When you’re constantly moving around, making new friends can be hard. Sure, it’s easy to meet people… traveling has a way of breaking down normal social barriers, making it easy to approach new people and start up a conversation. The problem is, that conversation is often exactly the same:

THEM: “Where are you from?”
US: “Vancouver, Canada”
THEM: “How long are you traveling for?”
US: “We’ve been on the road for almost two years.”
THEM: “Wow, must be nice… how do you afford it?”
US: “We work online…..blah, blah, blah…”

From there, the conversation will progress to where we’ve been, where they’ve been, we’ll compare favorite places and add new ones to the list. We’ll swap travel stories, the good and the bad… and at the end of the day, or evening, or dive trip, we’ll say goodbye. Encounters like this are great, we’ve met so many interesting people. All of whom have helped to make the ferry ride, or the boarder crossing or the night out, all the more memorable. But, at the end of the day you know that most of these people you’ll never see again.

When traveling long term this can get tiring. You crave the comfort of close friends and try to get through the standard “Where are you from?/What do you do?” questions as quickly as possible. You miss conversations where you don’t spill your whole life story in the first five minutes and often wish you could talk about something other than traveling. When you’re on the road for a long time you realize the importance of familiar faces and effortless friendships… and cherish inventions like email, Skype, and yes… even Facebook.

Over the last couple of years we’ve missed out on important events back home, both good and bad. From babies being born, and people getting married… to unfortunate losses and sick family members. No matter the event, it’s always hard being away.

This time however, we got lucky. This time the wedding came to us… or close enough anyway. Our friends Randal & Rachelle, planned their wedding in Mexico, and being in Central America, we organized the last 10 months of our travels with this in mind.

We had an amazing week catching up with old friends and even making a few new ones. It was nice to fall back into old circles and conversations and feel like nothing had changed. It was a great reminder that even though we may not see each other for months or even years at a time and despite the different paths we choose to take, some friendships seem to last no matter what decisions we make.

It also made me appreciate the ease of meeting people on the road. The openness of other travelers and all the fascinating people we’ve met along the way. It got me excited about continuing our adventure and reminded me why we do this. It’s great to know those friends will always be there, but in the mean time I’m looking forward to making some new ones.

Thanks to everyone who made it such a memorable week… and we’ll see you all in six months!

Read the original article here: Friendships and long-term travel

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When we arrived in Placencia, we didn’t realize it was coming into low season and rainy season. For most of our 2 weeks, it’s rained a little on some days and a lot on others. We’re also often the only people in the beachfront resort hotel we’re staying in. So we’ve had a staff of 10+ taking care of us each day as we lounge by the pool when the weather cooperates.

We’re staying a 2 minute drive out from the village in Placencia. It’s quiet, and a bit removed from even the slow pace of town. There’s little to do but sit on beach chairs watching the pelicans flying by, or going for a swim in the pool. Our tans have vastly improved.

Last Friday we went for a day of diving with Seahorse Divers around Laughing Bird Caye. 30 minutes away by speedboat; we dropped off some snorklers at the Caye, then proceeded out to Pompion Caye Wall. It’s was a steep and deep wall dive down to 30m and the wall continues down into the blue. We saw 3 large moray eels, a couple big lobsters and crabs, and a few barracudas. We also saw a huge eagle ray cruising below us while doing our safety stop.

During the quick trip back to Laughing Bird Caye for lunch some dolphins showed up to play in our wake. The boat was stopped and we grabbed fins and masks and jumped into the water. They weren’t shy in the least, swimming right below us and circling us as we free dove down a few meters to get closer. For about 10 minutes we chased them around the boat while they made their clicking chatter noises and played amongst us. Swimming with wild dolphins has been on our wish list for a long time and it really made the day memorable.

After lunch the boat took us around the other side of Laughing Bird Caye and we dove the sloping reef and sandy patches. Visibility had worsened considerably to the point where it looked like it was snowing underwater. We found a few arrow crabs, cleaner shrimp, and a toad fish which I’ve never seen before.

A week of laying in the sun and running from the clouds later, we came back to Seahorse to do the whale shark dive. A few days before the full moon and until the quarter moon each May the snappers spawn which draws the whale sharks to Placencia to feed. We rode over some choppy waves for an hour to Gladden Spit, checked in with the rangers and then jumped into the blue searching for schools of snapper and hopefully a whale shark! We dropped down to about 20m and swam our asses off… against current, trying to keep up with the schools of fish. We saw snappers spawning below us, but no whale sharks drifting up from the blue.

