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 Pura Vida Labor Day
by cschomaker
Date: 2005-09-22
Location: Costa Rica |
On Labor Day weekend 2005, Amy and I headed to the northwest coast of Costa Rica for a little diving, a little ziplining, and a little lava-watching. Now we understand the 'Pura Vida' attitude that infects everyone who visits this fantastic little country!
When does a dive trip become something more than a series of dives and obligatory surface intervals? When you’re standing in a field of black lava boulders, watching a symmetrical volcano spit out red-hot rocks in the dark? When you’re flying hundreds of feet above a rainforest ravine, suspended from a cable as giant trees whiz by? Or maybe it’s the whitewater rafting, or the glorious soak in rock garden hot springs, or snorkeling above a trio of humpback whales. Throw in a fantastic personal tour guide, friendly locals who take great pride in their nation, world-class coffee, and the occasional coatimundi or howler monkey, and you realize that some dive destinations have topside distractions that go beyond pretty beaches and umbrella drinks.
As Floridians, Amy and I wanted to do a Pacific dive trip with Caribbean-flight accessibility, where we could swim with entirely different species without having to suffer massive jet lag. Costa Rica was close, and we knew people who raved about its natural beauty and friendly culture. We had seen several positive web reviews for a travel service company named Costa Rica Dive (costaricadive.com), and its owner, Rolando Arburola. We decided to book an itinerary similar to a trip we had read about, with diving on the northwest coast, followed by visits to the active Arenal volcano and other inland sights. We made arrangements with Rolando, bought tickets from US Air, and were soon aboard a direct flight from Fort Lauderdale to San Jose, Costa Rica. It was Labor Day weekend, 2005.
From the airport, Rolando and his trusty young driver David picked us up and drove north through the hills, towns, fields and forests toward Guanacaste. Rolando is a dynamo, flowing with local information and enthusiasm, while David is quiet but friendly. A few hours later, and after a break in a nice non-touristy restaurant in Canas, we descended toward the northwest Pacific coast at Playa Ocotal, on the Gulf of Papagayo, where we would dive for six days off the rocky points and islands near the Ocotal Beach Resort. Here, we temporarily departed ways with our Rolando and David and checked into our beachside room.
Ocotal is a beautiful, nicely landscaped resort that rests on a small bay surrounded by rocky outcroppings and steep hills. Accommodations include smaller, single rooms by the lower pool, pool bar, and dive shop (where we stayed); more expansive units, which share smaller private pools, alongside and up a hillside path; and clifftop suites with spectacular views of the horseshoe-shaped bay and the ocean beyond. We enjoyed the easy proximity to the dive shop and breakfast area, and the room was nice-- although as a friend says, we're divers first, so we really just expect BDA (Basic Diver Accommodations)-- but the units up the hill and on top are more deluxe, if you prefer more plush surroundings. Just remember you'll get some exercise hiking back and forth to your hilltop lair, unless you take the available shuttle.
The crew we met at Ocotal is fantastic! The dive shop is staffed by a mix of young Costa Ricans and Americans, all of which were hardworking and enthusiastic. I've never seen employees at a dive operation that were more pumped about their jobs than Jojo, Diego, Ronald, and the others. Jojo must have exclaimed “Pura Vida” (kind of a Costa Rican “Hang Loose” or “Aloha”) to us a dozen times that week, usually after we blurted to him about the things we had just seen underwater. The boats are a little spartan but clean and well-maintained, and expertly piloted to the dive sites. The sites are a mix of moorings and drift drops, usually next to a spectacular rocky islet or cliff covered with green foliage and cacti.
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Under the surface, our expectations were exceeded. Although we knew beforehand to expect murkier visibility than at most Caribbean locations, what we found more than made up for the viz (which, along with thermoclines, was very variable, depending on where you were relative to currents around the outcroppings). On the first day, at a spot called La Sorpresa (The Surprise), we watched two whitetip sharks do a yin-yang circular dance over a sandy bowl, while we heard constant whalesong underwater on both dives. Amy and I descended along the line as the first two divers on the second dive, at Punta Argentina, and were treated to a procession of at least ten eagle rays heading off into the distance.
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Morays, starfish, and puffers were everywhere all week. Other finds included tiny white nudibranchs, garden eels, cleaner shrimp, a seahorse, and turtles on and below the surface. At Isla Catalina, as our group swam past the rocky slopes, sergeant majors abandoned their nests (AAAHHH!!! Huge divers!!), and swarms of angels and other fish shot in to eat the unprotected eggs.
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