Terrestrial Time.

Our dive package included only 5 days of diving so we decided to take a break.  Now when I say take a break, I don't mean take a break from being as active as we'd been.  After all, this is Costa Rica and we needed to be sure to explore whatever we could!

(The first step?  Climb up the ladder to the zip line.)

(Jen braved the zip line going first.)

(Marisa with excellent positioning followed.)

(Kat went next while I brought up the rear.)

Adventure Tours it was!  This was recommended by our new friend Brenda, one of the owners of Rich Coast Diving.  Seriously, the best way we could experience one full day of land adventure.  For the price of $80, and an hour and a half car ride, we got 2 1/2 hours of zip lining, 45 minutes of tubing down some rapids, and then a horse back ride down to a waterfall.  Oh!  AND it included a buffet lunch as well!

(After the zip lining, the repelling.  Jen, Kat and I all chose to do this upside down.)

We would like to announce that Marisa took on her fear of heights and conquered all 7 zip lines, 2 Tarzan swings, repelling, suspended bridge, and some rock climbing!  Not bad for a girl on the verge of a panic attack.  Poor thing.  But she did it and we have the pictures to prove it!

(Risa amazingly conquered the repelling.)

(Kat shows off.)

(Risa waiting to climb, Kat Tarzan swinging, Jen climbing.)

(Not sure what's going on here but I believe it was the lazy part of the river.)

(Jen and Risa chilling before some rapids.)

(Our bums were a little sore after this horseback riding stuff...)

By the time the whole adventure was done, we were exhausted.  We climbed in the car and did our best to stay awake.  We got to the hotel and enjoyed another lovely cool down in the pool and watching the wildlife around us.  Jen and I walked to our favorite pizza place once again and got a 4 cheese with garlic to go.  We brought it back to our room and we all debriefed about the fabulous day out of water!

Channel of Sharks.

The next adventure was another big dive we were looking forward to:  Catalinas!  These are a bunch of small islands out about 45 minutes from shore in the opposite direction as Bats.  These dives are known for all of the rays that frequent the area!

This dive trip was also the very last one for my poor Xcel wetsuit.  It is no more for I have destroyed it.  Luckily, it was free ;)

We dove at the first site which was on the calmer side of the rock island.  We were down for about maybe 10 minutes when finally Spanish Jemaine (remember him from a previous post?) decided to cancel this site.  We surfaced and he said, "I refuse to dive in such a place as this.  I refuse to do only 3 meters."  That's right, the dive was maybe 15 feet deep with pretty much nothing to see.

We hopped back on the boat and went on the other side which faced the open ocean.  We dove to about 70 something feet and were greeted by beautiful schools of fish.  As we cruised around, we found a giant Red Snapper and many Eagle Rays, which we never tire of.  We saw another turtle but it was difficult to determine which type it was because the visibility was less than it had been.

We did a total of 4 dives, if you count the little "pre-dive" and they were VERY intense!  The 3rd dive was amazing!  This site was called Sharks and we found out why.  It was full of channels and a crazy surge.  In the main channel we came across a mama White Tip Reef Shark with 7 babies!  We sat and watched them forever as the surge moved us back and forth.  It was just incredible to see them all swimming in this surge and all so close to us!  Kat did super well for her first time in such a surge.  We were all very impressed!

(FYI, I did not chase this shark.  This was actually the surge helping me get this video!)

As the diving continued we saw more Octos, Eels, a couple of gorgeous Round Rays, and more!  This area was definitely worth the trip out!  And of course, we more sun while eating the delicious pineapple between dives.

(Poor wetsuit.  That was just the beginning!)

By the time we got back we were all so super tired -- the usual.  You just don't realize how much work you're really doing when you dive!  It's all so relaxing and just peaceful that it's easy not to notice!  As per usual, we took a dip in the pool to wind down and had our Monkey Time.  Then we decided to start getting ready for dinner, which was at La Caveja again like the night before with the owners of the dive shop.  Hey man, the food is good and who knows when we're coming back!  As we were about to leave the rain came pouring down!  It poured and poured and that's when the thunder started.  Let's just say I'm not so good at pretending I'm not terrified. :(  We were eating in the restaurant and the girls were trying so hard to soothe my nerves.  Let' just say I may have made myself sick after such a freakout.  The lightning was literally right over us.  It was insane.