We surfaced and headed into the shallows for lunch. We had a bite to eat, a little snorkel around the sandy patches, and then a call came over the radio that they had spotted a whale shark on the surface. We sped out to the site and jumped into the water with our masks and fins. 10m away was a 3-4m whale shark with four or five remoras tagging along. It was only there for a minute and we swam frantically to keep up with it in on the choppy surface before it dove back down into the blue.

We did our last dive hoping to meet up with the whale shark, but it wasn’t meant to be. We saw schools of horse eyed jacks, and some big barracudas and trigger fish were swimming along with us, but apparently we’d only snorkel with one of the giants that day.

We headed home elated, but still shy of our goal of seeing a fully grown whale shark at depth. Halfway there, one of our engines ran out of gas and we had to hang out in the shelter of a nearby group of mangroves while we waited for some additional fuel to be driven out to us, rather than risk the possibility of losing the other engine in the rougher waters. An hour later we were home, happy, and exhausted.

We’re hanging out in Belize for a couple more days before heading up to Belize City to fly over to Mexico. You know, it’s whale shark season in Mexico from June till September. ;)

Read the original article here: 2 weeks vacationing and diving in Belize

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We packed up our things (including 50 lbs of new dive gear) and headed out the door to catch the 7am ferry from Roatan back to La Ceiba. An hour later we were in a taxi headed to Puerto Cortes, north of San Pedro Sula. We had to stay overnight in Puerto Cortes and booked one night at the Brisas Hotel on Coca Cola beach (named for it’s proximity to the bottling plant). Puerto Cortes was a little thin on entertainment, so we splashed in the pool, had a bite to eat, and retired early along with a new frog buddy who apparently lived in our sink.

The next morning we showed up at the port for the D-Express, a once a week fast ferry from Puerto Cortes to Placencia, Belize. They loaded our bags onto the boat, which is always an interesting affair. Watching 60 year old porters struggle with our bags down into the hold is still uncomfortable, but they refused any help I offered. I’d estimate we have around 200lbs of gear now, but I’m guiltily looking forward to our next flight to confirm our baggage overage. It’s a bit excessive at the moment.

The D-Express crew then drove us to the immigration office in the back of a pickup and we got our exit visas. After which we chatted for 4 hours with a Norwegian couple while the rest of the passengers arrived and went through the same process. We’re nothing if not punctual…

Around 12:30 we left the port on the 50 passenger fast ferry, bouncing across the waves at full throttle, a girl in the front of the boat yelping with each crash and bang of the bow. Thankfully, we’ve learned from previous experiences that the best seat is in the middle of the boat. Not far enough ahead that the bouncing shatters your spine, and not far enough back that you’d get thoroughly soaked by every wave or scorched by the sun.

2 hours later we arrived in Belize. Holy flatness! I think that if you stand on top of a speed bump you can see the other side of Belize. We went through a funny little immigration and customs process where they unload the whole boat 10 minutes from the port, don’t check anything, then load it all back on the boat.

After a short trip to the dock we arrived at Placencia where we were met with the strangest sight of all… nothing. There were no taxis, no vendors, no porters, no anything. We’re so used to being prey for the various tourist predators that lurk around airports and ferry ports, we were truly shocked by the lack of our usual welcoming committee.

Flagging a taxi van, we had a quick ride to the Laru Beya hotel (our home away from home for the next 2 weeks) just as it started to rain. The storm quickly escalated and I’m glad we arrived when we did because the sea quickly turned ugly and that trip could have been a lot more uncomfortable.

Our first impression of Placencia is that it’s a small quaint town. There’s a few nice resorts, a handful of hotels, restaurants, and bars. It’s looks to be a sleepy little place by the sea where can unwind next to the pool, watch the pelicans and frigate birds soar by, eat a pile of shrimp, do a couple dives, and have a few ice cold beverages.

Read the original article here: From Roatan, Honduras to Placencia, Belize

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3. Scuba Diving in Roatan, Honduras

When we arrived in Roatan, we found a range of dive shops. From small shore based dinghy operations and speed boats, up to large 20 person capacity boats that will do day trips all over the island. We decided to go with Coconut Tree Divers, one of the larger, central shops which was close to where we were staying. They’re the only shop in the West End that do 4 dives a day which fits well with our shifting schedules during busy work weeks. They’re a highly social bunch and we had many good stories and nights out with our dive masters and fellow divers. They really went out of their way to make sure we were well taken care of from gear to dive site selections.

