Pura Vida

I’m standing at the base of a tree so wide that it’s impossible to see around it, and so tall it would require a periscope of cartoonish proportions to view the top. About 130 feet above my head, a viewing platform is attached to the tree’s canopy, and a few of my fellow adventurers await. Helmet on my head and safety harness around my waist, I grab natural handholds amid the monstrous, gnarled roots and begin climbing. It’s the aptly named strangler fig, which overgrows a host tree with its winding roots and branches until the host dies, leaving a hollow trunk. The otherworldly-looking strangler though, continues growing, beckoning bold adventurers to clamber up it.

Since I climbed plenty of trees as a kid, I was as giddy as an 11-year-old when I learned we could go tree climbing during my week in southern Costa Rica. Soon into my ascent, I’m reliving childhood memories of hanging out with my best friend and imagining what the view is like on the platform—until my surgically repaired right foot reminds me why I’m not an adventurer. It’s not happy that I want to turn it at all sorts of angles. Defeated, I turn to tell our guide on the ground that I can’t continue. He understands and tells me to rappel down.

Who’d have thought that rappelling down the side of a massive strangler fig could be nearly as much fun as climbing it? And who’d have thought that in the same week I’d also kayak through tunnel-like mangroves, cruise in search of massive pods of whales, experience bioluminescence in one of the only tropical fjords in the world, and hike through a rainforest, spotting monkeys and toucans?

Welcome to the wild wonders of Costa Rica, a country with about six percent of the world’s biodiversity—all the more remarkable because it’s approximately the size of West Virginia. While anglers have visited for decades, foreign-flagged yacht charters only became permitted in 2021. The timing was perfect. Cruisers increasingly seek off-the-beaten-path destinations, to immerse themselves in real communities and natural environments. “The most biologically intense place on earth,” as National Geographic describes Costa Rica, ticks these boxes, but the experience goes well beyond crossing spots off a list. The southern part of Costa Rica’s Pacific coast is your chance to plunge into a mostly undeveloped corner of the world, where the people are as protective of their natural treasures as they are proud. In fact, it’s your chance to see and experience the extraordinary through the hospitality of native Costa Ricans.

And that hospitality is genuine, too. Starting with our second full day at Marina Bahia Golfito in the Golfo Dulce region, my host for the week, the restaurant staff greeted me by name and knew how I liked my coffee (which, by the way, was amazing). Other marina employees smiled warmly and were quick with an “Hola!” Every night in my room at the Amaka Ocean Living Lodge, its intimate hotel, sweets like freshly baked cookies awaited, with Buenos Noches written in chocolate on the plate. Whether you book a room or a slip, which can accommodate some of the largest yachts in the world, Marina Bahia Golfito—with new private villas and condos for sale, too—is a low-density development intent on remaining that way. The Marina envelops you in the seclusion of the region and is the perfect base from which to explore. From the restaurant and bar, you can plan while gazing out over remarkably flat-calm waters lapping virgin-forest-covered mountains in national parks and wildlife refuges for miles around. You’re more apt to see an American crocodile or a dolphin than a boatload of people.

In fact, if you’re like our group, you’ll swear that every floating branch you see while kayaking is a crocodile. It’s the only proper conclusion, we joked, considering a crocodile glided by during our first hour at Marina Bahia Golfito.

The naturally wild region is “an unpolished gem,” asserts Felipe Artinano, Owner of Origen Escapes, which tailors Costa Rican yachting journeys and has an office at the marina. He, fellow Experience Designer Julieta Chan, and the rest of Origen’s guides know practically every leaf and wave like the backs of their hands. Artinano and Chan impart so much knowledge that they’re akin to walking encyclopedias, even magicians, revealing things you’d never experience otherwise.

I got my first glimpse of this when I went whale watching out of the marina aboard the 86-foot One Net. Separating southwestern Costa Rica’s Osa Peninsula from the mainland, Golfo Dolce is prime territory for whale watching, since they migrate here from both hemispheres. Artinano and Chan informed us that the telltale sign of a whale pod was movement on the horizon. So, we gathered on the bow, eagerly scanning the waters. About an hour into our cruise, it happened: rippling on the surface.

Except, it wasn’t whales. Instead, we’d come across a pod of dolphins, 70 to 80 of them by Artinano’s estimate. I was mesmerized—and surprised when he said this was a small pod. Megapods—thousands of dolphins—sometimes appear. Mind blown regardless, this pod was so friendly that a few of us climbed gently into the water to snorkel, maintaining a respectful distance. Some dolphins approached with curiosity, while others put on a show leaping and twisting.

As much as the dolphins, toucans, monkeys and rainforest flora captivated me, a highlight was bioluminescence in Golfo Dulce Bay. Golfo Dulce is not, as you might assume, a gulf. Rather, it’s a tropical fjord, one of four worldwide, teeming with as much life as the protected lands. Thousands of plankton cause bioluminescence, emitting light like flashlights when the water stirs up. From gliding our hands through the water over the side of our boat to swimming with snorkel masks to see the light show beneath the surface, it was enchanting.

Our week in Costa Rica was intensive and immersive. I awoke with excitement each morning at the marina to take on the next challenge and experience the purity of life. Which brings me to a phrase you’ll hear repeatedly when you visit. It’s pura vida, translating literally to “pure life” or “simple life.” The meaning is deeper, though. It’s a greeting, a mindset, a way of life. It’s the essence of Costa Rica.

There’s no doubt in my mind that I’m returning. And when I do, I’m definitely climbing that strangler fig.

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This article originally appeared in the December 2023 issue of Power & Motoryacht magazine.

Source: https://www.powerandmotoryacht.com/voyaging/costa-rica-as-a-cruising-destination