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Celebrating in a new country, Costa Rica,

Welcome to Costa Rica, Golfito and Panama Posse

Our first port in Costa Rica was Golfo Dulce which is an enormous bay with several small bays inside it.  Once you enter Golfo Dulce you can go to Bahia Puerto Jimenez, Bahia Rincon, Punta Gallardo, Punta Voladera, Punta El Cabro, or Golfito Bay.  We were headed toward Golfito Bay which is surrounded by lush, green mountains.  Being that Golfito is a bay within a bay, it is very calm and tranquil with a nice, breeze.

Located at Golfito you have several marinas:

  • Banana Bay Marina has 20+ slips and a few moorings, restaurant, bar, laundry, wifi
  • Land and Sea, 3 slips and 6 moorings, lounge area, accommodations, wifi, laundry
  • Fish Hook, 25+ slips (fishing boats), restaurant, bar, wifi, accommodations, laundry
  • IGY Gulfito Bay Marina. New as of 2017 w/ 50 slips and plans to expand to 132 slips

As the first stop in Costa Rica, we had to accomplish some official paperwork.  We needed to check in (Immigration, Customs, and Port Captain), get a fishing license, and apply for a permit to visit at Isla del Coco.  We wanted to complete these goals within 2 days, if possible.

However, timing was not on our side.  We arrived on a beautiful Sunday morning, a day earlier than we anticipated.  But as you can imagine, a lot of businesses are closed on Sunday and the following day, 1 May is Labor Day, a public holiday.  Gesh!

Land and Sea

Land and Sea is located in between Banana Bay Marina and Fish and Hook Marina.  We dropped the hook in front of her small marina as there was good depth, holding, and a breeze.  We secured the boat and went ashore to begin our clearance process. Image below shows Banana Bay Marina (the yellow buildings with fishing yachts in front) and a small green two story building (to the right) with two boats in front.

Banana Bay Marina and Land and Sea Marina-

Banana Bay Marina and Land and Sea Marina-

Katie, the owner at Land and Sea, proved to be very helpful.  She told us where we could dump trash and recycling and where to find the market and immigration.  She also exchanged $20 U.S. for colones which comes out to 10,000 colones. For me, the easiest conversion is about 500 colones to $1.  Of course, the conversion is a bit better at 575 or so, but that math in my head, is too hard for me.

The town of Golfito is located on one long, main street.  There is one small secondary street that runs parallel to the main street, but it is short and has mostly bars.

Immigration (Migracion)

Immigration is located about ½ mile from Land and Sea and has a giant red and white antenna on its roof making it easy to identify.  Upon our first visit, Juaquin, the immigration officer, told us we needed to have copies made of our documentation (3 copies of our boat paper work, 3 copies of Matt’s passport, 1 copy of my passport, 2 copies of our Zarpe-exit paperwork from Panama).  Then he gave us instructions of where to get the copies at a place close to Land and Sea.  Oh dear, so we walked back, found the copy place, paid 1500 colones ($3) and went back to immigration.

As Matt did the formalities, I sat and chatted with Juaquin who was oh so willing to share his excitement of Costa Rica.  He informed me about park regulations, gave directions to the Port Captain and Customs, shared some tour tips, and gave me the scoop on the permit process for Isla del Coco.

Isla del Coco is about 300nm from Costa Rica.  Regulations state that you need a permit which requires that you be checked into the country.  Bummer.  You see, Isla del Coco is on the way to the Galapagos.  We wanted to clear out of Costa Rica, head 300nm to Isla del Coco and then sail 400nm to Galapagos.  It is 600nm and 5.5 days out of our way to go to Isla del Coco, then back to Costa Rica, then past them to get to Galapagos.  You see our quandary?  None the less, Juaquin told us to go to the Port Captain who would be able to give us the application for the permit.

Juaquin also found out that Customs was closed on Sundays, but they would be open on the next day, even though it was a holiday.  It is unusual to find someone so very accommodating, kind, and compassionate during the clearance process-what a gem!

Port Captain

Following Juaquin’s directions, we walked about 1 mile to the Port Captain’s building.  The boat clearance went fairly routine.  We inquired about the Isla del Coco application and were informed that we had to get the permit from MEREILT which was in charge of the National Parks.

Since it was extremely hot and we were a bit tired of walking, we hopped in a cab.  These offices were not far, but off a dirt road, surrounded by jungle.  It was amazing.  All of the wood buildings were connected by a long low bridge or walkway which was covered in plants and flowers.  Working here you felt like you were in the jungle, living, breathing among the animals.  Breathtaking, but hot and humid even in the shade.

