Day 6 - Running, Catamaran, Playa Flamingo

Day 6
2-8-14

Yesterday I learned that running at 8:00 a.m. is much different than running at 6:00 or 6:30 a.m. It was much hotter and much sweatier! I will stick to early morning runs for sure.

We decided to do something touristy today and booked a catamaran trip out of Playa Flamingo -  whale watching, snorkeling, kayaking and fishing. To catch the ride to Flamingo we had to take the water taxi over to Tamarindo. The water taxi leaves from the estuary - where there are lots of crocodiles. The kids and I were really nervous walking the path to the water taxi. As we approached the water we saw a small crocodile on the sand a good distance away. As we climbed into the taxi there was a large crocodile right beside us! It followed along side our little boat the whole way across! The kids and I quickly left the beach but of course Kyle stuck around to talk to the boat taxi driver and take some video. People swim across from Tamarindo to Playa Grande and we actually saw a person in the estuary waters while we were there. Crazy!!

We took the taxi (van) from Tamarindo to Playa Flamingo and got to experience the crazy tico driving first hand. We held on tight and got to our destination safely. Our Catamaran left Playa Flamingo about 2:00 p.m. It was so nice to sail and look at our surroundings. We were in awe. It was perfect! There were only two couples besides our family on the boat - so just eight guests, the captain and a mate. It was so intimate and we especially enjoyed getting to know a retired couple from England.
After anchoring Kyle and Ryan went snorkeling and Tristan and I went kayaking. We kayaked into a beach and swam and played and talked. It was wonderful.

They served us a nice lunch and we had soda, rum punch, wine, beer...all you can drink. Then we sailed around looking for whales and watching flying fish and rays jumping and lots of frigate birds.

Crossman Family

On the way back, just as the sun was setting, the mate yelled "fish on" and guess who was there to reel the fish in...yep, Kyle. He was in heaven.

Kyle's Catches a Jack    Photo by Ryan

We really like Playa Flamingo - touristy, but seemed in a more upscale way than Tamarindo, which is a surfer beach. There is no surf in Flamingo, it is really a fishing, boating town. It was the first place we visited outside of our little rural Playa Grande spot, that we really thought we wanted to go back to again.

Playa Flamingo Sunset    Photo by Ryan