Costa Rica 2/19/05 Tamarindo El Diria Hotel
By Tab Hauser
For our group of 13 this was a second trip to Costa Rica in 5 years and our 12th trip with one of the families. The Port Washington Group as I call it ranged in ages from 6 parents in their 40’s and 7 kids starting 11 going up to 17. Traveling with multiple families for the past 12 years has been fun as well as challenge at times. Some of these trips are on my web site www.tabhauser.com
Anyway, we realized that Costa Rica had gained much in popularity since 2000 when I went to book our tickets 8 months earlier and could not get the flights we wanted into Liberia. Rather than take New York’s LaGuardia to Houston and then on to Liberia, we had to drive an extra 40 minutes to Newark to leave. On top of this the tickets were about $700 round trip. Fortunately we had $300 credit from Continental bumping the group a year earlier on a Panama trip.
While this trip was reserved 8 months earlier it was only one week before getting to the hotel Tamarindo El Diria that our deluxe sunset view rooms were cancelled. We only found out about the cancellation because I always make it a habit to call, fax or email hotels before we get there to make sure all is OK. By doing this I learned the rooms were cancelled by their computer. Worse, when I called the horrible staff of the hotel, they basically told me there was nothing they can do and it was too bad. Anyway, after 3 days of badgering on the phone and email I got 5 “garden view rooms” promised by there less than competent sales manager named David. The rooms we were given on arrival were 5 road side rooms with one of them moldy. Later while checking out I was advised by the management that the reservation department which is poorly trained should not have transferred me to the Sales Department which lied to me on the phone and at the hotel on check in.
Sunday:
Things cheered up the first morning when we woke up to see a beautiful beach and a sunny day at the El Diria. Before breakfast we met with Johnnie the assistant manager about rooms. He seemed to know more of what he was doing over David the night before. What he said about our rooms could not have been more opposite in truth then told on the phone and in person the night before. He said he would do our best to get us garden view rooms in on Monday and the rooms David promised were not available. On Monday we looked at the Garden View rooms and stayed where we were because the rooms they were going to give us were in the old building that had poor water pressure and the furniture of a 60’s motel room
Kids minus Dave with Doug Baldwin
Breakfast after our meeting was excellent and included in the room rate. Omelets cooked to order, rice and beans as well as other local and American dishes were served. There was also some of the freshest fruit one could ask for along with a good selection of pastries. For some of us having their breakfast mid morning kept us from being hungry until near dinner time.
Our first mission on this first day was to lounge. To do this we foraged, borrowed and hijacked unused but taken lounge chairs so we can relax. The ladies then did there Pilate exercises in the grass under the palm trees. They were pretty good about doing these the first few days of our trip and then gave it up on the back half of the week. They actually looked quite professional about this. Sandy said they should have charged $5 for other people to join them and $10 for them watch. After Pilate the first day we set out to arrange to have the kids and two adults (me included) get surfing lessons. Playa Tamarindo has a pretty consistent surf ideal for beginners. We headed to the Iguana Surf (506) 653-0148 where for $25 you get two hours of lessons and a the use of a board for that time. Be warned that you are supposed to get 4 people per lesson before they close out a class. In reality they had 5 in a class which makes it much less personal. Mike got very vocal with the store so the owner Chad came out and helped with the lessons. The second day we went to them they again and had 5 in a class. Once again we advised them that what was promised was not delivered. Rather than argue Mike was going to put a stop payment on the credit card for services not promised. Later that evening Chad found us on the street walking to dinner in Tamarindo and apologized for the way his company was. He explained that the people at the store get a commission for surfers signed up and they should not have signed up more than 4 per instructors. He made it up by giving us 15% off and said it would not happen again. The next day Maureen took Melissa, David and Robert and grabbed one instructor in all their commotion so it worked out fine. She was not waiting around for anyone else to sign up. We would not have gone back there but the kids were comfortable with the instructors. For anyone wanting to surf here note that one shop across from the El Diria closes at 8PM and is less crazy. I think they would be more likely not to be oversold as they call instructors as needed. Iguana Surf Shop closes I believe around 5:30 and charges $5 for an overnight keeping of the board. This is dumb because if you have a late afternoon tide you will pay the charges. If you rent at the Best Western you simply drop the board off at the Thrifty rental agency next door and pay the next day as we did. Also note that the shop at the Tamarindo Best Western does only 2 students per instructor and lets you keep the board for the day. I would sign up with these people if the opportunity comes up. If you go to Iguana Surf and they promise you no more than 4 per class make it very clear you will not pay them and drop out of the class if they have a 5th person. It really matters when surfing to have less people because of the way the instructor sends you off on a wave. If they do not deliver what is promised take it up with your credit card company if they do not make good. Chad seems to want to the right thing but I am not so sure he has total control on this or simply tells tourists what they want to hear taking the dollars when they come. I am just suggesting if people use Iguana Surf they keep him honest and shop around. If you need a board for the week they have a good selection.
