Tag: costa rica

Abbigail’s Sail and Another Fish Tale

On our last and final day of fishing, I debated to try my hand at another Roosterfish or go back looking for sailfish. Pondering to myself, “Abby didn’t get her sail.” I decided that the best course of action was to hit back out in the deep blue sea for some pelagic action.

We gathered ourselves one more time early in the morning before the orangish-yellow sun rose over the jungle. Loaded in our small 4×4 rental car, we headed down from Manuel Antonio to Marina Pez Vela. The guards waved us through nonchalantly as he has seen us twice this week. We walked down to the docks and found our new captain for the day, Jerry.

He spoke softly and said, “heading 20 miles out today.” This was the furthest that we been out in Costa Rica. The ride was exceptionally smooth though. The water like glass with the occasional wind ripple made the taxi to our trolling grounds pleasurable. As we rode out, I was excited with the thought of Abby getting her first sailfish.

The mate hurriedly set the trolling spread. It was identical from the previous day with ballyhoos, teasers and skirts. He moved swiftly as this was his second nature on the water. Tying and spooling out line, the rods were ready and the troll began.

A little over an hour trolling, one of the lines screamed as it was being pulled. We acted quickly and the fish was off, but immediately the next line yelled like the previous and the fish was on. As soon as the fish felt the pressure on the hook, it broke the water. Colors of green and yellow danced in the air and my eyes saw the largest Mahi Mahi that I ever seen in person. The mate yelled, “Dorado!” I took the rod and began the fight.

The bruiser of Mahi took line that seemed forever, and I got a small amount back when it paused. The battle continued back and forth and back and forth until I started to gain on the massive fish. I slowly got it to the boat but as soon as the fish saw the boat it awakened in a fury and took more line out.

My back and arm yelling at me in pain. I shouldered through. Slowly gaining the line I lost, I reached the leader. Our mate, who spoke fishing english, waved at me to slow the fight. He began slowly hand reeling the line in very cautiously. Like threading a needle he ever so gently pulled the line to his reach. The fish sluggishly made its way to the pointed gaff and the mate with all his might pulled in the massive Mahi Mahi. The fish was caught and my personal best Mahi Mahi posed with me in the boat.

I felt joy and excitement but yet I wasn’t satisfied. Today was going to be Abby’s day, and the day wasn’t over. Her fish was not caught.

I reflected over my ice cold Imperial beer, “would Abby get her Sail?” The mate had the lines out and already began to clean the massive fish. We watched as he filleted and trimmed tossing the leftover remains over.

The troll continued for another 30 minutes, and I was watching the birds in the sky. They had become more numerous and began to dive. “Baitfish,” I said to myself. Within a second, the rod on the left corner bent over in pain and line stripped.

“Sail!” the mate exclaimed. “This is yours Abby,” I said. She eagerly went to the stern of the boat and began her fight.

The sailfish danced in the air and showing off its dorsal fin. Abby gritted her teeth as she battled the elegant but powerful fish.

“She never fought a fish this size before,” I thought. “Could she handle the endurance of the sea creature?”

The answer was clear once I saw the determination in her eyes. The fish had no chance. The tug of war of the fight continued. Her getting more frustrated yet more focused on the prize. Inch by inch, she gained on the fish until it decided to run again. Slightly deflated but still eager, she continued the fight slowly gaining on the colorful billfish. Eventually, her will won over the creature, who clearly had little chance against Abby’s determination.

She posed with her defeated foe at the edge of the boat with a victorious smile on her face. My Costa Rican trip was made because Abby didn’t just catch her first sail, she caught the biggest one of our trip. For more details on Sailfishing in Costa Rica, check out queposfishadventures.com.

Roosterfishing Not Catching

Continuing the next part of my recent adventure to Costa Rica with Abby was my favorite part of it—fishing. Driving four hours from La Fortuna, we reached our next area of the country, the Pacific coast. Specifically, the drive took us to Quepos and the Manuel Antonio region. As we drove in, the climate changed dramatically from the milder and wet rainforest to the hotter and drier coast. The ocean had a breeze but I didn’t see a single drop of rain my six-day stretch there. Luckily, I fished three of those days.

