Costa Rica, Bahia Santa Elena First Stop

As stated in our update while underway (see below) we had a good trip after leaving Bahia del Sol down to Costa Rica. Our first stop was the quiet and beautiful bay of Santa Elena. We had wind gusts during the day but the anchorage was flat since the bay was totally enclosed except for the entrance. We arrived on
Weds. 11/11 in the early morning. On the second day of exploring and just relaxing the Costa Rican Navy joined us. They were very pleasant and after some paper work and a cold soda left us to enjoy the bay.

(Alan getting ready to raise the Costa Rican flag.)



We explored both on foot and in the dinghy but never got to see howler monkeys. We did get to see the parrots flying at dusk and could hear them very well, even Alan could hear them. Alan did some fishing, with no luck, but mostly we relaxed and enjoyed the peaceful bay.

A couple of nice pictures of Effie in the bay.

On Friday we left Bahia Santa Elena and went around the corner to Playa del Coco. After we anchored and were sure we were set we got our paper work together to go check in. We made our beach landing without incident and the paper work cha cha went well. We found a fun little sports bar to have a cold one in and our first reaction was that Coco was another funky little beach town. After some food it was time to go back to the boat, that's when the fun began. The swell was quite high, we noticed, when we came in and when we mentioned it to our cab driver, Alex, on the way to customs he said it was very unusual to be so high. Well, after not doing a beach landing for a looooooooooooong time, I guess we were out of practice. We got the dinghy in the water and were all set to go and the motor didn't start. That was the beginning of the fun. We were hit by a way and got turned around and a little wet. While trying to get the dink turned around and going we were hit sideways by another way and we got a lot wet. Well it doesn't end there....yep we got hit a third time and got a lot more wet. We finally got the dinghy going and underway. Some nice people in another boat asked if we were okay and Alan answered, "Yea we're okay, just providing a little entertainment." We made it back to the boat, dried off and had a good laugh. (subsequent departures have been without incidence)

A view from Effie of the one of the sunsets in Playa del Coco.