We mentioned to Roberta, the hotel owner (who was rushing around running the breakfast service), that we were interested in a snorkelling trip. Balancing her phone against her ear while she collected plates, she spoke to Jose – the man who organised these things for her. Before Sarah could have any second thoughts, she had booked us on the 9 am boat.
Jose collected us from the hotel and drove us the 300m to the beach, where the snorkelling boats departed.
While we waited, Sarah told Jose that this was her first time snorkelling. He did a good introduction to what she could expect and how she just needed to relax, and it would all be fine. We settled the trip cost, after which he sent us off to find the boat, and we never saw him again.
The man running the boat set us off across the bay, realised he’d forgotten his bag, turned around and returned to the beach. This was fortunate for the two late arrivals who had literally missed the boat. They joined us, and off we went again. The target area was a coral reef in the protected off Cahuita National Park.
This picture shows what we must have looked like – a boat with its little swarm of snorkellers in its wake.
Of course, there are no photos for our snorkelling trip. There wasn’t much to see to start with except lots of little fish. I got excited to see a pair of zebrafish. Then I saw a big fish and got more excited. When I say big, I mean big enough to eat for dinner.
Jenny found me and said there were more fish this way. So I followed her. We came across these large mounds of coral shaped like brains, then tree-shaped and fan-shaped corals. That was when I saw the fish. There was a proper shoal of these medium-sized fish, all swimming and moving together. They went this way and that way until they found a shaded area where they hid as a group, making it almost too difficult to see them. There were more of these shoals. There was a lot of fish.
When seeing these shoals got boring, I headed off to look at the coral. I wondered if there would be an octopus hiding underneath. Or what about crabs? I saw something slug-like with lots of legs, let’s call it a sea cucumber, but that was about the only invertebrate I saw. As well as a few more zebrafish, I saw a small, startling blue fish. It was like swimming in a giant aquarium.
I thought I should see how Sarah was getting along. She was back near the boat. She was doing fine. When I set off again, I spotted the stingrays. I was so excited that I shouted, “A ray, I can see a ray.” Seeing it swimming along the bottom was quite a sight, something I never thought I’d see. They are so exotic.
I went further away to explore the coral again but didn’t see anything else new. Sadly, it seemed we were being gathered back into the boat. Our time was up. Soon, everyone was back except Jenny.
Sarah and I couldn’t see her anywhere. We were slightly worried, but the other people said she was over there. And sure enough, off in the distance was one lone snorkeller.
The guy running the boat wasn’t in a hurry. Eventually, Jenny noticed everyone was back except her, so she swam in. The picture of her climbing into the boat showed her sheer delight. Unfortunately, it isn’t a picture that can be posted on the blog because of the pink oval ring around her face from where the mask fitted so tightly. Her joy diminished slightly when I told her we’d seen a stingray. She hadn’t, and she was slightly miffed.
We spent the rest of the morning on the beach, to where the boats had returned, then went to find an early lunch. We wanted something light. The answer was patacones: smashed, fried plantain slices that come with a dip. Perfect.
In the afternoon, we drove the short way to Playa Negro, the Black Beach (all that volcanic sand), with hardly any people there and a lovely ambience.
The main beach bar was pumping out reggae music that suited the scene perfectly. My beach chill levels must have been reaching unplumbed depths. I didn’t even mind when some people sat unnecessarily close to us. Usually, this would drive me mad. Today, it was just “This is the Caribbean”.
Of course, there is only so much sitting on a beach before it gets boring, so eventually, we went to get some beers at the quieter bar. The main bar’s music was too loud to sit next to. This might be the Caribbean, but hearing each other speak is essential.
Sarah and Jenny went off for a chocolate pedicure and a relaxing massage. Apparently, this sort of mother-daughter time is really important on a holiday, and who am I to argue about that?
Jenny also went to buy her bus ticket for tomorrow’s return journey, her time with us almost over – though not her time in Costa Rica, as it turned out.
For our last meal together, we went to a great restaurant. Jenny had Rondon (creamy coconut soup) for a last taste of the Caribbean. Sarah had chicken with passion fruit sauce. I’m afraid I couldn’t resist the fish. I think it looked very much like one of those fishes I’d seen out on the reef. Catch of the day!