My First Time up
Anyway, I actually decided to try surfing for a couple reasons. One was to see if I can actually stand on a board on a wave. The other was to show the kids that Dad can really do cool things. They know I like watching surfing at the beach or on TV if I notice it on. With this in mind I asked people at the Iguana Surf Shop if I could really get up on a board for which they answered, if I have the attitude I will do it. What I can tell you was they were right. For the record it was in Tamarindo that a 46 year old average shape father of two stood up on a surf board for the first time and rode the wave all the way in. I repeated this about another dozen times in the next 90 minutes falling off only a few times. What I really got a kick out of was when the young instructor on the fourth time around was giving the 4 teenagers in our group a hard time about the “old guy” getting up 3 times in the row and they were not. OK, so I am not ready for the “the pike” in Maui but it was a thrill never the less to push up on the board the first time, hold my balance and say “holy Sh*t, I standing on a board, on a wave, surfing!. The other father, Doug, in our group surfed most of the week either by himself of with the kids. To me, a couple of hours was enough to claim victory before feeling any aches or pains.
Sunday night we watched our first beautiful pacific ocean sunset while walking to Nogui’s Sunset Café. Here we had our first taste of Tico style food and loved it. Nogui’s Sunset Café is right on the beach where you eat under the awning. I had the combination Mahi mahi and grilled shrimp served with frioles (beans) rice, small salad and possible cooked yucca I have had in a while. What was nice about this place is that it is one of the few restaurants that took credit cards. It is also the only place we had dinner twice eating here the last night as well. After dinner we started a routine of walking back to hotel and sitting by the pool with rum punches watching the moon and chatting. We found the sold hotel nearly deserted by 9:30PM. In fact one night they closed the bar before 10PM.
Monday morning, Nancy in our group being the early riser so she can write her book would always arrange to have 6 lounge chairs by the wall overlooking the beach. This was great and one less thing to worry about during the day. We would have breakfast, perhaps a late morning cocktail and then arrange the kids for surfing. In the future if we were to come back here I would simply get a board for the week. It is cheaper and less of a hassle on returning them. The surf companies will let you substitute boards depending on your skill improvement or wave heights. Many of the adults in our group passed on lunch for a few days simply because breakfast and a late AM bloody Mary kept us going until dinner or rum drinks at the swim up bar. With the kids and Doug surfing we spent the day reading and lounging about going into the pool behind us or the ocean in front of us. Tough day!
Four of our late afternoons were spent at the pool swim up bar across the street at the El Diria condos. Here we were using drink coupons given to us at check in as well as after check in for fresh fruit squeezed rum punches.(or vodka punches for Maureen). On Tuesday the kids joined us for virgin mango daiquiris. Monday night for dinner we went the Portofino Restaurant. This was half Tico and half pizzeria establishment and had more than enough variety to make everyone happy in our group. My whole typical red snapper was crispy, tasty and not greasy. It cost $10! The pizza was also very good. One minor issue was that the last pizza for two youngest the girls in our group came out after everyone finished dinner.
Delicious! I substituted the fries for the local beans when ever possible swim up bar with fresh fruit rum and vodka punches
Tuesday we chartered 2 fishing boats for the AM ½ day trip to take 8 of us out.. We had grand delusions of perhaps getting a sail fish or a few mahi-mahis. My boat with 3 kids caught 2 small bonitos that we threw back in. We did chase a small marlin as we were coming in. The other boat caught 4 fish. One small yellow fin tuna was kept and filet for us. We had the kitchen make sashimi and 5 portions of grilled fish sandwiches for lunch. They dunked the sashimi in a home made soy, ginger and wasabi sauce and kept the sauce on the side for more dipping. There was plenty of sashimi for the adults and kids and it could not have tasted any better. The hotel charged us for the $8 for each “fish burger” as they normally do but did not charge for the sashimi set up. We thought this was reasonable. The real cost of the lunch of course was $600 if you count the 2 boats. When charting a boat in Tamarindo walk down the beach. Keep in mind they try to charge $350 but quickly change it to $300 when you say something. If you want to river fish, simply go to the river and make a deal with the captain. I think they charge about $20 each. The ride up the river (which we did later in the week) is pretty and you will see lots of birds and monkeys if he takes you to the end of the river. If you arrange a river boat trip with the hotel expect to pay double. The rest of Tuesday afternoon was more lounging about as well as watching the kids surf.
