It's SNUBA, Not SCUBA!

When we got SCUBA certified a couple of years ago, I thought that we would be diving at least once a year.  The Kids had other ideas.  They are too young to dive with us (the minimum age for junior open water certification is 10 years old), and we can't just leave them in the hotel room.  Thus, we're left listening to other people's tales of diving.

When planning this trip, we came across some good reviews about an activity called SNUBA diving.  It's a cross between SCUBA and snorkeling.  Breathing is done through a regulator, not a snorkel.  However, instead of wearing a tank on your back, the regulator is connected to a 20 foot air hose that is attached to a tank inside a towed float.  Two people share one tank, so each dive usually lasts about 30 to 40 minutes.  With this method, SNUBA divers can stay down further than snorkelers.  With the 20 foot limit, there is no need to worry about safety stops or accidentally descending too deep.  If there is a problem or somebody freaks out, it only takes a few seconds to swim to the surface.  Most importantly though, our kids fit the age limit to go SNUBA diving.  When I showed The Boy a YouTube video for SNUBA, he exclaimed "I REALLY want to do that."

We drove to Playa Flamingo for our 7:45 AM meeting with the SNUBA-Costa Rica folks.  We were met by the two owners Mike and Paula.  Mike is a guy from land-locked North Dakota who ended up in Costa Rica for the last three years after doing a stint in the Army.  Paula is a Tico from San Jose who enjoys diving.  They started the SNUBA company about a year ago.  Although the technology has existed for about twenty years, there were no other SNUBA operators in Costa Rica.

With their relatively new operation, SNUBA-Costa Rica does not have their own boat.  They rent space with other dive boats.  We would be piggybacking on a boat from the Brindisi Group.  They were taking a group of about five SCUBA divers out to Catalina Island.  I spoke with one of the other guests on the boat.  He told me that he has done about 320 dives all over the world and seen about every underwater critter around.  However, each dive was always a new experience.  Somehow, the subject of sharks came up.  Right away, I could tell that The Girl was starting to get afraid.  We all tried to calm her by explaining how most sharks are benign and how lucky we would be to even be able to spot one in such shallow waters.  However, I could sense that her fear did not fully abate.

The Catalina Islands are really just big rocks, not inhabitable tracts of land.

The boat ride to Catalina Island took about 30 minutes.  During the ride, Mike explained all of the safety rules with The Kids.  He also showed them the different signals he would use to point out any underwater creatures.  

Mike makes the sign for shark.

The sign for rabbit?

After we were done, the boat's friendly first mate suggested that The Kids may want to drive the boat.  He led them to the captain's chair and they got to steer for a few minutes.  They had a tough time keeping the boat going in a straight line.  

If the captain had let The Kids continue to steer...

...it would have taken us a day to get to our destination.

While we were up there, the eagle-eyed first mate pointed out a manta ray jumping out of the water and the water spout from a whale.  They must have been pretty far away because I couldn't see anything.  While The Kids sailed the boat, the staff prepared all of the gear.

Paula readies the regulators which are connected to air hoses.

The SNUBA floats can carry a tank and support up to two adults.

We were fitted with the proper-sized masks, fins, and weight belts.  

Too many weights and The Boy would
have a quick ride to Davy Jone's Locker.

The Girl tries to get used to breathing out of a regulator.

The regular dramamine must work pretty well because The Boy was not getting seasick despite the choppy waters.  The SCUBA divers were dropped off first besides some snorkelers at Catalina Island.  We then headed to a shallower spot for us to do our first run.  The Wife and The Boy would go first on one apparatus and The Girl and I would go on the other.  Mike would stay with the first group and Paula with the second.  Both would be wearing SCUBA gear.

The wheels started coming off the bus, once we hit the water.  The choppy waters compounded by the unfamiliarity breathing through a regulator freaked out both kids.  The Boy started crying as he hugged the SNUBA float.  So much for being enthusiastic about SNUBA diving.  Eventually he calmed down and started swimming away from it with Mike and The Wife beside him.  The Girl didn't cry, but she wouldn't let go of the float or put her head in the water.  It took several minutes of coaxing before she would let go and swim.  But within seconds, she would head straight back to the float.  I tried holding her hand and even giving her a piggy back ride, but she wouldn't relax.  She eventually put her head down in the water but just for a second to a see a fish or two.  Eventually, The Girl became inseparable from Paula, grabbing onto her tightly and not letting go.     

