I can’t seem to stay out of the water. It is just perfect. After getting pummeled by the waves in Dominical we headed for the tourist trap of Manuel Antonio. There’s a beautiful beach at

the end of the road before the national park’s entrance.  Here the waves are perfect for learning to surf.

Do not be scammed by the folks at the bottom of the mountain road who dress like park rangers, stand in the middle of the street and whistle at you to stop. They will lie and say you can’t go any farther because they want to charge you $4 to park at their lot. I just drove right by them and resisted the urge to make any unkind gesture. I get they are trying to make a living but the deceit is what bothers me.

The Manuel Antonio National Park has 3 spectacular beaches inside. (It is closed Monday’s)  When we went there are so many people and no chairs or surfboards do we just hiked the park then went to the public beach. The hike was ok. The crowds really turn me off.

We did get to witness a cute monkey steal a tourist’s plastic bag that was full of fruit. The monkeys are really bold but adorable. Next stop the Nicoya Peninsula.

I almost forgot how much I love surfing until I spent the day in Dominical, Costa Rica catching waves in the 86° F water. Dominical is a cool small town where the streets are unpaved and it’s all about the surf. I would have pictures for you but I lost my Go-Pro (no I don’t feel like discussing how, but it was the older model and now I can stop thinking about getting a better

underwater camera for my Micronesia portion of the trip)

Back to the waves, which I will be riding again in a few hours! I wanted to surf  this weekend when I was in Playa Hermosa but the waves were too big for me so I opted for watching the surf contest. Every Saturday 4pm at Backyard Bar

and Hotel, in Playa Hermosa (just south of Jaco) puts on a contest where you can enjoy the talents of the best surfers in the country. The beach gets packed and it really is a good time even if you aren’t a surfer.

I like Playa Hermosa much more than Jaco, it is smaller therefore it is more laid back and not as busy. I would highly recommend staying, eating and or surfing at the Backyard. (Disclaimer: I have known the owner since the days when traveling to me was anywhere I could get via my yellow bicycle.) That said I wouldn’t steer you wrong.  He does a great job offering fun, clean, comfort and an ocean view with a pool. If you don’t stay there you must pop in for a meal or the weekly surf contest and stay for the fun dance party that starts as soon as the sun goes down. If you go tell Nick I sent you!

Spent the day in Arenal Volcano National Park and the La Fortuna Waterfall. (both $10pp to get in) Although it’s been years since an eruption Arenal volcano is one of the 10 most active in the world. It is 5,479 ft high. The hike through the National park was easy. It was a nice walk. The waterfall was all stairs and what goes down….well you know. The ground was not flat so flip-flops were not the best option. But it was worth it. During our hikes we saw a lot of wildlife birds, white-faced monkeys, a sloth and a few other things I still can’t name.

I really like this area, on a clear day everywhere you turn there is the volcano just so perfectly shaped it looks like a painting.

The best $6 bucks I ever spent was at the Termalitas Del Arenal Hot Springs. The landscaping was beautiful and the bonus, a great view of the Arenal volcano.  It is high season here in Costa Rica and for some reason we were the only ones who decided to take a dip at these springs. Well more like a soak than a dip since we spent hours in them.  I am so glad we didn’t go to the high-end tourist springs.  (starting and $35pp) It was absolutely perfect especially after a morning of driving on the intense mountain road.

Tomorrow’s agenda includes hiking, waterfalls and maybe, well probably, another stop at the springs. Next blog I will share some pictures of the critters we met along the way!

With the armed guards stationed outside of homes and stores one could mistake this place for a war zone.  The good thing is the city does not feel as dangerous as it looks, in fact I enjoyed wandering around the neighborhood.  Yet all the houses have high concrete walls with barbed wire placed on top. The La Hamaca Hostel is no exception it too is built like a fortress. The people here are really kind and helpful and the hostel is laid out well with lots of common areas to hang out. Luckily it has a bar so I may even play a game of pool later tonight.

I started my one day in San Pedro Sula by dropping off my laundry. No longer do my clothes need the time to be sun and wind blown to

dry. I’m back in a city and they have dryers here. Then I walked to the mall a few blocks away. The mall was upscale so I ended up buying a pair of shorts that cost more than my two-night stay but they’re really cute! I also found a charger for my Go Pro, since I left mine on

the boat. Thankfully the cheap phone chargers here do the trick. (Yes it worked that is why today’s pictures are with a wide angle lens)

My next post will be from Costa Rica. I am very excited about seeing my niece and the change of scenery but I will miss Honduras! Hasta tomorrow my friends!

Sea legs were required for that 1 hour ferry ride I took today from Utila to La Cieba. Thankfully I have them.  I was accurately pre-warned that it was like being in a coffin that would be rocking and rolling the entire way.

I had 4 hours to kill in La Cieba so I dropped my bag at the tourist bus station, Hedman Alas, and headed to the beach. I enjoyed being back on the mainland where the sidewalks along the car filled streets were lined with vendors selling sugar cane juice and fruit from their carts.  After chowing on an ear of grilled corn, someone was selling on the street,  I went to the beach where I found a nice bar that overlooked the water. (The main photo)

When it was time to head for San Pedro Sula I took the first class bus and it was nice. Nicer than any of the  buses I’ve been stuck on covering politicians’ bus tours!