Tuesday night we had dinner at Pedro’s Fish Shack which was located next door to Nogui’s Sunset Café. We found the food also good. Skip the onion rings as they are greasy and have the scent of the seafood that must have been in the oil. I shared fish tacos and shrimp fajitas. Others in our group shared the seafood platter for 2. Pedro’s Fish Shack does not have liquor so you can go next door to get drinks or bring them from the market. After dinner we strolled back and had our own cocktails by the pool. Earlier that day we hit the market next door to the El Diria for a bottle of vodka and this delicious citrus type punch that mixed well with it.
Pedro's Restaurant at night dining by the beach
Wednesday we arranged to have 9 of us taken to the Cartegena Canopy Tour by a friend of Carlos Tours whose company is called Ecotrans. Carlos of Carlos Tours was suppose to take us around for a few days but something came up so we contacted a local operator. (Francisco@ecotranscostarica.com)
When making day trips I rarely use a hotel tourist desk as the trips are either too cookie cutter or more expensive. (In Panama we hired a very nice bus for $150 to take us to the locks and Panama City while the hotel wanted to charge about $60 per person) Our driver picked us up in a 21 passenger coaster for the drive 30 minutes away. This canopy tour was a bit different than the one 5 yeas ago. Five years ago in Monteverde there were only a couple of places to go zipping on the wires wearing a harness. Now Costa Rica has at last count I heard 9 of these attractions. Five years ago we literally did a near vertical climb up a naturally hollowed out tree to go on 4 wires. After 4th wire we had to slide down the rope from the last platform by ourselves. The Cartegna Canopy Tour has 10 lines. (cartagenacanopytour@yahoo.com) To get to the first one you climb steps that circle a large and wide tree.
Dave Ehrlich off and zipping down the line Alison Ehrlich hanging upside down
We joked on the last canopy tour as it was hard to see wild life when you are screaming or making Tarzan sounds through the tops of the forest. We expected much of the same here but to our surprise a troop of howling monkeys were spotted not far from one of the platforms. It was funny when I howled at the howler monkeys and they instantly growled back in unison. Perhaps they should be called “growler” monkeys. I did this a few times and each time they growled back. When Maureen howled at them, they did not respond as well so the guide said she needed to howl in Spanish! Cartagena Canopy Tours makes it easy for people to finish their tours because you zip line into their building when you are finished where you are invited to take a soft drink or beer as well as buy a T shirt of your experience. These people are still new and have not learned about the tourist picture one can get at the end of the trip. If you are into photography as I am and you are careful you should take your still or video camera. I took both. Just make sure the straps are secure. I learned 5 years ago from Doug in our group that it makes nice footage while holding your video camera in one hand zipping from one platform to the next.
Maureen Hauser looks down on this run Mike and Sandy Ehrlich later that afternoon in Guaitil
Wednesday after the kids had lunch I took them over for the bigger waves at Playa Grande on the other side of the estuary. As the surf was up today and late in the day we had some issues getting boards (another reason to rent for the week) and headed to the river. Instead of surfing just on the other side I hired a captain to take us about ½ a mile down the beach where the waves were crushing down. To get out we had to put 7 kids and boards in a fishing boat and let captain negotiate the incoming tidal waves and sand bars. Originally he was going to take us to the 9 footer section of the beach until we had him stop half way down the beach. As the waves were to too rough for all of us to come in he had the kids jump out a couple of hundred yards off the beach and paddle in. He then waited for a quick calmness between the 5 foot surf and dropped me off in shallow water. This was the hardest place for the kids to surf. With the waves stronger here surfboards were flying in all directions. Our 11 and 12 year old in the group were going to call it quits 20 into it until I suggested they ride the wash from the waves. All in all the kids had fun getting thrown about but created a vigilance on my part. They did not seem to appreciate me telling them not to go out too far where the current could have taken them out deeper. The other note was that after nearly 2 hours of fighting the surf some of them were a little dehydrated and a bit tired to keep hauling their boards back. You can not bring and drink too much water here.
