Just got back from a week in Playa Del Coco. Small "fishing" village, that is rapidly becoming a tourist destination. We stayed at Villa Flores
www.hotel-villa-flores.com and I must say, it was by far the best B&B that we visited while we were there. Fresh fruit every morning, and some sort of eggs. Also had dinner there twice, which was excellent both times, and easily the best deal in town as far as price. The beds left a lot to be desired, unless you enjoy a rock hard bed. However, the grounds, and pool more than made up for the bed, and as much as I complained about the bed, I didn't have any trouble getting plenty of sleep. Loved relaxing in the pool or sitting in the hammocks when we weren't diving. The "swim up bar" is there, but it isn't stocked, and no one works it. The "gym" doesn't even exist...but then again, I was on vacation, so I guess it was kind of nice
When we return, we will definately stay with Caroline & David again. The weather was beautiful with only one day of any substantial rain that maybe lasted for 30 minutes.
Had 5 days of diving with Rich Coast Diving
www.richcoastdiving.com our dive master was Jaime. We were served fresh fruit, water, soda & cookies at our surface intervals. It was nice not to have to worry about taking snacks or water on the boat and just showing up every morning. We dropped our gear off at the shop the day we got there, and it was on the boat in our own individual mesh bags waiting for us. They would set it up for you, or let you set it up, whichever you prefered. At the end of the day, you just stored it back in the bag, and they took it back to the shop for a rinse and storage for the next day. I must say, not hauling our gear at all was a wonderful change for us. The visibility changed every day, so it was hard to say what you would be able to see. One day it was like diving the local lakes, and the next it rivaled Roatan. Luckily for us, the day it was like Roatan, we were at the Catalinas. The 3 dives at the Catalinas was the best day of diving I have had so far...more sharks than we could count, schools of barracuda, formations of eagle rays, schools of fish so dense, it was like clouds blocking out the sun. Other than the Catalinas, there was some interesting local diving as well. We went out to Monkey Head, which was an enjoyable dive, and if you get the opportunity, I also recommend Punta Gorda. Both were great dives, with Punta Gorda being the best diving outside of the Islands. Puffer & porcupine fish here are like cattle, there are litterally thousands of them on every dive. There are 5 to 6 huddled together in every crack and crevice. Also, there are some that are just amazingly curious. I had one that would not leave my camera alone. He would swim right up to the lens and just sit there...everytime I moved the camera, there he was. Also, the eels were in full force. I must have 100 photos of just different eels. Seahorses, were abundant as well....I figure when I can find one without a divemaster, then there has to be something going on. We were all really excited when we saw our first scorpionfish...that was until we spotted the other 50 scorpionfish...
On our one day that we didn't dive, we had a driver take us to the Arenal area where we had an excursion with Pure Trek
www.puretrek.com They took us on a canyoning "tour". We took a van from their place to a small dirt road, where we boarded 4x4's and headed off into the jungle. After stopping, we got a briefing, and put on our rapelling gear. We hiked for about 5 minutes, and rapelled down a 175' waterfall! What a blast. We did 4 more waterfalls and a canyon wall. Tons of life and water. It was fun, but not as much fun as the diving for me. Everyone else on the trip enjoyed it more than the diving, so to each his own I guess. We got back in time for the sun to sit and the clouds to lift off of the volcano. Stopped for some pizzas to go for the 3.5 hour ride back to Playa. On the way back, our driver pulled off on a side road, and we watched as the volcano sent lava flying up into the air and spilling down the sides of the mountain. It was truely an amazing day. Anyway, I could type for hours and not get it all in. I just wanted to report in and let everyone know that I would recommend all 3 of the operators that we dealt with. Also, if you do want to see the volcano, I recommend spending a day or two there and not trying to make a one day trip out of it.