This practice run didn't go as well as we had planned.  After we climbed back onto the boat, The Girl decided that she didn't want to do the second swim.  The Wife was feeling a little queasy too, so she agreed to stay with her.  It took a little more coaxing to convince The Boy to try it again.

We headed out to the nearby Sombrero Island for our second dive.  

It kinda looks like a hat.

Once again, the SCUBA guys went first followed by The Boy and I.  Mike led the way pointing out several Moray eels and large schools of fish.  He grabbed a blue starfish for The Boy to pet and then showed us an octopus hiding under a rock.  The coolest thing is when he snuck up on a puffer fish, gently held it, and let us touch it.  The fish was so at ease that it didn't poof up.

I was surprised that the current was so strong underwater.  I was even more surprised that The Boy was strong enough of a swimmer to handle himself in the current.  I was glad that he enjoyed the second dive.  Otherwise, I don't think I would be able to convince either of my children to get on a boat ever again.

Unlike our experience on the Wetass II, the guys on the Brindisi Group's dive boat were awesome.  Although we weren't the primary clients, the first mate kept checking on us making sure that we got all the drinks or snacks that we needed.  Adam and Paula were also great.  They took care of setting up and putting away all of their equipment.  They were of great help getting in and out of the boat which can be hard when wearing flippers.  We really never had to do a thing.  Although The Kids' courage failed them, the people we were with still made the excursion fun and worthwhile.

After we made it back to land, we went back to the Hotel Sugar Beach to check out and retrieve our luggage.  Then we had to make the journey back down to Tamarindo to pick up our pottery pieces.  When we arrived at the Guatil Pottery Studio, we learned with dismay that our pieces weren't quite dry yet.  Apparently Arbin would be out the whole day to teach a pottery class in Papagayo.  He had given his assistant, Victor, instructions to fire our pieces earlier that morning as we would have a tight deadline that day.  Unfortunately, there was some mix-up and the pieces still needed a few more hours to go when we arrived.  There was nothing we could do but wait.  I was not happy.

As an aside, Victor told The Wife that he hurt his knee badly in a motorbike accident recently.  In order to get appropriate medical treatment, he would have to take the bus all the way to San Jose to see a doctor (a 6-8 hour journey according to him).  I guess our American healthcare system doesn't sound too bad.

We headed over to Cafe Tico for lunch.  The Wife also bought some artisanal coffee and some locally-produced jams.

Ham and cheese empanada

Smoked tuna wrap

Beef and cheese sandwich.

After an extra 1.5 hours, we were able to pick up our pieces.  They weren't quite fully baked so Victor suggested we blast them in our oven at home for about three hours.  Arbin's wife also gave us a complimentary soap dish for our troubles. 

Since we had to return our vehicle by 6 PM, we booked it to Liberia.  The drive to get to the Hilton Garden Inn took a little over an hour.  We checked in and dropped off our baggage.  

There is something to be said about the consistent amenities of chain hotels.

One of the few hotel bathrooms that we didn't sully with mud and sand. 

We jumped back into the car and drove 10 more km to find a gas station to fill up our car.  We also stopped off at a local grocery and bought some empanadas for dinner.  We made it to the Vamos Rent-A-Car at 5:30 PM.  Despite driving the SUV hard on some pretty rough roads, I was relieved to hear that there would be no additional charges for damage to the car. 

***** 

Tuesday, December 30

We caught an early flight back to U.S. the next morning.  At the airport, we had to pay $29 per person for an antiquated exit tax.

Cuban cigars for sell at the duty-free store don't look so appealing after all...

We didn't want to take any chances, and went with a four hour layover in Atlanta.  That worked out well because it took 1-2 hours to get through immigration and customs.  All of the fancy kiosks don't seem to make the lines move any faster.

Overall, the entire family had a wonderful time in Costa Rica.  For the most part, the people were extremely friendly and laid back.  Despite all the posts about theft and scams on the travel forums, we never felt unsafe during our time in the country.

There were a few negatives though.  For a country with great access to the ocean, Costa Rica's food was a bit disappointing.  The WiFi was awful in most places that we stayed.  Plus, the data package that we purchased for our cell phone was worthless because the signal strength was terrible.  All of the hills and mountains may have contributed to that.  Furthermore, Costa Rica is definitely not an inexpensive country to visit.  In fact, it has turned out to be one of our more expensive trips.  Aside from the fishing though, I think every activity was worth it.  It will be nice to take the family back in a couple of years when they are older.  They were still too young to take part in all of the adventurous excursions available in Costa Rica.