Roatan is an island approximately 1km wide by 8km long. Surrounded by sloping reef which typically leads to a wall of 30+ meters, there are over 100 named dive sites near Roatan’s shores. The availability of which is usually determined by the weather. The north side is typically smooth when the south is choppy and vice-versa. Many dive shops in the West End and West Bay will move their boats to the south side of the island when rough weather is forecast and will drive their divers to the other side to avoid the swell providing an opportunity to dive some of the lesser visited sites for northern divers.

Turtles are a common sight, as is the occasional eagle ray, and barracuda. Large grouper and wrasse are seen on most dives, especially the El Aguilla wreck where they’re quite tame and will come over to investigate you. Reef squid can be found frequently in the shallows and sandy patches and there are nice swim-throughs at a number of the dive sites. Lobsters are abundant, as are large crabs, and conch. Though macro life is harder to come by, with only an occasional flamingo tongue, cleaner shrimp, or arrow crab.

Lion fish have spread dramatically across the island in recent years and are hunted by the local dive masters with Hawaiian slings. A non-indigenous species to the area, they have no natural predators and breed every month instead of the typical once a year of Asiatic based lion fish, due to the warmer Caribbean waters. Rumour has it that the first lion fish were released into local waters when a hurricane broke an aquarium, releasing the first 4 into the sea.

Visibility is typically good at around 15-20m, and the reef is in good shape, made up of mostly hard corals and fans. Most dives follow a similar dive profile with an entry at around 12m above the reef or a sandy patch, a brief swim to the wall, dropping down to 25-30m (the wall will usually continue to around 40m+), ascending gradually up the wall, then returning to the entry point via the shallow reef at 12-8m.

While I wouldn’t classify the diving as outstanding, it is good and delivers a consistently enjoyable experience. The water isn’t over crowded. We rarely ran into another group of divers below the surface. The coral is in good shape with a variety of marine life to search for. And personally, I love wall dives. Since just about every dive is a wall dive, I was quite content to drift along and enjoy the scenery.

Some dive highlights would be the El Aguilla wreck, the swim-throughs at Mary’s Place (actually the exterior coral is amazing as well), Texas and West End Wall drift diving where there are some spectacular fans and groupers. We’re likely to be returning after a brief jaunt to Belize and Mexico, and are looking forward to adding the shark dive and dolphin dive to the list.

Read the original article here: Scuba Diving in Roatan, Honduras

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West Bay is the nicest sandy beach on the western side of Roatan. Located at the southwestern tip of the island, it’s frequented by up to 4 boats of cruise ship passengers for 4 days of the week, priced to match, and blissfully quiet for the other 3. There’s a few bars and restaurants on the beach but after sundown things tend to get quiet. There’s a hand full of dive shops, a number of nice resorts, and a great little deli for sandwiches and imported foodstuffs. We like to head down here on our days off to hang out in the sun and go swimming/snorkeling in the clear waters.

The West End stretches from Half Moon Bay to West Bay. It’s at the budget end of the spectrum with smaller slivers of sandy beach, but there are upper scale options to be found. We decided that the West End had the most established dive shops, 4-5 good bars, 10-15 restaurants, a few small grocery stores, and it’s where we found the social scene to be just our style. Laid back in the day, a couple good dives, then off to the bar for a burger or a balleada (a tortilla with beans and usually chicken) and a couple beers with your fellow divers. Perhaps followed by a crazy night out at one of the bars down the beach. Pretty much everything is in walking distance aside from the major grocery stores located in Coxen hole and French Harbour, which is a $10 half hour cab ride north, though there are a few smaller grocery stores and convenience stores in the West End. Also of note are the fresh fruit and vegetable trucks that park along the street each afternoon, selling most of your standard veg.

It’s approximately a 45 minute walk from the West End to West Bay. Take sunscreen, water, and be prepared to get your feet wet, but it’s a nice walk past beachfront houses and some of the resorts off the beaten path. Water taxi boats also run from sunrise to sundown for $3/person. And a regular taxi will cost you $5-10 for the trip. Remember to clarify with the driver the cost per person upfront. A little too often we’ve ended up at our location to find the driver expects the negotiated cost for each of us.