Our first morning, the sun peeked behind the horizon to greet us at 6 in the morning. With a cup of Costa Rican coffee and a protein bar in hand, Abby and I headed down from the Manuel Antonio mountain area to the Marina Pez Vela. The marina looked newer than the other structures around the Quepos area. With a variety shops and restaurants, it looked like a shopping mall. As we made our way down to the dock, we were greeted by our charter’s contact that took us to get our one week $15 dollar fishing license and then to the boat. Captain Burly and Mate Johnny greet us from their slip, and we then hastily took off in their 28 foot center console to catch the bait.

The water was flat as we headed upshore from the marina. Spinning rods were being rigged with Sabiki rigs on our ride out.

Johnny asked, “Want to try?”

I nodded in enthusiasm. We stopped the boat and dropped our rigs down with a slight jig. I landed a couple of sardines on my first drop. Eager to try again, I hooked something bigger. My light spinning rod bowed like a flimsy hickory. “Barra,” mumbled Johnny. I had a barracuda hooked and the next thing all three rods in the water had one hooked. Eventually, the toothy fish cut our lines and we decided to head south.

Passing epic rock cliffs and islands like imagery from a national geographic, we made our way closer to the Manuel Antonio area. We stopped and dropped our sabiki lines in the water. All of us had synchronized bites, and we reeled in 3 to 5 sardines a piece in this new area. After a few drops, we had enough bait to go after our goal of the day and my bucket list fish, the Roosterfish. We positioned ourselves 100 yards from shore and began to troll.

As we trolled, I thought to myself that this was heaven. Fishing, beautiful weather and amazing scenery of dark sand beach. My thoughts were interrupted as the black dorsal fin of a rooster broke the surface of the surf and began to chase our sardines. The fish danced in the water swaying back and forth waiting to strike. And it did.

Abby’s pole began to bend and line was going out. After a countdown of 10 seconds, she closed her bell and began to reel. The fish was hooked. “Way to go Abby,” I shouted. She reeled with all her might but did not see the line losing tension, and the circle hook was thrown. “Circle hooks have a learning curve to newer anglers”, I thought. After the first hook up, we trolled again. And we had another hookup in no time. This time, Abby’s line stayed tight, and she reeled in short time a large needle fish.

After trolling, we tried bottom fishing next near the rocky isles with hopes of landing a larger Roosterfish or even a snook. The catch was a mix bag of snapper, needlefish and spanish mackerel. The elusive Roosterfish had not been seen. We stopped for lunch and chatted about our experience in Costa Rica with the guides. Burly disclosed his trip to the states and Atlanta. He remembered the bad traffic of the city. I laughed.

After lunch, we moved to the other side of the islands. The waves swayed the boat more as we dropped down to 30 feet. After a few drops and moves, my rod began to bend. The captain exclaimed, “You got your big rooster!” As I reeled, the fight felt very familiar to me. The fish dug deeper into sea. My hands began to ache as I saw color. The pattern of skin did not look striped. I knew the pull of the fish after I saw color. It was a reef donkey or AJ. I felt deflated. The fight was fun but my goal of a Roosterfish was not happening.

We dropped one more time, and the bite was on once again. I fought hard this time and after battle of wills, the Jack Carvelle was caught and our time on the water was up. Frustration went through my mind as we headed back. I flew all the way down here and did not meet my goal of catching a Roosterfish. But, I paused and looked around. The waves crashing in the rocks, the exotic flora, and the smell of salt in the air, all, refocused me. Failing here to catch one of my bucket list fish was not all bad after all. The hunt or the chase could continue in my future and it would be great excuse to come back to paradise. Because in the end, it would be called catching not fishing if it was easy. Check out the highlight video of our Quepos Inshore adventure below.