It took about 3 hours to get to San Pedro Sula and my pal, Tony on Utila, booked me at La Hamaca Hostel. I haven’t been in a hostel in years. The property is nice as were the two people who greeted me and took my $75 for two nights. (An uneven total because I have a shared bathroom tonight, tomorrow when the room is vacant I get a private bathroom)  No dorm for me I splurged

for my own room. One young guest I saw as I arrived invited me to join the group out back for drinks.  Age is just a number right!?

Good thing because the past month I have been feeling (#notetheselfie) 17 again: “Sipping whiskey out the bottle, not thinking ’bout tomorrow!”

Day by day I keep extending my stay in Utila, it’s an easy place to get sucked into, but I will definitely be on that Monday ferry to La Cieba, Honduras. Change of plans Cayos Cochinos will have to wait. My niece is coming down for spring break and she wants to go to Costa Rica so I am meeting her there.

I said it before and I will say it again the people here, the ex-pats and the locals, are just nice. It’s an easy place to be. If you are here a few days you can walk into any bar and see someone you have already met. There’s always an interesting person to swim, drink, eat or take a pub crawl with.

It’s been a fun last few days. I will miss this small town island culture where everyone is accepted for who they are and not what they do.

So this post is for all the people who are in the photos and those who were hiding from them:

Thank you for making my trip a great one!!

Now it’s time to enjoy my last day on the island with a dip in the ocean and a barb-b-que with some new friends.

As I mentioned in my last post my photos weren’t that great but the snorkeling we did yesterday off the dock at Coral View was excellent. My friend Tracy gave me a few of his photos to share.  

A Spotted Eagle Ray  Crab, Octopus and the dreaded Lionfish. You will see lionfish on some of the menus here because as in Florida  the divers here also hunt them. They are pretty to look at but they’re venomous marine fish found mostly in the Indo-Pacific until they ended up here where they don’t have any predators.  The lion fish if left alone will kill all the fish on the reef.

This is one of the cheapest places to get certified to dive. In fact many people come to get their open water certification and end up taking the next level of classes from Advanced Diver to Dive Master to Instructor. If you take a course the dive shops will give you a free place to stay.

Since I already had a place to stay and I have my certification I came for what is called  “fun” dives. For 10 dives it’s about $25 a dive. A bargain compared to the U.S. and most places. The boats here, unlike Roatan, go out for 2 tank dives. 

Most of the dive sites are very close, about a 10 minute boat ride. The first thing you will notice is the reefs are very clean. I haven’t seen many big animals since I have been here, a couple of eagle rays and a turtle but here I have learned to appreciate the tiny marine life. I saw my firs seahorse so that was exciting. There’s a lot of very strange small things in the water like the beautiful flat worm with orange spots that I saw yesterday. You will see the trumpet fish, angle fish, trigger fish, porcupine and many other reef fish on every dive what you won’t see is large schools of fish. Hopefully with time that will change.

When not diving you can snorkel a few places on the island. The one closest to town is the reef off Coral View. You can go to the bar on the dock grab a drink and a chair and make a day of it.  Also snorkeling off the dock at Neptune’s I saw an octopus, barracuda and some other cool things it is worth the boat ride. (see my earlier post if interested)

I tried to find some better underwater pictures because my camera is awful but I went to 2 dive shop Facebook pages (internet is slow especially loading pictures) and the only photographs I could find were of people partying, so you are stuck with my photos.

I’ve been having so much fun, thanks to my friends on the island, it’s hard to find time to keep the blog updated.  Here are some pictures of the bar (which is built in a tree) and restaurant called Jade Seahorse. It is an amazing work of art and unfortunately the pictures do not capture the beauty and handiwork. I am told the owner/artist has been creating this for years.  It’s made up things such as bottles, pieces of broken glass, stones, and tiles. A place definitely worth seeing two times, during the day and the night!

Most days after diving in the afternoon, a quick shower then a sprint to catch yet another spectacular sunset at one of the many bars built on the end of a dock. My favorite, and not because I adore the owner who was gracious enough to invite me to her dinner party last night, Tranquila Bar or as the locals call it Tranqs. I like it because Edo the bartender is so nice and it’s a comfortable place to hang with a great view. Tequila Tuesdays it gets packed way after the sun goes down and the party doesn’t stop until about 4am.

I finally decided on my next move, it wasn’t easy I could have been fine hanging here for the next few months!! Sunday I am going to Cayos Cochinos. The trip is a bit pricey ( I am trying to stick to a self imposed budget) because it’s a marine reserve and there is only really one hotel to stay. It’s called Turtle Bay Eco Resort I will definitely let you know if it’s worth overnighting or a day trip. The manager has been very helpful so I have high hopes.  I hear it is really beautiful so fingers crossed since I will be spending 3 nights there.