Sandy Bay is north of the West End and has the longest stretch of beach of the three. Home to some of the nicer restaurants and many gated vacation home communities and condos it’s more remote and at the uppper end of the scale.

As far as costs go, there’s a pretty wide spectrum of both price and the amount of comfort you’ll have for what you pay. From $300 a month for a small room with a fan, to 1 bedrooms with air conditioning and a kitchen for $700-$1200 a month, and multi-room cabanas and vacation rentals with private pools for $100-$200 per night and up. Being semi long term oriented and needing comfort and connectivity, we opted for a 1 bedroom with a kitchen and A/C for 3 months at the northern end of the West End.

Eating out at restaurants can be a costly expense on the island. You can find small local run restaurants with cheap local fare, but many of the larger restaurants along the beach charge upwards of $10-15 for an excessively huge plate of pasta, or $12 for tacos or burritos, the quality of which doesn’t compare to the local Mom ‘n Pop shops. There are a number of lower cost options to be had though as some restaurants cater to the dive shop staff’s $5 meal philosophy. We’ve also attended a number of communal cooking nights at some of the shop staff’s houses and at a bar that likes to host the events. Everyone pitches in $5 and a helping hand to make a giant pot of chili, burritos, carbonera, or whatever the meal might be. It provides a good social event where everyone can get together with good food and friends, have a few drinks, and a lot of laughs.

Shortly after getting settled, we wandered down to the dive shop. Kelly had been emailing back and forth with Will from Coconut Tree Divers before we’d arrived and he and the other staff at Coconut Tree have gone out of their way to make sure we’re comfortable, happy, well oriented, and very well entertained. We’ve tried to get in at least 2-3 dives a week and have managed to visit many of the sites along the west wall. The diving itself isn’t phenomenal compared to our last year in Southeast Asia, but after the lack of diving in Costa Rica, we’re making the most of it. Hilights so far have been coming across 3 sleeping nurse sharks, huge lobsters and crabs, diving the El Aguila wreck with it’s massive groupers, some interesting swim throughs, a huge seahorse, and turtle and eagle ray sightings. All in all, there’s no such thing as a bad dive in my books, but we’ve missed the deluge of macro life from last year. And yes, I know I’m spoiled rotten.

Kelly and I also recently had the opportunity to try out some alternative dive gear since Coconut Tree has tec diving courses and a lot of people dive with a harness/back plate/wing setup instead of a standard BCD. We were warned that if we tried the setup once, we’d end up buying one… and sure enough. After a handful of dives, the order has been placed. The streamline feel of a harness and wing underwater compared to a bulky BCD, plus the even weight distribution with the back plate quickly drew us in. It’s very compact and will travel well, not to mention that we’ve been unable to find reasonable camera and computer insurance for Canadians as of yet. Buying full dive gear will enable us to insure everything through DAN (Divers Alert Network). So it’s a big win all around and we get new toys.

Aside from life underwater, we’ve been working lots as usual. We went to a play in Coxen Hole, saw a crazy one man band live show, and have celebrated a few new friend’s birthdays, including the dive shops 8th birthday. We’ve spent days relaxing on the beach, and many are concluded by watching the sunset at Sundowners which is our new local. Really, we’ve found a nice work/life balance here with a great social scene and I’m somewhat loathe to move on to the next destination. I think they told me about Roatan’s magnetic properties too. :)

Read the original article here: It’s a scuba diver’s scene in Roatan, Honduras

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Before I jump into the numbers part of this post I want to remind everyone that we’re not budget backpackers. Yes you can do Costa Rica a lot cheaper than we did, but since this isn’t just a vacation for us, it’s a lifestyle, we often make choices that aren’t inline with other travelers priorities.

A comfortable place and a decent internet connection are always first priority on our list of requirements, which often means we stick to more touristy places and don’t venture off the beaten track as much as other travelers. When we arrived in Costa Rica we both had a lot of work lined up and knew we’d be spending the majority of our days online, so it was even more important than usual.

We rented a two bedroom, three bathroom condo similar to any modern condo you’d find in Vancouver (or other large North American City), for $1000/month. We had satellite TV, cable internet, a pool, a dishwasher, in-suite washer/dryer, and even an Xbox. Sure we weren’t getting the ‘authentic Costa Rican experience’, but unless you’re traveling to some of the more remote areas, you’re probably not getting much of it either.