 

 

Costa Rican Adventure Part 2: Rio Celeste Waterfall

After a long day of guided tours, 14 hours to be exact, Abby and I felt it would be nice to go at our own pace and tour Costa Rica on our own. We loaded up early on the warm Monday morning, and trekked down the rocky dirt road to our next destination, Rio Celeste.

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Driving in a foreign country can be intimidating, I have don it a few times before. The infrastructure in Costa Rica was not as well-maintained like back in the US but all were manageable if one used common sense and patience. For the most part, all the main roads up to the Tenorio Volcano National Park, where the Rio Celeste is located, were decently paved. Driving up to the park, I was bewildered by the livestock of the region. Cows for days and some free ranging without a fence were my roadside scenery. But within an instant, the farms turned to jungle like terra. Driving the curvy roads, the jungle would randomly be broken up by small communities and rivers.

Just 20 mins outside the park, we were driving down the highway. Abby said, “Look!” I slow down as I approached a bridge. My eyes have never seen water with such vibrant colors. Water flowing and babbling under a bridge but it was turquoise blue like someone melted jewelry in to a river. It was our first encounter with the Rio Celeste and it was breathtaking.

We continued our drive from the bridge down a road to the park. The first park felt to me like I was sitting in a massage chair with all the bumpiness, and the second part felt like I was climbing up to Everest in my not so sporty rental. We hit a curve and the blue natural wonder made another appearance. It seemed even more turquoise blue from the first encounter.

As we reached our final hilltop, we saw people excitedly wave us in to a parking lot. Vendors were sprinkled out all along the road. They were selling tour services, boots, ponchos and fruit. Passing the street side salesmen, we paid our way into the park at the front gate and began our journey into the park.

Inside the park, I saw similar vegetation that I saw at the hanging bridge tour. The Dragonblood tree was there with its blood-like sap and huge trunk size. Elephant ears and numerous vines decorated our walkway. Speaking of the walkway, I noticed the trail was nicely paved with no blemishes for the first part. The second part was slightly muddy, rocky and steep, but I have hiked worst in the north Georgia mountains.

The final climb up the hill was greeted with the sound of crashing water. “We were close,” I thought. We approached a stone staircase that had wooden guardrails. We made our descent and utilized those wooden rails. The steps were wet and slippery but, we made it after carefully navigated down to the first opening in the forest. The sight that awaited us was from our long trek was the turquoise waterfall. Words could not describe the beauty of the fall and flowing vibrant pool below it. We paused for a moment to take it in and capture the moment. The sounds and color of the fall were breathtaking. After our brief stop, we finished our climb down to the viewing platform.

The platform was not that crowded but a few people were enjoying the sight of the tranquil natural wonder. A mist from the fall covered us like a light morning dew. I thought to myself this is what heaven must look like, and God in his great power made this as heavenly preview on earth. The locals even say that God dipped his brush into the Rio Celeste to paint the sky. I think they were on to something.

After an hour of enjoying the view and capturing the moment, we doubled back to the front gate. We must have been more observant to nature after the past two days. Abby and I started noticing even more of nature’s beauty. From the brief rain shower that agitated the howler monkey to the slight coloration on the leaves, we gained a stronger respect and admiration of natural wonders that our all around us.

 

For more information on the Tenorio Volcano National Park and the Rio Celeste, check out https://www.costarica.com/attractions/tenorio-volcano-national-park.

Costa Rican Adventure Part 1: Intro and Ecotourism

There is a place in Central America that moves a little slower with a genuinely kind-hearted people. A place when the sun goes down has natural sounds that are unreal and when those sounds are paired with the stars in the clear cool night sky, it transports you to a tranquil state of mine. Yet, this same place has adventure and excitement all over from their lush rainforests to their sunny coast. It is filled with a cornucopia of flora and exotic wildlife that most have never seen in person. This place is Costa Rica.