Surf's Up, I'm Falling Down

Having had such a lousy day on the fishing boat yesterday, we weren't very enthusiastic about getting up at 6 AM to go surfing.  We also weren't crazy about missing breakfast either and having to eat cheese sandwiches again.  However, the timing for our surfing lessons was dependent on the tides.  And the tides told us to get our butts out of bed way too early for being on vacation.

Growing up, I never found surfing interesting.  I never understood the whole surf culture.  I never saw Patrick Swayze and Keanu Reeves in Point Break.  Living over 1,500 miles away from the nearest surfing destination didn't help either.  However, since we would be spending a couple of days along the Pacific coast, we figured we would give it a try.  A lot of folks make the journey down to Costa Rica to surf.  Unlike California, the water is warm enough so that wet suits are not needed.

Unfortunately, we also freaked The Girl out prior to our trip by watching The Amazing Race.  One of the contestants was Bethany Hamilton, the girl who got her arm bit off while surfing.  Although we intentionally avoided having her watch Soul Surfer, The Girl still developed a new-found distrust of the ocean.

After perusing the internet, we decided to contact Point Break Surf to schedule some surfing lessons.  It's not the oldest or most distinguished surf school in the Guanacaste area.  That wouldn't matter since we were approaching this activity with some skepticism and trepidation already.  The main reason that we went with Point Break is that they seemed friendly for families with kids.

   

Many surfers in Guanacaste stay in the Tamarindo area so that they can surf within walking distance of their hotel.  The folks at Point Break highly recommended that we take lessons at Playa Grande, a more secluded beach within a national park (it's a sea turtle nesting site).  Their reasoning is that the waves are more manageable for novices and the beach is less crowded.  It didn't matter to us either way since we had a car.

With my overly-aggressive driving, we were able to make it to Playa Grande in less than 30 minutes.  We were met by Mike and Michelle, the owners of Point Break Surf.  They quit their jobs in Toronto and moved with their daughter down to Costa Rica about two years ago.  Mike had previously visited the country several times on surfing trips.  Michelle had never even been to Costa Rica nor surfed before they made the decision to move.  It was quite a leap of faith.  On this day, they were also accompanied by three of their Tico surf instructors, all young guys with some serious six pack abs.

 

We were glad that we went to Playa Grande.  The sand is soft and white with absolutely no rocks to hurt when wiping out.  There are no rip tides either.  Furthermore, the slope of the beach is so gradual that even 50 yards into the surf, the water is still shallow enough for The Kids to stand up.  Plus, there are a bunch of pretty little shells that litter the beach. (Note: it is illegal to take seashells in Costa Rica...not like anybody is checking).

Nary a soul can be seen on this beach.

The instructors set up the boards for the day's lesson.

White spiral-shaped shells compose the majority of those found on Playa Grande.

We were given a safety lesson followed by instructions on how to surf.  We practiced on the boards while they were still on dry land.  It seemed pretty straight-forward.  How hard could it be to stand up on a flat piece of fiberglass, 2 feet wide and 10 feet long?

Paddle, paddle, paddle...

Now stand up!

We took turns in groups of three with an instructor.  He would push us out into the water and line us up for a good wave.  Then he would tell us when to paddle and give the board a push when the wave arrived.  The instructor would then tell us when to stand up while he simultaneously steadied the surfboard.  We did this for an hour, took a 15 minute break for water and fresh pineapple, and practiced for a second hour.  With this method, I was able to stand up and surf more than 80% of the time.  What a piece of cake!  It took a little bit of nudging to get The Girl out there.  But with an instructor, she felt perfectly safe.  The Kids and even The Wife, who struggled initially, had a great time with the surfing lessons. 

When the lesson was over, we jumped back in the car and headed towards Tamarindo.  The Wife had decided that she wanted to try some pottery lessons since we had plenty of free time for the next few days.  She made arrangements for the four of us to take two days of lessons at the Guatil Pottery Studio.