We based ourselves in Tamarindo, or Tama-Gringo as many people call it, which again, for many travelers, may not be the first choice. Some argue that it’s too over developed, and full of tourists but so are a lot of places in Costa Rica. For us it had a lot of the things we were looking for and was a pretty good fit, but after six months we did come to realize that it still wasn’t quite perfect… and thus the search for our little piece of paradise continues.

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Read the original article here: Costa Rica Budget

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We arrived in Managua around 7pm. Asking at the front desk of the Ticabus Hotel (a bit of a dump, but you can’t get any closer to the bus station) where to go for a quick bite and we were told to head for the Mall for safety and selection, so we hopped in a taxi. 5 minutes later we arrived at an extremely busy food court complete with karaoke. After a quick McBurger; only the 2nd time we’ve had fast food in the last 6 months, we headed back to the hotel, massively over-tipping the taxi driver by mistake when I did the conversion from Nicaraguan cordobas to Costa Rican colones to dollars wrong. Another oops and definitely not the last. We crashed out early, watching the closing Olympic ceremonies on tv.

With a 3am wake up call and a 5am boarding, we were headed next for Tegucigalpa, Honduras. We arrived at the border and into Honduras with minimal effort. Arriving in Tegucigalpa 7 hours later; we split a taxi with Peter – another Canadian who we’d met on the bus and was going the same way, and headed to another bus station. When we arrived at the station, the taxi driver wanted $15 a piece for the 10 minute ride. Oops. Always negotiate the price beforehand! We bartered and complained him down to $5 each. Still not exactly a deal.

We grabbed a quick lunch of chicken and rice from a little cafeteria and then got onto another bus headed for La Ceiba. This time with no air conditioning and another 7 hours still ahead of us. After a very sweaty ride and a few liters of water we arrived in La Ceiba. Staying downtown near the ferries there weren’t too many options beyond a Pizza Hut and a Wendy’s, so we went for a pizza and a beer. Unfortunately, the restaurant had run out of beer! Ugh, the hardships of being on the road. ;) Downtown La Ceiba didn’t really seem to have much in the way of options, so we headed back to the hotel.

The next day we woke up early again and caught the 9am ferry to Roatan. We caught a collectivo taxi and headed south to Casa Calico where we’ll be staying for the next couple months. We unloaded the car and checked in, only to realize that in all the bustle I hadn’t grabbed my laptop bag! Shit. Panic ensued. My laptop, my dive computer, my backup drives, everything was in that bag. We ran up the street to where Peter was staying, but the driver had already been there and gone, headed to the hotel of the 3rd couple in the van. While I went to the main road to possibly catch him if he headed north to the ferries again, Kelly went to the house and talked with the front desk about how to get in touch with the driver’s company and made a few calls. 15 heart pounding minutes later, they’d tracked it all down and he was headed back our way. Needless to say, the driver got a bigger tip than the one I had previously miscalculated. But lesson learned, don’t carry your backups in the same bag. Kelly and I will swap drives from now on instead.

And so ended 3 very long, uncomfortable days on the road with over 20 hours spent in a bus. Kelly and I are very happy to have arrived. We’re not really emphatic travelers, preferring the destination over the process of getting there.

So far, we’re loving Roatan. It was cold when we first arrived. Around 27 degrees Celsius, which was an adjustment after the months of 36 degree weather we’ve been having in Costa Rica… but it’s warmed up considerably already.

As is the case with most dive destinations, the people are very friendly. Will from the dive shop even took us out scouting for apartment options when we first arrived and the dive crew are a hilariously good time. We’ve already made some new friends and gotten a ton of advice about living on Roatan. We’re stocked up with a kitchen, have done a few dives already, and had a few good nights out on the town with our new friends. So we’re settling in nicely, back to work, and enjoying our days off in the water.

Read the original article here: From Tamarindo, Costa Rica to Roatan, Honduras

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Cerveza Imperial
Considered the national beer of Costa Rica by most Ticos and with undeniably the most awesome logo, Imperial is everywhere in Costa Rica and has been since 1924. Usually sold for $6-8 for a 6 pack from the store or up to $2 a beer at bars. Imperial is a pale lager or pilsener with 4.6% alcohol content. Similar to a budweiser, it was quite dry without too much flavour yet a light hoppy overtone.

