We got up and had breakfast early as usual and left the hotel by 08.15. Today we wanted to go snorkeling at Islas Tortuga.
We drove back to Curu National Park and paid our $10 entrance fee and drove down to the beach. There, we found the person that organised the snorkel tour and paid $25 each and joined a group of mainly French people on the edge of the beach.
Not long afterwards, a boat came in to the beach and we waded out and climbed in! The trip out to the islands, there are several islands in the group, only took about 10 minutes and included taking the boat through a natural rock archway. We went to an island and dropped off a few people that didn't want to snorkel and then headed out to a small rock outcrop sticking out of the sea. The boat moored up to a pontoon and we all got off and got our snorkeling gear ready. After a brief lecture about what was to be seen, we jumped into the water. For Lynn, this wasn't without incident as her mask slipped and filled with water. Whilst adjusting it in the water, she grazed her foot on a rock, luckily there are no sharks in the area!
There were certainly plenty of fish to be seen even though the visibility wasn't wonderful. Perhaps most spectacular were several very large colourful starfish. There were lots of familiar tropical fish to be seen, some quite large. The Bumphead Parrot fish perhaps was the largest.
After 45 minutes, we were dragged out of the water and back onto the boat. We then headed back to the island where we had left the other people. Here cold drinks and fresh fruit was on offer - very refreshing.
Islas Tortuga are not named for turtles that may or may not arrive on the beach, but for the shape of the main island which sort of looks like a turtle! Of note is the fact that our trip from Curu used a secluded beach which was deserted. Most of the tours in far bigger boats, mostly from the mainland, use a more commercial beach with restaurant and shops. Many of the visitors on these boats seemed to be there for partying rather than the wildlife. Subsequently, I also found out that the boat operators have to pay to land at the big beach for the use of a BBQ etc!
After and an hour or so on the island (there really wasn't much to do or see there) we headed back to Curu. Here, we decided to sit and dry off before we moved on. I went for a wander and saw a Howler Monkey whilst Lynn watched birds.
After we'd dried off, we drove into Paquera and had a snack lunch with a delicious milkshake!
Back at the hotel, we had our usual afternoon swim in the pool and then relaxed before dinner.
As has become customary, we sat around after dinner nattering to Judy and Xavier and Chris and Chelsea, two other guests.
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