Our timing was not the best as it was lunchtime on a Sunday.  We managed to locate one guy who spent a good 45 minutes trying to track down the right person who could help us.  Evidently, MEREILT handles all of the National Parks except the Isla del Coco.  The correct office to handle the Isla del Coco permit is the Cocos Island Marine Conservation Area (ACMIC).  He put us in touch with a man on the phone who promised to send the permit to Matt via email.  Sweet, feeling like mission accomplished.

The next day, we walked down main street and popped in to a few grocery stores before catching a cab to the Duty-Free Zone where the Customs office was located.

Customs Office (Aduana)

The process is fairly simple and efficient.  It took us about 30-minutes in-and-out.  Since we were there, we decided to walk around the Duty-Free Zone.  This was about 1/100th of the size of the duty-free area in Panama, thank goodness.  We could not technically buy anything as you are supposed to obtain a tarjeta (ticket) 24 hours before you shop.  It is meant to increase tourism and require people to stay at least one night. Not a big deal as most of the shops were appliances, home goods, and liquor.  We did not need anything from here.

Friends of ours told us about some cruisers who formed a group called Panama Posse.  About 80 boats started in Mexico and were headed toward Panama. This group shares information on the countries, anchorages, and places they’ve been along the way, including Costa Rica.  The organizer, Dietmar has put together several discounts with marinas, chandleries, and restaurants.  We decided to join, to get intel on Costa Rica and some discounts.

On Labor Day, the Panama Posse was having a party at the IGY Golfito Bay Marina with free beer, BBQ, and music.  We had not been to this new marina and wanted to check it out and meet some new friends.  There were about 25 people, primarily from the States who were heading to Panama.  Most of the other fleet were already in Panama.  We had a really nice time, met some great people, swapped stories about anchorages and islands, and got a cool new shirt!

Panama Posse Group at IGY Golfito Marina

Panama Posse Group at IGY Golfito Marina

IGY Golfito Marina and Me Enjoying a cold drink in the water

IGY Golfito Marina and Me Enjoying a cold drink in the water

Day 3, we headed back to Land and Sea to seek out information from Katie.  We needed to know if she knew of an agent that could help us with the Isla del Coco’s permit.  She directed us to Bruce Blevens who runs Fish Hook Marina next door.

Isla del Coco Permit

Bruce is an agent who helps a lot of fishing charter boats (who have a lot more disposable income than we do).  He was extremely helpful and informed us that it would take 30-35 days and cost thousands of dollars to get the permit.  He recently helped a charter boat who had to hire two attorneys, make two trips to San Jose, and hire a secondary agent. Evidently, Costa Rica is not wild about issuing permits except to local charter or fishing boats.  Shoot.  We decided to skip the permit and find another way. P.S.  the man from ACMIC never emailed Matt.

Fishing License

We were told we needed to obtain a fishing license if we have fishing gear on the boat.  Even if we never dropped the hooks in the water.  So, we found out that the fishing permits come from Incopesca.  The office was closed the two previous days so we were planning on stopping by after visiting Bruce.  However, both Bruce and Katie said that it was not necessary to pay for a license unless we were outfitted with a ton of outriggers – like a professional boat.  Since, we are only trolling for dinner, they said it would be fine.

So, even though we did not get the fishing license or Isla del Coco permit, we did manage to save thousands of dollars and a ton of paperwork.  As it turns out, it didn’t cost us a penny to clear into Costa Rica, except the cab rides to and from Aduana at $2 each way.

Coming Up Next:

  • Bahia Drake
  • Quepos
Radar showing Sugar Shack in the middle of a storm

Overnight Passage to Golfito, Costa Rica

Before we began our overnight passage to Golfito, Matt wanted to secure our wifi antennae which is located at the top of the mast.  He had noticed it was a bit wobbly the other day and didn’t want to risk losing it at sea.  Fairly easy process…hoist him up our 70’ mast, tighten a bolt, and bring him down.

Matt hoisted up our 70' mast to resecure the wifi antennae

Matt hoisted up our 70′ mast to resecure the wifi antennae

We planned on leaving around 1800, just as the sun was setting, but Sugar Shack had other things in mind.  Matt went to start the Starboard engine and a belt was making a racket.  He spent the better part of an hour aligning, hammering, tweaking, and fixing things before we could get going.  Not a big deal.  This passage should take us between 13-16 hours and we need to arrive in daylight.  So, an hour or two delay didn’t impact us much.

