Once we leave the fresh jungle air north of the Arenal lake, we start to feel the heat. On the dusty road from Liberia to the coast, we are very happy about our air condition. The hotel is a lovely house with a garden with huge trees – which, as it turns out are filled with lizards.
Playa del Coco is really not our favourite place so we enjoy the garden, pool, and common spaces of the hotel. We came here for a reason though: Brice wants to scuba dive and has picked this spot. The company he’s been in touch with (Rocket Frog Divers) has confirmed that Julia can join the diving trip even without diving. Diving in Playa del Coco seems to be a very American/Canadian business, as is this entire area of the country. As we arrive at the beach, Julia is happy to discover that the boat is a lot bigger than expected – which means a more pleasant hang out spot for her while waiting for the divers. While not the most exciting part of the trip, there are worse places to be than on a boat just off the Costa Rican west coast on a sunny Tuesday morning, and spotting one huge turtle.
A note from Brice: Diving in Playa del Coco
The diving experience with Rocket Frog Divers is a little underwhelming. At the beginning of the first dive, my regulator is leaking. After going back to the boat, it appeared that the hole had already been repaired with tape, but apparently insufficiently… A new regulator, and the diving is on. Unfortunately, maybe due to the rainy season, the water is very muddy, as you can see in the pictures. The visibility doesn’t exceed 2-3 meters and there are strong currents. I wanted to spot manta rays by Catalina Island, but due to a booking mistake by the diving company we are diving along the coast. Still, I’m really excited to spot a turtle, a large amount of stone fish, and particularly to see a handful of eagle rays, for the first time. The diving staff were very friendly but not the most experienced I’ve dove with, and I would recommend you look for a different diving shop, ideally more locally staffed and with fewer people on the boat.
After a satisfying lunch at a soda, we spend a couple of hours at Playa Ocotal, just south of Playa del Coco; it has less boat traffic and is a little calmer. Still, this part of the country doesn’t leave us particularly enchanted (with the exception of the hotel, which is amazing).
The next day, after breakfast, we are off to our next stop: Manuel Antonio.
Accommodation : Villa del Sol
+beautiful building with a great garden and pool; very friendly and helpful staff; lovely common areas to lounge around, comfortable room
– breakfast (included) was good but maybe a little less elaborate than in most other places (eggs and toast, fruit); we generally didn’t like Playa del Coco very much, but if we were to come back, it would be to this place
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