While the journey to Tamarindo didn't take very long from Playa Grande, we weren't prepared for the horrible traffic once we arrived.  There is one main road that goes into Tamarindo.  It has two lanes, but the shoulders are occupied by parked cars.  Sedans and even SUV's have no problems driving on this road.  However, the issue lies in the large over-sized vehicles that take up more than their own lane.  Since Tamarindo is such a major destination, full-sized passenger buses try to navigate the road to dump off tourists.  Large trucks are used to deliver food and supplies to the many hotels along the road.  When these big buses and trucks lumber through, traffic comes to a standstill.  With it being the holiday season, the area was even more packed than usual.  It took forever to get to our destination and another 2,000 collones to pay a local watchman to park in a free parking zone. 

All the traffic through Tamarindo had to traverse this single road.

When we arrived at the Guatil Pottery Studio, we were met by Arbin, the owner and local artist.  He hails from a small village where both his parents were potters.  He spoke perfect English and had at one point lived in Los Angeles.  Instead of teaching students how to throw pottery using modern techniques, he shows people how pottery has been made in Costa Rica since pre-Columbian times.

The pottery studio is located in a very modest looking hut.

Arbin has many of his pieces on display for sale.

We all picked a shape of ceramic to emulate.  The Girl and I chose small vases, The Boy a mug, and the Wife a large platter.  We were given a wad of clay and shaped it into a pinch pot.  Modern pottery uses wheels that are either foot-powered or electric.  People use both hands to smooth out the clay and make it symmetrical.   In the traditional Tico method, we turned the wheel with our non-dominant hand while simultaneously using a corn cob to shape the bowl into the correct shape. 

Arbin shows The Kids how to elevate their pinch pot into a vase.

Integral pieces of pottery making equipment.

The Kids had never done any real pottery before.  Arbin was very good at instructing them on exactly what to do.  Once we were done shaping our pieces, we had to let it dry for the next three to four hours.

We wandered over to the Copacabana Restaurant and Beach Bar.  Just like most of the restaurants that we have tried in Costa Rica, the food was fine.  It was nothing spectacular.  The restaurant's best attribute is that it faces the beach. 

Hamburger from the kid's menu

Spaghetti from the kid's menu

Jumbo shrimp exotica

Copacabana Mahi Mahi

After seeing the rocks on Tamarindo, I was even more happy that we went surfing at Playa Grande.

After lunch, we followed The Wife as she shopped at the many boutique stores on the main street.

This store specializes in leather products
made with the hides of sea critters.

There were wallets, purses, and belts made from the skins of sharks, rays, tilapia, and sea snakes.

The helpful owner of Papaya con leche designs the bikinis on sale at her shop.

We also stopped by the Point Break Surf store.  Mike explained that they had just finished purchasing and renovating the shop three weeks ago.  Just in time for the holiday crunch.  We bought some of their T-shirts as souvenirs.  The Boy had to use their bathroom, and he ended up clogging it up.  I guess Americans crap bigger than Canadians too. 

This surf shop is one of the first stores visitors encounter when entering Tamarindo. 

At 4 PM, we went back to Guanil Pottery Studio to paint the undercoat for our pieces.

Since none of us were very hungry nor very impressed with the restaurants in Costa Rica, we stopped at the Auto Mercado and bought some pastries, bread, and chicken for dinner.  The Wife and I enjoyed listening to the waves crashing on the beach as we dined on our hotel balcony.  The Kids, however, were too busy watching the endless string of Simpsons reruns.

*****

Sunday, December 28

High tide would be an hour later than it was the previous day.  Therefore, we had time to enjoy a quick breakfast at our hotel. 

Fresh fruit and toast

Pancakes

Typical Tico breakfast

We drove back to Playa Grande for our second day of surfing lessons.  

While the instructors taught some new students...

...The Kids frolicked in the water.

It was great to see that The Girl no longer had any fear of the ocean.  I guess she finally figured out that no sharks were going to get her near shore.  However, it was a little worrisome as she and The Boy wandered pretty far out into the surf.

The Wife and The Kids kept surfing with assistance.  After another easy run with an instructor, I wanted to see if I could do it by myself.  It seemed fairly easy enough.  For the next hour, I tried to surf on some pretty small waves to no avail.  It was one new problem after another.  First, I was paddling too hard before the wave got there.  Second, I wasn't getting enough speed for my board when I tried to stand up, thus causing me to flip forward.  Third, I regressed and had poor positioning on my surfboard.