Lunch at our lounge chair Iguana at the wall at the foot of our lounge chair
That Wednesday afternoon Mike and the 3 ladies went to the town of Guaitil for some pottery buying. Mike secured a taxi for 4 hours at a cost of $50 for the 1 hour ride into the country side. The drive included bumpy dirt roads for 15 kilometers followed by several kilometers of avoiding car eating pot holes. At Guaitil they found around a dozen homes surrounding a soccer field producing pottery. They said the people were all polite and pottery magnificent. One interesting note was a bit of rivalry where many independent potters were encouraging people to visit other independent shops and not just the ones where the tour busses say to go. They complained that the drivers or tour operators generally drop people off people off at a yellow house and do their best to keep people from other parts of the artisan community. This included spreading rumors how other potters Guaitil make inferior products. Maureen came back with one large piece that was packed and shipped back via the UPS store in Tamarindo using our UPS account. The rest of what she bought was hand carried in the largest of our soft carrier on bag.
For Wednesday’s dinner we headed out to one of Tamarindo’s “fashionable” places called the Lazy Wave. This place is definitely one of the upscale restaurants in the area. The food is priced higher than other Tico places to eat and is run by an American. Dining is all out doors. The adults sat a normal table for 6 while the 7 kids sat at a table with a small tree built around it. My appetizer was tempura jumbo shrimps with a main course of whole snapper. I picked the snapper just to compare it to the Portfino’s. Portofino’s fish was a little bigger and crispier than the new wave which was about $3 more and not prepared as good. Other dishes from the group were all pretty good and the place is worth a visit. The nice thing here is they usually take credit cards. Both the kids and adults all enjoyed the food here very.
Melissa & Daniel looking for waves Daniel Ehrlich doing some late afternoon surfing at Playa Grande
before sunset
Thursday: Today we arranged for an afternoon trip on the boat Maratonga out of Flamingo.( www.tamarindo.com/maratonga ) As our group does not like to do the usually tour thing we passed on the typical overcrowded catamaran boats that left Tamarindo (and Flamingo) in favor of the Maratonga. We secured another coaster from Ecotrans to leave at 1PM for a 30 minute ride to Flamingo beach (Playa de Flamingo) for $90 round trip for the group. The plan was to get to the bay, get on the 46 foot sailing boat (a ketch type), walk to Marie’s for dinner and have the bus pick us up.
Lots of room to spare on this 46 foot ketch
After a taking a couple of dinghy rides out to load our group and another couple that signed up from Michigan we slowly “motor” sailed out of the harbor to a beach where they take people snorkeling. The boat coincidently left the same time as the local catamaran which had more than twice the people as our boat with a lot less space to put them all. We followed each other until we dropped anchor and jumped overboard. While not the best snorkeling spot I have even been to, there were some nice fish here and cooling off in the bay was great. After the snorkel we were served drinks, small sandwiches and some sweet fruit that Nancy helped cut up and decorate. From there we passed between two islands with many frigate birds and then watched the sunset before heading in.
The dinghy dropped the group off in 3 lots with Maureen, the Michigan couple and myself being let off last in the dark. From the beach it was a 10 minute walk to Marie’s Restaurant in Flamingo (maricris@racsa.co.cr tel: 654 4136) that was made much easier by the other couple on board driving our bags to the restaurant. The sign at Marie’s gave the impression they were a chicken place but there were different fish specials on the board as well as other items. (the kids ordered lasagna but returned it as it did not taste right to them) The appetizer of fresh guacamole and refried beans were very good. I had a ½ of a rotisserie chicken that was also excellent. I substituted the scalloped potatoes with beans. Maureen had Chicken Cordon blue. Nancy had an incredible seafood soup followed by a typical local dish of several items. Mike had the softest and most flavorful scallops I have tasted in a while. For desert we shared a luscious coconut pineapple cheese cake. Dining at Marie’s is either outside or open air under a roof. There was a pleasant trio of men playing some nice music while we were eating. At 8PM we headed on our bus for the ride back to El Diria where we had our night cap poolside watching the moon.
Sunset from maratonga
Friday we had a leisurely morning. Sandy and Nancy took the children back to Playa Grande hoping the waves would be good. Maureen and I hung out on the lounge chair for a couple of hours and then took a walk to the river where we caught a boat across to catch up with the ladies. Today the surf was not as high or strong. After watching the kids Doug came along and took watch over them while we headed back with Nancy to use the rest of our drink coupons at cocktail hour at swim up bar where Mike and Sandy joined us just before the bar closed at 5PM. El Diria needs to look at some of their policies. One of them should be to change the hours of the bartender from 9 to 5 to perhaps 10 – 6 or even a little later. We watched him turn down people between 5 and 5:30 while cleaning up. When I asked him how many people come to the bar between 9 and 10 he told me no one. So I asked him it would be a good idea to move the hours up an hour. Jorge while having a good attitude and being a very good bartender made it clear he was not paid to think about such things.