Pilsen and Pilsen 6.0
The second most popular beer and my beer of choice in Costa Rica. Pilsen is a light pilsner. Similar to Imperial, but with a bit more noticeable bitterness. With normal Pilsen at 5.1% alcohol content and Pilsen 6.0 at; you guessed it, 6%. Pilsen is a little more bang for your buck. Yeah, I know. I may drink like a frat boy… But I do prefer the taste over Imperial which often left my mouth a bit dry.

Rock Ice and Rock Ice Limón
Rock Ice is a light lager. Brewed similarly to American ‘ice’ beers and with similar results. It’s a thin, fairly flavourless beer with a kick at 5.2%. Rock Ice Limón on the other hand barely qualifies as beer. It tastes… well, terrible. Like a sour lime cider that’s gone off, mixed with beer, and salt. I choked one of those down, then proceeded to try and pawn them off on house guests and strangers. We ended up throwing out the remainder of the sixpack.

Cerveza Bahia
I only ever came across one of these. I think it may actually have been from Guatemala. And I have no recollection of how it tasted. So yeah, this is a terrible review, but I like the can design.

Bavaria Dark (or Negra)
Not a traditional dark beer, Bavaria Dark is more of a dark amber ale, but a nice contrast to the rest of the field of pilsners and lagers. At 5%, with a nice sweet malty taste and smooth texture, but none of the heaviness of other dark beers, it reminds me of a Negra Modelo. Probably the most likely beer to end up in the bellies of the more selective beer drinkers.

Bavaria Gold
Another pale lager and similar in most regards, Bavaria Gold is considered the upscale version of the three. Expect to pay up to a dollar more in some bars.

Bavaria Light
A 3.4% low calorie beer, and it tastes like you’d expecct. No flavour. No body. Thin and watery.

Kaiser
Sorry folks, no picture and no review. This is Costa Rica’s only non-alcoholic beer.

Heineken
Brewed by Cerveceria de Costa Rica under license, Heineken is also commonly available throughout Costa Rica.

Toña
A 4.6% Nicaraguan lager, Toña is refreshing and light. Great after a hot day spent wandering the coblestone streets of colonial Granada. It’s my michelada beer. This picture has the Xmas edition label.

Victoria, Victoria Frost, Victoria Light
3 very light Nicaraguan beers. Best served with a slice of lime. Adding ice doesn’t kill it either as there isn’t much flavour to kill in my opinion.

Cuba Libre
One of what Florida Ice and Farm Co. calls it’s RTD (Ready to drink) line. Cuba Libre is an 8% alcohol, pre-mixed rum and cola in a can. Unfortunately, I found the cola far too sweet.

Bamboo Rum and Cola
Another premixed rum and cola at 7.5%. This one was more tolerable. But without actual Coke instead of the generic cola used, it’s still not to my taste.

Guaro
The local firewater. Made from sugarcane, there are both commercially produced 60 proof versions as well as moonshine made by locals. Clear, slightly sweet, and nearly tasteless like a vodka, it’s been known to sneak up on you after a few as there’s no way to tell how much the bartender has poured you when mixed with fruit juice or cola.

Flor de Caña (‘Flower of the Sugarcane’)
My all time favourite rum. Available all over Central America. Made from sugarcane molasses and slow aged in white oak barrels, Flor de Caña is a slightly sweet amber rum distributed by Compañía Licorera de Nicaragua in Chichigalpa, Nicaragua. Commonly available in Gold (aged 4 years), Black Label (5 years), Grand Reserve (7 years), Centenario (12 years), Centenario 21 (15 years – what the?), Centenario Gold (18 years), and Centenario Commemorative Edition (21 years). Flor de Caña also produces 3 white rums, all aged to 4 years. My personal favourite is the 7 year old Grand Reserve which I think is best served neat or on the rocks. A 750ml bottle goes for the price of $20 in Costa Rica and $14 in Nicaragua.

Santa brought me a bottle of the Centenario Commemorative Edition for Xmas which comes in a porcelain bottle and a gold embroidered cloth bag.

Others
For alternatives to alcoholic beverages, Costa Rica has a huge variety of fresh fruit juice (frescos) at fruit stands everywhere, great coffee, and the usual assortment of sodas, waters, and other imports.

Read the original article here: Costa Rican and Nicaraguan Beverages

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On our last week in Tamarindo, I ended up with the first souvenir of our year and a half on the road. I took a pottery class and learned the traditional art of making Chorotega Pottery.

