Safety Third! Stormy Seas and Crystal Clear Snorkeling (by The Boys)

Our family's third-favorite activity overall was an adventurous speed boat ride to Cano Island Biological Reserve ~50 miles out from Uvita. They say "getting there is half the fun" and that was true in this case because our boat covered the distance in about 70 mins (43 mph average on the open ocean). Very zoomy! Our boat did not have an official name, so we christened it appropriately as "Safety Third". 

 

Once we got to the island, we enjoyed some choppy snorkeling in crystal clear waters and were able to watch a rain storm from beneath the surface (raindrops look amazing viewed from underwater!). 

  


On Cano Island, we enjoyed some relaxing time on the beach near an abandoned ranger station and watched hundreds of hermit crabs fleeing our footsteps on the beach as we crossed the sand. Lorelei fed them the remains of a driftwood coconut that we crushed on a rock. The boat ride home was even more-bumpy as the captain pushed the engine to its limits in an attempt to out-run a tropical storm that ended up dumping over two inches of rain on the area over the next several hours. (We were unable to drive back given flooding in the roads). 


Elliott's recollection: I had a very fun time on the snorkeling tour. I saw lots of different kinds of fish, including sea turtles, parrot fish, little black fish, and I forget the of all the other ones. The boat ride over was really fun. It was really fast and bumpy, but it was also really long. It was like an hour! After we finished getting over there, we ate lunch. The lunch they gave us was a really good burrito with avacodo, plantain, rice, and chicken. It was delish! We also got lemonade, a coconut cookie, and a piece of banana bread. 

 

It was really fun snorkeling. The first time was really hard and I kept getting water up my nose. I almost quit, but I am glad I didn't because the other times were really fun. Then we went onto an island and took a little hike to a lookout, which was beautiful. After that, I found a coconut on the beach and tried to get it to float out to sea, but failed. Then Lorelei found another coconut and opened it to feed to the crabs. They loved it! After that, we went back on the boat. It was rainy and even more awesome than the first boat ride. I had a great time snorkeling! 

(The beach on our way to the boat heading out to the island)

(Same beach during the rainstorm on the way back)


Wesley's recollection: The boat ride was bumpy. I went snorkeling for the first time. It wasn't scary. I saw a turtle. [Done. That was four sentences. You said three or four and I did four sentences because the sentences were little.]




Two sea turtles mating. Apparently, it's a multi-day affair

Cano Island from a lookout point



 

 



 







Location: Costa Rica

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