It was just an absolutely beautiful morning in Montezuma. I was said to have to leave so soon, but I hopped on a speed boat at 9:30 am on the beach in Montezuma, heading for Jaco. That is across the peninsula of Costa Rica, so we had to cross part of the Pacific ocean. It was me, a dentist from Florida, and his two girlfriends...haha. They wrapped all of our bags (luggage) in big trash bags because we were on a pretty little speed boat and we were going quite a ways, pretty fast, so they said there was a good chance we would get wet! There aren´t any docks here in Costa Rica, not that I´ve found anyways, so they pull the boats in as far as they can and then you just walk out through the water to hop on. No problem for me, the rich old dentist and his two old ladies were NOT happy about it! ;)
So we took off, FAST, and I was kind of loving it, just being out on the ocean, but it got real old real fast when we got farther out in to the wide open ocean, and the waves got bigger, and the boat kept going faster! I literally think we were flying over the ocean, and after laughing for a little while, I eventually began hanging on for dear life, bouncing all around! Well after about 30 minutes of fighting the high seas ;) the driver abruptly slowed down, and I was like THANK YOU it´s about time he realized he´s going to fast! But he slowed down because there were DOLPHINS swimming around us and he didn´t want to hit them!! I mean how much better could my vacation get right!? I was like a kid in a candy store just squealing with excitement...I didn´t even know I liked dolphins so much! It was the coolest thing ever to see them swimming around our boat and jumping through the waves! I was just giggling and screaming and snapping pictures, you know how excited I can get! The driver was having a good laugh at me... So when the dolphins stopped jumping, I hunched down and was visibly distraught. ;) Well the super cool driver said ¨aaahhh...you want more dolphin??¨ About all the english he knew, and of course I grinned and said yes, so he turned the boat around and went back to find them! Once he saw one or two leap out of the water, he drove around really fast in big circles, to create a big wake or waves, and then you should have seen the dolphins!! Apparently they love to play in the waves that boats create, so lots of them were swimming RIGHT beside the boat and then leaping through the waves we created! It was seriously awesome. I don´t know if Ive ever even seen a dolphin in a park or anything, so seeing them jumping in the wild was SWEET! :) The driver finally said, good?? And I let him drive on...haha. ;) It was hard to watch AND take pictures at the same time, so they didn't turn out so hot, but here they are...
So it was about an hour to Jaco beach...no dock again, just sludging through the water with my backpack. The beach we pulled up on was just awesome though! SO pretty...
I hadn´t really heard too many good things about Jaco, just that it is the prostitution (which is 100% legal here) and drug capital of Costa Rica. I actually thought it was okay!! Not my favorite town in Costa Rica, pretty touristy, but it was alright! I walked up to a little shop in the middle of the town where you can book tours and stuff, and told them I wanted to surf! They told me the best place in town was right across the street - literally.
So I dumped my backpack and bags there for the day (yes I am very trusting) and took off with my swimsuit and camera to SURF!! Luckily the owner of this surf shop, who used to compete on the Costa Rican national surf team, said he was taking another girl out for a private lesson in about 30 minutes, so I got to tag along! BEST DECISION EVER! ;) I went with the owner / lead instructor Mauricio, his American gf Lacey (who just tagged along), and another American girl, Liza. Both of the other girls were around my age and we hit it off!
So after about a 10 minute lesson on land on a long board...
...I am not kidding you, I popped right up on my first attempt at a wave! Who knew I was a natural surfer! Haha... okay not really, I crashed the next two times without really getting up, but it helps so much to have someone who actually knows what they´re doing! I´v tried to surf a couple of other times, but never really figured it out or gotten up. I sure can now, all alone! He taught me how to paddle and how to read the waves and pick the good ones, etc. I´m really not to bad!!
It was SUPER cool and I think I´m going to pick it up as a hobby. Except I live in Kansas...so maybe not. ;) So anyways, after surfing for about 4 hours, with plenty of breaks in between, I was WORN OUT (and decided I needed some more pictures)! I see now why surfers are so ripped! It is hard work to paddle with just your arms to get up enough speed to get up on the wave!
Pretty sure I bruised a rib trying to hold the board on one side of me and fight the waves to get out to the water. Other than that, and a couple mouthfulls of salt water, nothing but awesome surfing!! :) I walked around Jaco a little bit, bought a few more souvenirs. I found a really nice necklace and earrings I wanted to buy for my mom, as well as a dolphin necklace for Allie, but I didn´t have enough local money (colones). I argued and argued, and ended up completely dumping out all of my money, which was mainly a huge pile of coins, counting through it all, and finally convincing the guy to give it all to me for the last of my money! BROKE! ;) Not really, I still had USD, but I wanted to get rid of my colones. Mission accomplished!
So I really did NOT want to take the public bus from Jaco back to San Jose or to Alajuela (little town outside of San Jose where the airport really is) tonight. Even though it is only $4 for a ticket, it takes several hours and to be honest, I´m just over public transportation here! So the guy I surfed with (Mauricio) said he had a friend who would take me for $60. That´s a lot, I know, but it was worth it to me. He was supposed to meet me back at the surf shop at 4:30. I was sitting there waiting around 4:20 and guess who just happens to walk by on the street. MARTIN, my friend from Texas that I met in La Fortuna...who I really came here to meet up with but we never found each other! Twist of fate! ;) He is so nice to have around because he speaks fluent Spanish, which always makes me feel better. :) He didn´t want to take the bus either, so we ended up splitting the cost of the ride here...WELL worth it! Our driver - who happend to be American but married a woman from Costa Rica - dropped us off in Alajuela, which is actually closer to the airport than San Jose and a much smaller town. We walked right across the street and were both so hungry from surfing all day (he was surfing too...just farther down on the beach) that we ate at McDonalds! Haha...that place is everywhere! Then we caught a taxi to Johny´s Place, some little hostel, and that´s where we are now. No air conditoning, but I´m pretty sure they have hot showers! I am fried, again, even thought I put on spf 55 sunblock...I´m beginning to wonder if that stuff even works!? Hopefully the shower isn´t too painful! I am officially ready to come home after one of the best vactions ever!! :)
Jaco town is very popular the world over for its spectacular beaches. The town is part of the nations Puntarenas province and the exact setting of Jaco is on the central Pacific Coast.
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