Golfito, Costa Rica

The first stop on the Pacific side of Central America was Costa Rica. MS Regatta visited, for the first time, a small port called Golfito. The village, at one time, produced bananas for the United Fruit Company. Unfortunately, with the demise of the company the community suffered. Palm oil is now the main agricultural product and a new marina is being developed to take advantage of a promising Eco Tourism industry. Notice the jungle grows right to the edge of the village.

The new, colourful marina at Golfito.

Two privately owned yachts were moored at one dock and there was just enough room for our ship at another. I doubt large cruise ships could dock in this port.

In this lush rainforest region plants find unusual places to grow

Most of the vessels were small fishing boats and a couple of tourist boats. It is a quaint location with an old world ambience.

The village backdrop to fishing boats

Travel time pals ready to sail on a not quite so luxurious boat

Our shore excursion was "Sunset Cruise to an Enchanted Beach" complete with the promise of wildlife viewing. The day was overcast with dark, ominous clouds threatening rain; the humidity was extremely high. Costa Rican jungles host a myriad of wildlife from large cats to tiny lizards. Along the shore we noticed huge colonies of pelicans roosting in the trees. It was fascinating to watch them soar, skim the water, soar again and then dive with precision to capture the prey.

Pelicans roosting in the jungle close to the ocean

Bottlenose dolphins

A pod of bottlenose dolphins gracefully accompanied our boat for about 20 minutes. The guide related a story about the playfulness of dolphins. He explained they will play ball toss with puffer fish. Puffers are extremely poisonous and would kill a dolphin should one accidentally eat it. However, if the puffer is tossed in the air between members of the pod the poisonous spines slightly pierce the dolphins' noses and they enjoy a chemical high. He likened it to passing the joint at toke party. We did not see the puffer fish game and presumed the pod accompanying us were not on a high.

5 of the pod

The shore excursion description said it would be a wet landing at the enchanted beach with no beach facilities. The description was somewhat lacking in detail - no sand, little shoreline, lots of jungle, considerable wave action. From the boat we all made the decision to pass on the wet landing option. Only one hardy soul decided to give it a try and was then cautioned by the crew to abandon the idea. The crew got permission for our boat and another to dock at a long pier. There were young boys fishing with hand lines from the pier. Even debarking using the dock was precarious as no lines were used to secure the boat. The crew grabbed the dock and allowed one person at a time off the boat. The timing of this was in conjunction with the incoming waves. I'm surprised all chose to get off the boat. We managed well enough but there were several with age and mobility issues. This was the first time excursion for this tour operators with Oceania. Safety concerns were not addressed. Even the life jackets were scattered at random around the boat, probably not enough for each passenger. Certainly no safety regulations were shared with the passengers.

Enchanted beach and private dock

In some ways the beach was enchanting but the path from the dock to the shore was slick with mud; at least one passenger fell. Another, who decided to swim, was scraped by rocks and needed assistance getting out of the water. An elderly gentleman donned a life jacket and had a wonderful time bobbing in the surf. All the while his wife hollered from the dock accusing him of idiocy. The young fishermen chuckled at it all.

Not much beach at 'enchanted beach'

Said 'enchanted' beach has potential but it is not the safest destination at this time. Meanwhile, the locals fished, filleted their catch right at the dock and enjoyed the entertainment provided by a bunch of older, privileged cruise ship passengers who were not accustomed to the wilds of the Costa Rica.

   

Dock to enchanted beach with tour boat in the distance.

The vegetation was lush and lovely. There was a house on the property which had a tropical appeal. Unfortunately, adjacent to the house was a huge pile of trash - construction material, plastic bags, an old toilet. We were surprised by this because we got the impression from the guides that the Costa Rican people are very eco-conscious and committed to preserving the fragile habitat. 

Flora collage

Once off the muddy path from the dock there was another path leading to the beach, lined with wooden stepping stones, lush ferns and graceful palms.

Jungle path beckoning one to the beach

We took the time to explore the path and the beach but did not venture into the jungle.


RP on the edge of the jungle

DS & LS as close to enchanted beach as they wanted to get.

It was time to leave and the process of the boarding the boat was even more dangerous than getting off. On passenger commented, "This is a lawyer's dream." Yikes! another wildlife encounter or so we thought. As we were waiting for the boat to reload LS and I noticed a serpentine shape on the boat roof about us. We hailed the captain, who explained with the chuckle, that is was quite dead. It was placed there to prevent birds from coming around the boat and doing their business. It had been there all the time and we only noticed it near the end. One of the guides then provided a talk about the many variety of snakes found in Costa Rica. All the more reason not to venture into the jungle. Our guides were knowledgeable about the eco system and very committed to preserving it.

Dead snake

Well, it was described as a sunset cruise. There was a faint glimmer of sun through the palm fronds but the ominous storm clouds were rolling closer.

Faint hint of sun through the palm branches

All aboard and we were off. Ooops! not quite. The captain and crew of two started the engines to the sound of a cellphone ring. One of the crew and two passengers had been left at the beach. Back we went to pick them up at the dangerous dock. I'm glad there was cell phone coverage and also glad I didn't understand Spanish, but we got the drift from crew banter that abandoned guide was not at all impressed with the negligence.

The photo shows the brief sunset glimpse and then the rains came. Costa Ricans have 50 words to describe rain and we had no doubt every one of them could have been used to describe the journey back to the ship. Darkness fell, the wind blew and rain pelted through the open sides of the boat without mercy. Fortunately, as we did not engage in a wet landing or swimming, our beach towels were still dry, but not for long. We had a moment or two when we wondered if we would make it back before the Regatta sailed. The crew was confidant and nonchalant. As we arrived at the dock in Golfito a torrent of water from the pier overhang poured as a waterfall onto the boat, which then had to be maneuvered to allow the passengers to debark from the bow instead of the side. Another precarious, slippery process in the deluge to get off the boat. The luxury of the Regatta was much appreciated. We hardly bothered to dry off; GIN and TONICS WERE IN ORDER! 

It was yet another rainy experience for the Travel Time Pals. We have had several but Golfto, Costa Rica wins the award for the most adventurous of our rainy day travels.