TOUR: From Cahuita

Today, we had a scheduled snorkeling tour in Cahuita National Park. We booked it through Mister Big J in Cahuita proper. In addition to tours & transportation, Mister Big J also offers real estate info and laundry service - 3500 CRC/load, dropoff in AM, pickup in PM. Hotel delivery available.

Yup, that's Mister Big J and his place at the top here. We paid 25USD/each for a snorkeling tour from Cahuita National Park. He said there would also be fresh fruit.

We had two guides, one for snorkeling and one for the hike through the park. Mister Big J neglected to tell us there was also a hike! It worked out fine, though it was a long trek. Frankly, it was a fantastic deal for $25. We were with two other couples in their 30s- one from Australia and one from Germany. And YES! The German man wore Speedos for snorkeling. Awesome.

So the snorkeling was okay. We had a great boat with a sun cover on it and nice equipment. The reefs were a bit rough. They looked to be dying. There were cool fish and we spotted a big stingray, a shark or two, a JUMBO puffer fish!, and many, many cleaner wrasses that were yellow. We snorkeled for two+ hours or so in a couple different areas in the north part of Cahuita, then hopped in the boat and went to Cahuita Point for fresh fruit - mangoes & pineapples.

As we arrived at Cahuita Point, there was a troop of monkeys - Capuchins aka White-faced Monkeys. A bit of rolling around with each other and then.. well, we felt it best to give them their privacy.

So then began the trek back. It was a lovely stroll and our guide Luis spotted many things for us, including two-toed and three-toed sloths, vultures!, howler monkeys, many crabs, and the Capuchins.

Near the very end of the stroll, lo and behold, another sloth. No big deal at this point except it was moving AND fairly quickly down the tree. That's right, Internet Land Readers, it was coming down for its once-weekly bathroom visit. So we hung out and watched it come all the way down the tree and then rustle about in the low brush - rustle isn't quite the word here, but you get the idea - and then re-emerge to begin the long ascent back up into the trees. Check out the video Vance shot below. Okay. Never mind about the video. It's slower here in Costa Rica and won't upload right now. Check back later.

At the end of our stroll through Cahuita National Park, we were asked to sign out and then we were hit up for a suggested donation of 10USD/each. We donated 10000CRC and were given a receipt.

All things considered, we were most pleased with Mister Big J's tour - even though Mister Big J himself didn't give the tour. I'd recommend him to anyone needing tours in Cahuita. And laundry service, too!