Dinner tonight was at another upscale place called Dragonfly. This was a 10 to 15 minute walk up from El Diria. We invited some fellow Long Islanders to join us tonight expanding our group to now 17. The table set up took about 20 minutes to prepare and we were seated by 8:15. The kitchen is open air with a non Tico chef assisted by only one lady. Dinning was open air with no windows and only a roof. This was our most expensive place to eat for the week and I feel it was not worth it. Most of the group ordered the NY Strip special. Maureen’s piece had a bit of gristle. The others while not complaining were not praising their meals like at other meals. My son’s steak had to go back twice because the chef could not get the meaning of medium or pink. My sautéed snapper served on a bed of spinach and red peppers in a coconut sauce and was very good. The Oreo cheese cake was bland and no on finished it. One thing really annoying was the fact they did not take credit cards on the $351 bill. Personally I would avoid the Dragonfly until they get more help in the kitchen. One thing we noticed in places we eat at is the kitchen if we can see it. At Nogui’s and Portofino there were up to 4 people working in them. With labor wages of a $1 or 2 per hour upscale places like Dragonfly can afford more help.
Saturday: Today was dive day as the seas calmed down to make the 35 minute ride to our dive sites pleasant. We were told to get to the beach at 8:30 by Agua Rica Diving Center of Tamarindo (www.aguarica.net) but once there we had to wait 25 minutes while they loaded the boat. (lateness like this we find very typical in Latin America so it does not bother us) On the boat the gear was already attached and ready for diving. They did ask us to put our wet suits on immediately so we will not bounce around doing it at the site and that we can get in the water quicker. The first site was “Dirty Rock”. Here we did a maximum depth of 75 feet with a visibility of no more than 25 feet. This was a dive on a rocky ledge where we would see many types of tropical fish. What I noticed was that many of the fish were in their juvenile final stages as told by the last stripe on their sides or spots going away depending on the species. One other interesting thing was the change water temperatures. We would be swimming about and hit a cold spot for a few minutes literally seeing the water changes before feeling it. Then after a few minutes of feeling chilly we would swim back into the warm water where it would feel real nice. The next sight several minutes away was called “The Tooth”. This dive had more fish. It was highlighted by one large green eel followed by an even giant one. Here we observed schools of grunts or striped fish 10 to 14 inches long swimming above and around us. One school allowed me to swim through them with no change in their pattern. ( I guess it helps to not look like a barracuda) We also spotted a few d species of star fish while swimming around this rock also. Our group did come across a medium size turtle in the last several minutes of the dive. It just went about its business looking at us as much as we were looking at it. It allowed me to take a few pictures up close before we went in separate directions. All in all I would say this is not a dive destination unless you are staying in the area and care to get wet like we did. I would also like to say the Agua Rico Divers were very good to us. We originally were suppose to go Tuesday but the people running the shop said the waves were a little high and the visibility not good. We then changed it to Friday and on Thursday changed it to Saturday. It was refreshing not to deal with a company that’s policy is if we go you go and allow people to make up their mind based on conditions as we did. I would use them again when we come back. They could not have been any nicer.
Upon returning to the hotel at 1:20 I found a note that Maureen and Nancy took the kids to Play Grande again. I grabbed my camera bag and took the hike back up the to the river, hopped on the boat across and walked about ¼ mile in to see them. (It should be noted the boat ride across is 300 colonnes or about $.80 each way. One can walk across most of the time unless you have camera equipment or care not to get wet. They say there is an occasional crocodile but no one seems to care or believe it by all the surfers paddling or people walking across)
At about 3:15 we started to walk back as Doug was going to stay with the kids again. Also, the boat people told us the last boat was 4PM. When we got to the river we had to wait a short time for a boat. The captain tried to talk us into a 2 hour nature river tour but we bargained for a one hour ride for $20. This is a pretty river with mango trees on either side. Our captain pointed out herons and other birds as was things about the river. Had we taken the 2 hour tour we would have gone to the end and saw monkeys. I would recommend doing this perhaps at a lower tide.
