Sink then Swim

What better way to spend my last full day in Costa Rica than underwater? We started the day off with a SCUBA trip just off the coast from the hotel. I have been diving every couple of years for over a decade, but it wasn't until after watching Finding Nemo that I really came to love diving. It is amazing how I can totally hear the voices of all the different fish and trily get their personalities after watching that movie... or perhaps I was just too deep. We had an amazing dive master with an eagle eye. He pointed out sea horses camoflaged next to the rocks and moray eels poking their heads out of miniture caves not to mention the amazing school of eagle rays swimming by so gracefully.

Between dives we headed back to the beach for a little break. The sand was too hot and my shoes were in the boat so I decided to spend my time floating in ocean. Turns out, lots of jelly fish had this same idea and I've now got the jelly fish kiss to prove it. Fortunately the dive master had some jelly fish sting gel so no one had to pee on me to take the sting away. Our second dive took place at Monkey Rock... can you tell how it got its name?

After our second dive, some tacos, and a shower, I spent the remainder of the afternoon at the spa. They have hot and cold water pools on a private deck overlooking the ocean. I followed the recommended strategy of six dunks in each pool. Supposedly this was going to leave me in a state of unbelievable relaxation, but in reality it just made me tired getting in and out... I guess diving took more out of me than I expected. Next, I had an aromatherapy rainforest massage which ended far too soon but did give me the relaxation I remembered.

In the evening we attended a going away dinner. As much as I enjoy being able to go eat dinner outside without a sweater or jacket, I think I prefer that to trying to eat dinner at 9:00 in the 90 degree heat. I suppose this is why I live in San Francsisco... It was sad to say goodbye to all my new friends and prepare to head home but I really can't complain too much about a free vacation. And hopefully it won't be too long before my next trip... after all, I don't want the Costa Rica stamp in my passport to get lonely.