Chorotega Pottery can be found everywhere throughout Costa Rica’s Guanacaste province. From gift shops to beach hawkers, this traditional form of pottery is one of Costa Rica’s most popular souvenirs (next to coffee of course). It’s ancient methods have been passed down from generation to generation and are still used today to make beautifully intricate pieces.

I spent a couple of days at the Tamarindo Pottery Studio making my very own piece. It was all done with a hand wheel and traditional tools like corn husks, plus a lot of help from Arbin, who owns the shop.

If you find yourself in Costa Rica, and are looking for a unique experience I highly recommend spending a few days with Arbin in his studio. I had a great time, and ended up with a piece I’m really proud of, that will forever remind me of our six months in Costa Rica. What more could you want in a souvenir?

You can see more pictures and learn more about the studio and my experience over at my craft blog TalkCraftyToMe.com.

Read the original article here: Handmade Souvenir in Costa Rica

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1. Week 56: Costa Rica and our “Casa del Surf”
2. Costa Rica Budget
3. From Tamarindo, Costa Rica to Roatan, Honduras

We got on the local bus to Liberia at 9am which meanders in and out of each town on the way to it’s destination; picking up and dropping off school children, workers, and food and drink vendors as it goes. Liberia is approximately an hour away from Tamarindo by car, but the local bus takes anywhere from 1.5 hours to 2.5 hours to get there. We got off the bus before Liberia at the turn off to Playas del Coco (shortly after Filadelfia) and switched buses. Our next bus came along within 45 minutes and we continued on through Sardinal. Within a half hour, we had completed our 3.5 hour journey arriving at Coco.

First off, we stopped in at Deep Blue Diving and arranged for 2 local dives the next morning to check out the area. They quickly took care of the paperwork and fitted us with gear. At $100 USD per person for two local dives and gear rental, it’s more expensive than most of the Asia dive rates we’re familiar with, but seems to be the norm in Costa Rica. Though they did arrange a discount rate for us with the hotel where they do their pool training (La Puerta del Sol) and were kind enough to drive us and our bags there in the shop truck.

After a brain wracking check-in; due to us forgetting our passports at the house in Tamarindo, we wandered into town searching for lunch. Kelly and I have pretty much figured out our go-to dishes for a typical local menu. Kelly will opt for a chicken burrito, while I lean towards a casado con pollo (A typical Costa Rican meal with rice, black or red beans, salad, a chicken fillet, and a fried plantain or banana). Accompanied with a couple Pilsen beers, we quickly recovered from the earlier trek, but headed back to the hotel to beat the 36°C midday heat.

La Puerta del Sol has a large salt water pool where we worked on our sunburns for a while, after which we scoped out the sports bar for the upcoming Super Bowl game. Chatting with a few expats and tourists, we found the scene was quite different from Tamarindo. While Tamarindo is a laid back little surf town and most of the people there are backpackers and surfers traveling on the cheap, Playas del Coco has an older expat and family vacation feel with larger resorts, souvenir tables and shops leading to the beach, and golf carts roaming the streets. Kelly and I stuck around for another round, then sat down at a local pizzeria for dinner before an early turn in to prepare for out set of dives the next day.

Waking up the next morning, we prepped, had a bite to eat, and headed to the beach for our 8AM departure. Upon arrival, we found that we were the only divers going out that day which is a bit of a blessing and a curse. We hate diving in large groups because of the underwater traffic. All those fins can kick up a lot of sand into Kelly’s photos, but at the same time we view diving as one of the few social activities that gets us out of the house and we’ve been home bound a lot with work lately. Deep Blue ferried us out to the dive boat, which had a great dive setup with lots of room and a rear jump deck. Our gear was already assembled and waiting; another thing I’m slightly torn about. I like the service, but I prefer to set up my own gear just to give it a once over and make sure everything is working and done right.

Fifteen minutes later we were at our first site called ‘Punta Argentina’. We geared up, did a safety check and jumped in, where I found that my regulator had a slow leak. I’ve found it’s a pretty common occurrence with rental gear and not a big deal, but as we descended I found it kept a steady stream of bubbles in-front of my mask. I fiddled with it for five minutes or so before switching to my secondary regulator. Bubbles gone, I could finally take advantage of the 20m visibility.

