SV Sine Timore: Marina life

Sunday, March 29, 2015

Marina life

Quepos, Costa Rica

We are settling down to the hectic life in a marina, for the first time in over a year. The last time the boat was tied up to a dock was at Puesta del Sol in Nicaragua, on our way south last year.

Marina Pez Vela is a very upscale place, catering to the mega-yacht and sport fishing crowd. At times the docks around us are very busy with fishing charters going out in the morning and returning at dusk, plus a couple of "party" boats and smaller para-sailing adventure boats coming and going. As far as we can tell, we are the only real "cruising" boat here, but that is not too surprising with transient rates at $2.50 US per foot per day. We certainly wouldn't be hanging around so long if we had any choice. Having said that, though, this is a very professionally run marina, with excellent shore and dock facilities and access to two restaurants onsite plus the town of Quepos only a 10-minute walk away. Security is very high.

The weather remains very consistent, highs each day in the low 30s, cooling off to maybe 23 at night. The humidity is high, but not as bad as back in Golfito. We have not seen a drop of rain since we have been here - it is the dry season.

I have managed to arrange for a replacement transmission oil cooler to be shipped from Miami, hopefully arriving around next Wednesday. We have a bit of a deadline here as there is a major sport fishing tournament coming up on the 9th of April and the marina is completely booked - we will be forced to leave at that time, ready or not - basically they are not too sympathetic towards cruising yachts with problems - the almighty dollars that the tournament brings in are much more important.

The town of Quepos is a pleasant surprise. A bit touristy, but containing a nice selection of stores and restaurants and such. Re-provisioning here should be no problem.

Only 7 kms from Quepos is Manuel Antonio park. There is a frequent bus that runs back and forth to the park gates, passing a bewildering variety of tourist shops, cafes and restaurants along the way. Yesterday, we took a half-day tour in the park, which is a dense biological preserve with some magnificent beaches. You really need to have a guide who knows what to look for if you want to get the most out of your time here. We were surprised just how busy the park, and the surrounding area, are. We are told it is going to be even busier in the coming week, when Semana Santa (Easter) arrives - we will probably be keeping a very low profile for a while.