After a week in Nicaragua and making all the needed repairs, we headed for Costa Rica. Two sailboats we knew had taken off the day before, so we were not surprised to find them on anchor in Bahia Santa Elena when we pulled in from a 24 hour overnighter. The weather looked pretty good the next morning so we took off ahead of them to travel to Playa del Coco- our point of entry for Costa Rica. We did encounter our share of wind and waves, but nothing compared to what we have been in. We arrived mid-afternoon and anchored in the large bay where at least fifty other boats were anchored, some sailboats, some power boats, many fishing boats and ONE gigantic commercial sailboat, complete with shore tenders and four huge sails- See above. She is a unique version of a cruise ship!
The next day found us ashore and working to get all the needed paperwork filled out with the port captain, immigration and customs. It took most of the day, since customs is NOT located in Coco, but rather at the airport in Liberia, some 20 miles inland. Bill made the trip there while Alice kept an eye on our dinghy, ate lunch, and did some gawking and shopping. This town is VERY touristy, with more tourists on the streets than locals! Most prices in stores were in U.S. dollars, not colones.
We then headed south around the Nicoyan Peninsula and into the Gulf of Nicoya. There were good anchorages on both the east and west coasts, and we decided to head to the eastern anchorage of Bahia Herredura where Los Suenos Marina is located. We knew from reading that it was pricey, but nearly fell over when we called to see how much it would be to take our dinghy to the dock there: $40 U.S. dollars per day!!! The next day we pulled anchor and left.
Traveling north to Puntarenas, we experienced the shallow water that surrounds this peninsula. The "Backside" is where the marina is and our guide book indicated very shallow water there at low tide. By the time we were into 13 feet of water and still quite a distance from shore Bill thought better of it and hung a U and headed south again, skirting the numerous islands in this gulf. See above photo Alice took when she flew to the capital.
We wound up anchoring in Bahia Ballena, on the west coast, for a week, going ashore numerous times and locating a place to buy a puddlejumper ticket so Alice could travel to San Jose and on home on March 4. We met an expat New Yorker who runs a small restaurant. He was very helpful and even took us to the airstrip (no airport) when March 4 rolled around. While in Bahia Ballena we had the pleasure of visiting with people on three sailboats we had met earlier. We also got to know a couple from Vancouver, B.C. who have been circum- navigating the world for the past six years. They expect to be home again in 2010! Amazing~ After Alice left, Bill got word that our friends Ray and Paddy were home from the U.S., so he did an overnighter, arriving in Golfito on March 7. He reports it is beautiful there~ Alice will return April 7.
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