The dive sites we’ve visited in Costa Rica’s north Pacific region are volcanic and lacking in any real reef structure from what I’ve seen. Our DM pointed out 2 clown shrimp, but that was pretty much the only macro life we saw on any of our 4 Playas del Coco dives. What was in abundance was porcupine fish and rays. I’ve never seen so many porcupine fish crawling the rocks and every few minutes you’d see spotted eagle rays and stingrays approaching from the blue. Sitting atop the sand, there was plenty of skate and we sniffed out a couple of moray eels among the rocks.

About 30 minutes into the dive, we came across a large stingray with 2 spears protruding straight up from it’s back. Kelly didn’t want to take a picture of a dead stingray and we were going to move on before realizing it was still alive! The spears were two different types so my thinking is that someone shot it, failed to kill it and at a later date someone else attempted to put it out of its misery after seeing the first spear, but also failed. The resilient ray swam off, leaving us saddened about the whole situation.

One additional perk to diving with Deep Blue: They don’t have a dive time limit. Too often, we’ve been restricted to 45 minutes and have still had another 15-20 minutes or more of air remaining. If I’ve paid for the whole tank, I’d like to use it! All within safety limits of course, but I find the 45 minute rule ridiculous. At around 1000 PSI, we did our safety stop and came up after 57 minutes below. We swapped my leaky regulator with a spare, had some water, pineapple, a couple cookies, and lounged in the sun, chatting with our DM about Cocos Island where he’s had the opportunity to lead dives with the hammerheads. Unfortunately the price point is keeping us away. At $4000 per person for a week of liveaboard diving, we’ll have to pass it by this trip.

The second dive of the day was at a site called “Tortuga” (Turtle). We descended to 20m, circling a pinnacle of volcanic rock. More eagle rays and stingrays floated around us and as we came over a crest of rocks we found four 1.5m white tipped reef sharks resting on the sand below us. Circling around them, we lay on the bottom briefly then moved in for some pictures. Swimming away from the pinnacle, our DM lead us to a fairly large wreck which I poked my head into. Yup, full of puffers. Drifting the length of the ship and peering over the bow, we found ten white tip reef sharks resting in the sand below. We returned to the shallows of the pinnacle and spent the rest of the dive peering in holes for golden moray eels.

After the two great dives, we signed up for another two the following day and returned to town to get dried out and have a deco beer. That night, we went to the Papagayo steakhouse where Kelly and I both ordered the surf and turf. When our plates arrive, we each had two 6 ounce steak fillets and 4 good sized shrimp, plus sides. Kelly couldn’t even start her second steak. An impressive plate for $20 each, but perhaps a little overkill. If you’re coming to Costa Rica, be prepared for some huge portion sizes. It’s rare that we finish a meal here.

The following day, we arrived at the beach to find a group of 10 people waiting for the dive boat. Thankfully, three of them were headed to the Catalina Islands on the alternate boat and two of the others were doing courses so it was just five of us fun diving together, perfect. We drove a little farther out to sea than the previous day to a site called ‘Virador’. Jumping in, we found that the visibility had worsened considerably since the previous day to 10m at the most. Much the same as the day before, puffers, rays, moray eels, and skate. Just much harder to photograph and find.

Our final dive was at Punta Argentina again, but began a little further east at ‘La Cruz’. Again, with the limited visibility we saw much the same as the day before, just less of it. Kelly did come across an octopus wedged deep in-between two boulders, but he wasn’t interested in posing for us.

That evening, we went to La Dolce Vita for another pizza and watched the Super Bowl (and a Canadian expat at the next table losing $500). Go Saints!

The following day we checked out and walked to the bus stop for the 3 hour trip home. On our way there, we saw a sign at a tourist info center that would arrange $20 shuttle transfers to Tamarindo every hour. What sounded like a great deal and would have saved us 2 hours was too good to be true. After waiting for the owner to show up for an hour (Ah, tico time… Pura vida!) and missing the 9AM bus, we left to catch the 10AM bus back to Tamarindo via Liberia.

All in all, we had 4 very nice dives with some larger ocean life at Playas del Coco. The lack of macro life is unfortunate and with the widely varying visibility and higher costs, the diving in Costa Rica has been a little hit and miss. But I’m glad we had the opportunity to get back in the water and it’s added to my anticipation for diving in Roatan, Honduras on the Caribbean side of Central America where we’ll be moving in a few short weeks.

Read the original article here: Scuba Diving at Playas del Coco

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