Tamarindo sunsets

(click to enlarge) 

Finally I got a real picture to put up. This was taken by my friend Francis from Quebec on his iPhone while we were hanging out at the beach last night. I get treated to these beautiful sunsets  almost every day. I'm a much bigger fan of sunsets than sunrises. In Puerto Viejo on the Caribbean coast, the sunrises were said to be beautiful but I never felt like waking up at 4:30 am to find out.
 On the right side of the bay there are two small mountains on the piece of land that juts out and separates Playa Tamarindo from Playa Grande. The land on the left as seen in the picture is nothing but rocks. Further South is Playa Langosta. Langosta means lobster. I've only seen one lobster here in the Pacific waters, a very small baby lobster that washed up on the top of my surfboard while I was out waiting for a wave. I would have liked to have taken him home and eaten him as a light snack, but lucky for him I don't have any pots yet.

One drawback about the Pacific Ocean is its lack of underwater visibility. You can only see a few feet, opposed to the crystal clear waters of the Caribbean. I did get a chance to snorkel through a living reef during my time on the Caribbean Coast, and will make a blog entry on that great experience later.
I've heard there is some good scuba diving here, all kinds of marine life to see like the huge leatherback turtles and other unique marine life. Scuba is an expensive hobby....just to get certified is over 300 dollars, a temporary permit can be purchased for 65. I would love to try it while I'm down here.

Some friends from Australia I met here in Tamarindo are now in Dallas. They've been all over the place, from Florida to Costa Rica to Dallas then on to Austin before leaving from Houston. While they were in Florida they encountered a bull shark while snorkeling, one of the 3 shark species most likely to attack humans.

Bull sharks are known for their aggressive behavior and swimming in shallow waters near shore. Unlike other sharks, bull sharks can tolerate fresh water and have been known to swim up rivers. They have been known to travel as far up as Indiana in the Ohio River and Illinois in the Mississippi River.
While I hope to encounter some big fish when I go snorkeling or scuba diving again, I think I'll pass on a shark encounter. I'm sure it's a big adrenaline rush and all, but.....no thanks.
Maybe a giant sting ray like this would be cool:

The sport fishing is supposed to be great here. That's another expensive hobby. You can pay to go out on a boat and use their equipment but it will set you back several hundred. Unfortunately there are no docks or piers to fish off of. Once I get some work I plan on taking one of these fishing tours. I'd love to catch a big mahi-mahi, sailfish, or roosterfish. As thrilling as it is to reel in a 4 pound big mouth bass, I imagine it's nothing compared to fighting one of these beasts. Hopefully soon I will know.

 Costa Rica has a lot of rules regarding construction on the beach. There's only legal marina I know of, and that's in Jaco, further south on the Pacific Coast. Another one was planned on the Caribbean coast in Puerto Viejo, a huge marina with many slits and plans for businesses. As of right now the plans are dead due to local protests. The marina would take up almost the entire beach in the city. I'm not so sure this would be a bad thing though, as the beaches in town aren't that nice anyway and most people choose to visit the bigger cleaner beaches on either side of town.
Also the marina and resorts that would follow with it would bring so many much needed jobs for the local economy, lessening the local economy's dependence on dealing drugs to tourists.
I completely understand their side though, Puerto Viejo has a very chill, laid-back, time stands still, Reggae-Rasta-Jamaican type of vibe that the locals do no want disturbed.


Cowboys won two in a row!? Crazy. Shows you how bad Wade Phillips was as a coach.
I forgot the game was at noon and missed it, but glad they own and excited for the Thanksgiving Day matchup against the Saints. Hopefully I can find somewhere to eat Turkey down here without spending a fortune...