We knew that we were going to need some additional time for this trip, so we decided to drive to the town of Puntarenas on Thursday night to catch the ferry over to South Nicoya. This would put us waking up at the beach.
I feel I should clarify that sometimes in Costa Rica, Puntarenas refers to the PROVINCE which is similar to a state. The town of Puntarenas is actually a long finger like island within the province of Puntarenas. Also, the port we were arriving to in South Nicoya, Paquera, is in the province of Puntarenas. This part of Puntarenas province is sometimes referred to as "South Nicoya" or the Nicoya peninsula. I believe it is after some indigenous people that settled there from the past.
Our itinerary included taking a snorkling tour to Isla Tortuga, hiking in Refugio de Curu, and exploring some beaches of the southwest Nicoya Peninsula. Not everything went as planned but we saw quite a few differences in the culture and the countryside that made up for the inconveniences we experienced along the way.
Our ferry from Puntarenas was the largest we have been on and well equipped. This shows the inner lounge from outside looking in.
Big rigs were allowed to cross on this ferry which is something we hadn't expected.
Puntarenas from the ferry. We are looking at the harbor from a new perspective. This is the same place we had our ginormous hot dogs, tried our first caldosas, and walked around amid the laid back "party-like" vibe the first weekend after we arrived.
A night view of the outdoor patio of our Airbnb.
These images are copied from Airbnb. We stayed in this unique tent-like dome.
Inside the "tent". Essentially, we "glamped".
On our walk to the beach the next morning, we passed this settlement with thatch roofs. It has the feel of a historical farm, Tico style. There were several outbuildings around the house. It looked like a little village but in fact, was one property.
Pano view of the beach where we met our boat for Tortuga Isle.
Our first sighting of camping possibilities in Costa Rica. This beach was called Organos. It was a little cove.
We were offered some gallo pinto for breakfast.
The master chef is Antonia. Their family runs this little kitchen and snorkeling tour as they live right there on the beach.
Getting in the water. We had our 4 and 2 Canadians joined us with 3 guides. It is a small boat. We saw much larger tours with 20 or 30 people each but I'm glad Clark got us this small private tour.
An interesting look into the cove of a small island we approached.
After snorkeling around Tortuga Isle, our guide took us to a little private beach, and we went exploring. These pictures are meant to depict the change in the sand's texture. As we got closer to the end of the island, the sand became much more course.
Here the sand is practically finely crushed shells.
We had a hermit crab competition to find the largest and smallest.
These are snails.
At the end of the island there was a rock face. It was crawling with crabs and also made a nice view.
The beach near our landing ground. We went exploring far down the beach.
Our guides provided this wonderful lunch. They have creative ways to arrange the pineapple and watermelon.
At the cliff face, the waves were crashing high. Craig loved this!
This was a ship anchored out in the ocean near our beach and the snorkeling spot. Our guide explained this is a cruise ship from Panama and run by a French company. He took us quite close to get a good view on our way back to Organos.
After cleaning up at the tent, we headed out for dinner. Clark found this restaurant situated on a little cove up the coast from Paquera. Clark fell in love with this place. The tide was out and with the water being very calm and clear, we could see some fish and even a small ray was feeding near the tidal pools.
A view of the cove from the restaurant.
Looking into the restaurant.
This is how many restaurants package the silverware.
Seafood
Salmon
Grilled fish
A double decker patio couch in the restaurant's park.
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