yellow tails schooling in another direction, big eyed jacks, moorish idols, and on and on too fast to remember. The description just doesn't do it justice; it was like seeing every variety of reef fish that you'd see in the Carribean here and there but seeing them all at once in prolific numbers. I'll go back to dive CR based on that one dive alone.

ARENAL TRIP

Weds. we opted to make our trip to Arenal instead of diving as the weather was promising for volcano viewing. It was a tough choice. One of our seven stayed in Coco to continue diving while the rest headed out. Took about four hours driving due to the rough road conditions between Tilaran and Fortuna, but the views along the way eased the drive. We stayed in a small hotel in Fortuna at the base of Arenal that Michael had recommended, and after checking in, headed up to Tabacon hot springs to soak away the drive.

Tabacon was like Michael described, "You can have two nickels in your pocket, and it will make you feel like a million bucks once you get in" ($15 admission). The grounds are beautiful with hot spring streams running through them. We sat under the hot waterfall and let it message away the driving aches. We then headed up the trail to the upper bar to get a drink and find our own private soaking pool. Once in the bar, the bottom fell out of the sky and it started to pour down rain --I mean really pour --and kept raining. The bartender announced 2 for 1 drinks and we proceeded to get faced. An hour or two later it was still raining hard and we decided to head back to the main pool. The main pool was rock'n, everyone had a big smile on their face and we sat at the bar in the pool and tossed back a few more. What a singular experience! It was raining cats and dogs and we couldn't have cared less cause we were soaking in hot water, slamming drinks, braving the water jet slide, and having the time of our lives. Just when we think it couldn't get any better the clouds clear enough to see the base of the volcano and we hear a distant boom and look up to see lava flowing down Arenal as dusk closes in around us. What a day!

We go back and check in to our room, have a great dinner, and crash. The rain has returned obscuring the volcano, but we can still hear it. All through the night we wake up to check the weather each time we hear a boom. 4:30am. we get up to see the weather has cleared and there's not a cloud in the sky. Lava is cascading down the slopes of Arenal in the dark of the morning hours with a plume of smoke rising straight up from the top of the caldera and we can see it all. That afternoon before heading back, we hike down to Fortuna waterfall; bit of a trek but just do it.

We get back to Coco Thur afternoon and eat and drink some more. Friday we're all set for another trip to the Cats, but it's raining like crazy again. As Terry's husband Billy says, "We're happy to take your money and take you out if you insist on going but... well, it's your call". The message sinks through and better sense prevails in spite of our addiction to diving.

Not to worry though- We'll be back! BVIEH

finface

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