(Proof as to how close the monkeys really are here!  That's Kat standing outside her and Risa's room!)

(Just after checking out his reflection by mine and Jen's room.)

(Sweet mama and baby.)

We made it back to the hotel, thanks to Jen's skill of driving in the snow, and got ready for bed.  Of course, the thunder storm continued and I did my best to try to get use to it.  So, I decided to join Risa in trying to capture photos of the lightning!  We didn't do so hot, but at least it helped get my mind off of it. Finally, we all got too tired to stay awake and I'm pretty sure we went to bed at about 8:00pm!  We're such grammas on this trip because we are so active during the day!  The sun goes down, we go down!  It's been so amazing though, I wouldn't change a thing!

And Suddenly, The Boat Was Empty.

Our next big day was one we were ALL looking forward to!  It was time for the epic Bats Dive!  This island is about a 2 hour boat ride so we had to be at the dive shop at 6:30am.  The thing that is so intense about this dive is that it's known for Bull Sharks.  Now those of you who know us, we love our sharkies!  But when it comes to Bull Sharks?  We tend to get a little nervous.  None of us had encountered one before so it was going to be a little anxious the whole dive.

 After a nice cruise out to the dive site, Big Scare, we did an immediate descent and the dive began.  The visibility was pretty fantastic so it was nice to be able to look in every direction to be sure were weren't being stalked.  We saw plenty of fish but none of us were really paying any attention to the critters before us because we were all keeping an eye out for the big guys!

Sadly, the dive was a bust.  We still have yet to encounter a Bull Shark.  But even during our 3 minute safety stop we were leery of our surroundings and Kat was teasing us underwater saying she was keeping an eye on the abyss below.

(Such a tuckered out Octopus!)

The next dive was at Black Rock.  This site is not known for Bull Sharks so we were able to breathe a little lighter.  Here we encountered for huge schools of fish that reminded us of the movie Finding Nemo where the Sardines are schooling together and change suddenly into an arrow to show them which way to go.  It was pretty cool.  We saw a couple of Spotted Eagle Rays and some more fun stuff, then it was surface time. 

(Risa and Jen enjoying the site.)

(Kat still aware of her surroundings.)

We were a little saddened at not seeing any Bull Sharks, but hey, you know what?  We're in Costa Rica AND we were diving in a place none of us have been to!  How bad can it be?  Besides, we decided we're going again on Monday. ;)

Gramma Time.

Yesterday was Dive Day 2.  We met up at the dive shop at 8:00am again and then were on our way to the beach.  We were escorted by a couple of different people this time, who then helped us on the little dingy to our boat.  This boat was a little smaller than the one the day before, so thank heavens there were only 7 of us instead of 10!  We all know what happens when a boat is rocking and it's small with a big crowd...

We were broken up into 2 groups again and our group was matched with Juan.  Now when you imagine Juan, think of Jemaine from Flight of the Conchords, but with blonde hair and a Spanish accent.  No joke!  It was awesome!  I'll try to take a pix of him the next time we dive with him.

(School is in!)

(I know this is horrible to say, but we got hungry when we saw him.)

Anyway, we headed out to L'Argentina for our first dive.  Seriously, we love Costa Rica for diving!  We saw more Eagle Rays, tons of lobster (which made us want to eat sushi for dinner -- well except Jen, who's allergic to fish), Octos, more White Tip Reef Sharks, and more!

Oh!  I forgot to mention one little, tiny incident.  Marisa decided she was way overweighted on the dives from the day before so she asked for 2 pounds less.  Well she ended up having to hold on to rocks because she was way too light!  The poor girl had a miserable time trying to stay down with the rest of us and none of us even realized it!  Finally during our 3 minute safety stop, the Spanish Jemaine realized she was underweighted and gave her a couple more pounds to help.  It wasn't until we surfaced and were back on the boat that we found out another guy with the same colored weight belt had grabbed her weight belt so she had his.  Total sad face.

The next dive was at Play Pen.  This time we were sure Risa had enough weight on her belt and we were all happy to see her the same depth as us.  We saw more of the same things we saw on the first dive along with more schools of fish and less sharks.  We also saw a couple of Hawksbill turtles!  The first one was tiny and we hung out in the surge with him going back and forth like being rocked in the ocean.  It was so relaxing!  