This is an intro piece to a series of blog postings about my adventure into Costa Rica. Each piece will cover a part of my journey from ecotourism, inshore fishing, offshore fishing and end with tips on how to plan your own Costa Rican adventure. Originally, I wanted just a fishcation trip but as I researched more on this divine place, I found that Costa Rica offered so much more than just angling, an insight that will be shared in this first piece. So, cut up some pineapple, drink some coconut water, and apply your sunscreen as I take you on a journey to the Rich Coast.

The sun peeked over the Platanar volcano as the dew settled on the Jurassic Park-like greenery in front of the villa. Abby, my girlfriend, and I waited on the transportation to our multi-stop tour.

Our guides Minor and Yari pulled up in the passenger van wrapped in the Rainforest Explorers logo, and we eagerly hopped in to drive to our first destination of the Hanging Bridges of Mistico Park.

Driving up a steep mountain and around various sharp curves, we pulled into the park. Yari hopped out of the van and instructed us to carry our rain jackets. She then enthusiastically yelled, “vamonos!” That means “let’s go”  in Spanish. Overlooking the Arenal volcano, the humid park has a 250 hectares with a 2 mile trail with 16 bridges, specifically five hanging bridges. As we hiked through the misty trail, we saw bats, eyelash pit vipers, spider monkeys jumping from tree to tree and lizards. All pointed out and described in detail by our guide, Yari.

Equipped with our rain jackets, the wet climate of the rainforest was no issue to us, but in the background, the howling monkey sounded his agitation whenever a rain shower would pop up. His howls could be heard for miles according to Yari. As we exited the trail and crossed the longest bridge over the green vegetation. We began our next journey to the La Fortuna waterfall.

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The waterfall entrance follows 500 stairs to a viewing and swimming area. The path and steps were numerous but clearly defined. The green vegetation covered the forrest surrounding the staircase. The sounds of zipliners above us as they zoomed over the scenery. As we reached the bottom, the grandeur of the waterfall could be observed from a platform and from the small river below. If you go around the bend of the river, there is a small swimming area with clear water and exotic fish swimming. It is also a more relaxed area than by the pool near the fall. The best way to describe that water is brisk and refreshing. It was like a cold mountain spring in March. The climb up is not as easy as the climb down, but there were multiple stops with benches to rest if needed. When you reach the top, there are dressing rooms, snack stands, and gift shops to visit.

 

 

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Our next stop in our action packed day was lunch. In true Costa Rican or Tico form, we stopped at a family restaurant and enjoyed a traditional Costa Rican castada that was cooked over a wood stove. My plate was filled will salad, black beans, rice and steak.

Accompanied with a local mixed fruit juice and Lizano sauce for flavoring. After the bountiful plate, the meal was concluded with coffee and ice cream. We enjoyed dessert by watching the local birds eat from the feeder just outside the pavilion-style restaurant.

We digested our food as we drove to our a long strenuous hike through a forest trail and up a lava field trail to a lookout platform of Arenal Volcano. The hike required the assistance of wooden sticks and a watchful eye as we bypassed steep hills and irritable ants. Wild birds cawed in the warm humid air as we reached the base of the volcano hike. Yari briefed the group on the history of the volcano with a warning of difficulty of the next hike. Some settled to stay at the base but the majority of us venture on. The trail was riddled with loose lava rock and steep steps. After a short 20-minute hike up a strenuous trail, we reached our lookout spot to view the volcano and lake Arenal. It was truly a humbling moment that we soaked in before the  treacherous descent back to the base of the mountain.

After all our adventures in the day, we had one more stop to complete, the Tabacon hot springs.The hot springs created by the nearby volcanic conditions were amazing. The springs were well deserved, and were a relaxing 102 degree temperature as we enjoyed refreshing beverages. Each pool had a unique design. My favorite was the waterfall pool that rushed hot water over you. It was a soothing experience to end our adventurous day. For more information on Rainforest explorers and the tours they offer check out https://www.rainforestexplorers.com/.