Day 2- Exploring the Tip of the Nicoya Peninsula

Up at 5 am and down to check out the surf.  Wishing these villas were closer to the beaches.  We go to Playa Carmen, also called CoCo and park on the beach.  

John does a pretty decent session and I body surf, as I've not rented a board yet.  The waves were head high on the sets, fun lefts and rights, peaky. There are maybe 10 people total up and down this huge expanse of beach, 2 are surfing, the rest are walking dogs, and it's very clean.  When we go back for breakfast John chats with Roger's sons who are both surfer pro hopefuls at 16 and 17.  The younger one is way more interested in the “Thumper”.  Not unusual as this board often causes quite a stir- being this hybrid of a shorter fun shape with really clean rails, and he and John end up chatting for awhile about waves and surf spots, which isn't surprising given he's reportedly the better of the two. 

 
John also greets Christopher and Cecilia from France who he met the night before.  But they are leaving today which is too bad, as John would've enjoyed surfing with Christopher who is a financial rep for Billabong.

Back for breakfast and Rosie is cheerful, not bilingual, but a great cook.  Eggs and sausage with toast, fresh fruit, coffee (coffee in the room too which made J happy). 

We decide to ATV that day as the forecast for a swell is later that week and the rest of today's surf just looks thick and sloppy.  Plus this tour is part of the package and sometimes on a surf trip, if the waves aren't happening, its nice to have some other options. ATVs make total sense here and if we ever move to this place, we will own one for sure!  Roger leads, and we are joined by Mikini (rhymes with Bikini) and Marilyn, two young, beautiful women from Brooklyn.  Mikini gets a quick lesson and Roger is leery but she makes the hill so she's good to drive.  We go past Mel Gibson's joint, just as he's flying in on his private helicopter- and down into Cabuya.  We see a possible wave break on this eastern side of the peninsula and mark it for checking out later for possible surf.

An unremarkable butterfly farm, with exception of a bug expert who chats to us about spiders and such, and we hike from there to the Waterfall.   It's a pretty scary path with one way- straight down, but doable.  The falls remind me of the High Sierra's granite pools from Silver Lake, called the Potholes- a favorite camping place of mine if you’re ever on Hwy 88, just south of Kirkwood ski resort. 10 and 15 foot jumps into the pools.  Ice cold refreshing water though it's brown from 3 previous days of much needed rain. There's even a rope swing and we all practice being Tarzan except for Marilyn who can't swim. After the falls a short drive to Montezuma, a hippie haven, for lunch of fish Casado  - Tico standard fare- grilled meat, rice and beans, plantain and cabbage salad.  Coconut milkshake and crepes with banana (an entire banana left whole, no less) and nutella for dessert.  There's a huge French influence here and French Canadians heavily travel the region.

Pretty beat from dust, swimming and bone rattling roads upon our return.  Later we drive to Santa Teresa to rent me a board but get skunked as the recommended place is only open 9-5 pm.  Seems a bit odd when dawn patrol is a must here- but then again there's just not that many people so its probably not worth it.  We ate a big lunch so we just get some ceviche and chips for dinner from the ice cream store.  That’s CR for ya- ice cream and raw fish appetizer at the same place- that only sells those two things.  Tomorrow we plan to surf most of the day.

Another early night but with A/C - yeah! 

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