I'm surfing!

I'm surfing!

Nope.

The part that I found most tiring was trying to get into position to catch a decent wave.  It took a lot of energy paddling against the endless number of waves.  By the time I was ready to try and surf, I was already fatigued.  I'm guessing that there are not a lot of overweight, out-of-shape, middle-aged men on the professional surfing circuit.  It's definitely a lot easier when there is an instructor pushing you into position and telling you exactly what to do.

After taking a halftime break, I went back out there with the first surfboard I saw.  After a couple of embarrassing episodes of slipping off the board while merely laying on it, I realized that this old surfboard had lost all of its traction making it completely slippery.  I replaced it with a new version which really helped. 

As our surfing session was nearing its end and my frustration was reaching its peak, I picked a small wave to try.  Somehow, the stars were all aligned correctly, and I was able get enough speed and stand up without falling.  I was finally surfing!  It lasted only a few seconds as the wave died near the shore, but the experience was exhilarating.  I looked around...and nobody was watching.  The Wife and The Kids were all busy doing something else.  There was no audience for my moment of glory.

After the lessons were over, we stuck around for another hour so that The Kids could play on the beach. 

This nearby iguana got just about as much lift as I got.

We headed back to Tamarindo to finish painting our pottery.  The traffic still sucked on a Sunday afternoon.  At the studio, Arbin instructed us on the next couple of steps to finish our pieces.  

The Wife smooths our her dish using a small strip of leather.

Once the pieces were smooth, we used the provided colors to paint designs on our pottery.

As an homage to our time in Monteverde, I painted...

...a white capuchin monkey and a blue butterfly.

The Wife put a toucan on her plate.

The Boy painted some flowers and butterflies on his mug.

The Girl painted...I really don't know.

Afterwards, we stopped next door at the Surf Shack.  

This joint mainly sells burgers and wings to the North American crowds.

A couple of TV's showed NFL games and some surfing content.

They make a mean milkshake--especially the PB and chocolate.

Western burger

We finally had something spicy in CR, on a burger no less.

The Tico burger with fries

After lunch, we drove north to check out Playa Conchal.  It's a highly touted beach with a unique characteristic that instead of sand, it is composed of broken sea shells.  Access to the beach is limited.  There is an entrance for guests staying at the all-inclusive Westin Resort.  By law a second entrance was created but it is much harder.  It requires crossing the neighboring Playa Brasalito and going through a narrow, single-lane road cut through a hill.  Luckily, we had 4-wheel drive.

With many SUV's driving across the beach, it's probably inadvisable to sunbathe at Playa Brasilito.

Since it is such a pain in the butt to get to this beach, I figured it would be nice and quiet.  Boy was I wrong.  The place was packed.  The parking lot was so full that we had to pay a watchman to guide us to a parking spot.  There were several tents with vendors hawking food and cheap souvenirs.  There was shade underneath some underbrush, but every spot was taken by local families.  It seemed that most of them had packed their entire house with them to come to the beach. 

Hardly the quaint, quiet beach that we were hoping for.

While the broken shells were kind of interesting for about five minutes, we learned to dislike the beach pretty fast.   Unlike Playa Grande, the drop-off from the surf was pretty steep for small kids.  The waves were really strong compared to the other beaches we had visited.  And it was just too damn crowded.

To make things worse, The Girl announced that she really had to go number 2 badly.  There were no bathroom facilities anywhere on the beach, and she wouldn't last before we could get her back to town.  Since she couldn't wait, The Wife decided to try the nearby Westin to see if they would let her use the bathroom.  After several minutes imploring five different security people at the gate, she was turned away.  The Girl started crying because she was about to have an accident.  I took her back there and begged the guards again.  They refused without showing any signs of compassion.  It was a sad sight to see adults treat a child like that.  As I argued with them in exasperation, a really nice family staying at the resort overheard us and offered to take The Girl inside to use the bathroom.  It was great to see that there are still some friendly people out there.  Those asinine guards couldn't refuse a paying guest. 

After that crisis was averted, we left the disappointing Playa Conchal and made it back to our hotel.  We watched the sunset while wading in the calmer and friendlier waters of Playa Potrero.  It was a perfect way to finish our last day at the beach.  Afterwards, we ate dinner at the hotel's restaurant.

A traditional casado with fish

Seafood rice

The catch of the day (mahi mahi)