(Sweet baby Hawksbill.)

Let me tell you this as well.  The Costa Ricans do it right in between dives and after.  They have the freshest pineapple you can get already sliced.  It is probably the best snack ever for diving!  That and their ice cold water and delicious crackers/cookies!  Seriously, amazing!

After lounging in the pool a bit when we got back, we showered and headed out for dinner.  This was supposedly the best restaurant in town.  We realized that of course, it was the employees of the place saying that because it was definitely NOT the best.  Kat and Risa only ate a few bites of their fish because the lemon whatever sauce basically tasted like butter.  Think Thanksgiving rolls but 9 ounces of them.  Blech!  I had the red snapper with macadamia nuts and it was pretty dry.  Jen got her anti-seafood plate of pork and she said it was pretty good but not the best.  Hey, at least we tried it!  We're still into our little pizza place around the corner.  Man that pizza is good!

(Our new friend at Papagayo.  We love how they let the dogs and cats chill wherever!  And yes, she is almost in my lap.)

Anyway, we had to get an early start the next morning so we headed to bed at about 8:00pm and pretty much fell asleep as our heads hit the pillows!  What a fabulous day!!

Let the Diving Begin!

(Heading to the dive boat from shore.)

What an amazing time we're having here in Playas del Coco!  Yesterday we went out for our first dive trip and we were told it was the best visibility in months.  Sweeet!


We met up at the dive shop (a 5 minute walk from our hotel) at 8:00am.  After all our gear was packed in  truck, we walked the other direction to the beach where we were picked up on a little boat to be taxied to the dive boat.  That alone was pretty fun and luckily, none of us fell out!

After getting out boat briefing we decided to start putting on our wetsuits.  Let's be honest, the last time we wore these suckers we were about 15 pounds lighter and were putting them on multiple times a day!  THIS was going to take a while, lol!

We made it to our first dive site called La Tortuga, which is basically 2 islands that look like a turtle.  What a fabulous first dive we had!  Kat saw her very first sharks (White Tip Reef Sharks), and we saw heaps of octopus, Jen and I saw an Eagle Ray, tons of eels and even a gorgeous, bright yellow Sea Horse.  It was SUCH an amazing feeling being back in the water.

(Clown Nosed Shrimp)

(Puffers were everywhere!)

(One of the tons of octos we found.)

Our second dive was called Casitas and was a shallow dive with smaller critters lurking about.  We found teeny tiny Nudibranchs, crabs, more eels and more octos.  It was such a blast!!

(Kat, Risa and Jen having the time of their lives between dives.)

(Tiniest Frogfish I've ever seen!)

(This sucker was huge too!)

After diving we decided to hit up a place called Woody's, which is different than the Woody's we know and loved in HB.  This was a nice place to just chill and eat.  I think the part we liked the most was that they built around the trees instead of cutting them down for construction.  It's such a nice thing to see all around this town.  That and also the dogs and cats running the town, lol!

We headed back to the hotel after eating and decided to relax in the warm pool.  We debriefed our first dive trip and did some lazy swimming while Marisa and I dodged the birds that were plotting our demise.  We're still here so they have yet to succeed!  Jen and Kat just laugh and roll their eyes at us.

As we were showering and getting ready for dinner, I walked out on our balcony and Leo, our Italian host, was pointing and laughing, telling us to come down and look.  Jen and I quickly grabbed our cameras, as did Marisa across the way, and boy was THIS a treat!  Howler Monkeys were climbing everywhere around our hotel!  It was SO much fun to just see the swinging away and grabbing themselves a bite to eat!  Leo told us that everyday at this time they come out.  (Then and also 6:30am!  Which Marisa found out when she was awoken by one that morning.)

(Look at how happy these girls are now that we saw our monkeys!)

(Risa took this pix to prove how close they really are.  That is our roof of the hotel!)

(Apparently he's used to modeling.)

After a bajillion photos of the monkeys, we went for a sunset walk along the beach and then we were off to dinner.  We went to the same place as the night before because, seriously, their pizza is SO tasty! You can never go wrong with cheese and garlic though.  We were almost falling asleep in our food when we decided it's time to go to bed and prep for the the next morning.  What a fabulous first full day in Costa Rica!!!