The last night we watched our one of the prettiest sunset and walked on the beach back to Nogui’s Sunset Café for another nice meal. This time they had the pineapple pie we missed the first night. One thing to note is that we accidentally learned there is another place to eat upstairs that is under separate ownership. They sign by the stairs gives you the impression that there is lounge upstairs but in fact it is a more of gourmet dinning area that should be looked into by people reading this.
Checking out of Tamarindo El Diria was nearly a 2 hour process. The first hour was arguing with a staff that had a habit of calling me a liar and not offering me the discount promised by there pitiful reservation department. They were actually going to charge us $2 more per room for the basic road side verse the deluxe sunset room promised because the rates changed since July and occupancy was 100% making the rooms a premium. Then they said my discount was only with the deluxe room and not the basic tropical room. Then they denied that David on the phone said what he said. It was when I told them I will take this up with AMEX that they remotely listened and said they could only offer a 10% off the rate as a favor and not the 20% I was promised. When I pulled out my paper work showing I had a 20% discount they said it was reservations mistake and that our room was really $20 more. I told them I would take the 10% now and get the other 10% from AMEX and I hoped they enjoyed the paper work when I get back disputing the whole thing. I told them good luck and walked away. 30 seconds after getting to the room the phone rang and they some how found away to give me the 20% that was impossible to give but wanted copies of my emails I showed them stating what they promised on July 1st. Late that night it took another 45 minutes to clear up other mistakes.
I advised the assistant manager politely that when other hotels are built up on the beach over the next few years people will not be coming to the El Dirai hotel because of such poor management. He looked at me and agreed knowing he is the only game in town on the beach as opposed to other places that have to cross the street. Personally I think their German owner is simply holding on to the place and will sell it when Tamarindo becomes more famous and really starts to hop.
NOTES:
Although a good idea to do anywhere, do contact the Tamarindo El Diria one month before arrival to make sure they had your credit card authorized so you do not get a cancellation like we did. We met several people who were down graded on the rooms and were not getting the price deducted. Put up an argument with the manager and take it up with your credit card charges. Keep a paper email or or paper trail, Had I not had an email stating we would get our discount for either the tropical or sunset I would have had less of a case with Amex. This made them finally give in.
Bring extra cash or make sure you ATM card works. Many places do not take credit cards. The surf shops use the cards as a deposit but charge cash unless you want to pay a steep tax or credit card charge.
Tipping: It was not clear about tipping at the hotel. Most of the waiters and bartenders said it was not. The receipt was not very clear to us as to what was taz and was a “service tax” but on check out I learned we tipped a little more than needed. Some of kids trying to do the right thing gave 15% at meals. I would round up the bill if you like the service.
Bring a water proof back back if you cross the small river to Playa Grande on your own. This will hold your camera, snacks and water.
Bring nothing valuable to the beach unless you keep it on you in the water. I have a water proof pouch that holds my smaller camera, room card, sunglass holder and what ever cash I have. I can swim with it anywhere.
For those that did not want lunch at the hotel there was a nice e sandwich place across the street and to the left from the hotel. They advertises Cuban sandwiches. The food is very good but more grilled than Cuban in taste.
I can not end this with out mentioning Carlos of Carlos Tours (www.carlostours.com) Five years ago our group was his first customers for driving and guiding and his company was very young. Up until them he was just a driver on his own coaster bus with one van as back up. Now he has 4 buses, a couple of employees and 2 of his kids working in the business. Please do book him and mentioned Tab Hauser of Port Washington for me.
If anyone has a similar place where the waves are easy for surfing they would recommend please send an email with any comments to tabh@hascorelays.com
Our Costa Rica Trip was taken by Tab Hauser, Maureen Hauser, Melissa Hauser, Daniel Hauser, Nancy Baldwin, G Douglas Baldwin, Robert Baldwin, Ashley Baldwin, Sandy Ehrlich, Mike Ehrlich, Dave Ehrlich, Daniel Erhlich and Alison Ehrlich
Note about drinks: Kids that look nearly old enough may be offered rum in their daiquiris. Dave and Melissa could have easily had regular drinks if they wanted to. It is the old adage, if you are tall enough to be at the bar you may was well drink. Our kids were never tempted.
Houston Airport: Go to Pappadeaux for a meal there if you have a layover that allows it. Pappadeaux is one of the best places to eat at in any airport and the food is similar to the one in Houston.
Nancy with a variety of broiled oysters at Pappadeaux
Last Call: Mike on our second day was heard saying “what were we thinking when we did an exploring type trip 5 years earlier in Costa Rica when the oldest in our group was almost the age of our youngest now?”