The first 3-4 miles out of Isla Gamez required the most vigilance due to the surrounding reefs and random shallow spots.  It was an art of dodging and weaving, but not too difficult.  Once safely through, we set the course for the first 40-miles of our journey.

The first 90 minutes were uneventful, but around 21:30 we saw and felt a storm coming our way.  We tried to avoid it, changed course and slowed down, but to no avail.  Each time we tried a new tactic, the wind shifted and put us smack in the middle of the storm again.  Rain is not too much of a problem, just annoying.  But the lightening is frightening.  The last thing we want is to be struck by lightening and it was all around us.  We have a 70’ stick that attracts energy and we were terrified that something awful would happen.

Lucky for us, the bolts did not strike us.  The storm delayed us by about 1-1.5 hours, took us several miles off our track and soaked us, but nothing else.  Whew!

Here is one of the shots of our radar showing us smack in the center of the storm.

During my early morning shift, 0100-0400, the moon came out to light our way.  Even with the storm clouds, the moon shown brightly illuminating the sea.

We pulled into Golfito around 0900, about 15 hours after we left.  Perfect timing as it was bright and sunny out, channel was clearly marked, and the bay was not too busy.  We anchored in front of Land and Sea, a very, very small marina and started the massive clean up from the night’s passage.

PASSAGE DETAILS:

  • Total distance: 87.3 nm
  • Total travel time: 15 hours 35 minutes
  • Top speed 7.8 kn
  • Average speed 5.6 kn
We all have our vices.

Journey from Las Perlas to La Playita

Up and away we go, time to leave Las Perlas.  We have a 45-mile journey back to the next anchorage, La Playita.  It was eerily quiet, with flat, flat seas and a strange haze all around us.  Our wind indicator pointed to our location which meant we had no sails up. But, with 2000 RPM’s we were averaging 7 knots of boat speed.

Eerily still and hazy on the way to La Playita.

Eerily still and hazy on the way to La Playita.

A small pod of 5-6 dolphins came to play with us for a while.   They did not stay long on our journey, but they made a big impression.

Dolphins swam with us on the way to La Playita

Dolphins swam with us on the way to La Playita

I took this picture of my reflection in the water while we were underway, that is how still the water was on this trip.  I am laying down on the tramp, you can see the mast behind me.  Pretty cool.

My reflection on the water while underway.

My reflection on the water while underway.

We were all enjoying the large amount of wildlife around us, tons of birds, dolphins, sting rays, turtles, fish, and whales.

Heather enjoying the wildlife in the Pacific.

Heather enjoying the wildlife in the Pacific.

As we approached La Playita, we were accosted by huge cargo ships, car transports, and mega yachts.  The commercial vessels are waiting to transit the canal or they just transited the canal.  And evidently, La Playita is home to many, many mega sport fishing boats and mega yachts.

Large cargo ships & yachts in La Playita anchorage.

Large cargo ships & yachts in La Playita anchorage.

There is a beautiful view of Panama City as you approach and leave the La Playita anchorage.  Bottom photo is La Playita anchorage.

View of Panama City and La Playita on the bottom

View of Panama City and La Playita on the bottom

There was no wind when we arrived to the La Playita anchorage so all of the boats were facing every which way.  Great!  We found a spot close to a few familiar boats and dropped the hook.

We enjoyed a little leisure time, each doing our best to cool off as it was stifling hot with the lack of wind.  Not getting much relief, we headed to shore to grab some lunch.

On the way to the dinghy dock, we saw Barry from “White Shadow” who told us which restaurant had the best wifi.  Now we have a destination, which is always good.  We easily found the dinghy dock, unloaded, and went on our way.  I stopped by the marina office to pay the dinghy dock fee ($50 per week-OUCH) and met the others down the road.

We walked by a mini market, Abernathy (chandlery), and a few tourist traps before we found the main road.  There is a row of restaurants, but we headed toward a pizza place called La Eskinita, where we enjoyed a cool breeze while overlooking the marina.

We did a little window shopping as there are tons of tourist stores, found a great ice cream parlor and a café with decent wifi.  All the important things in life.  We ran into Johanna from “Iriss” and she showed us another place with decent wifi called Hacienda.

We all have our vices.

We all have our vices.

It was late in the day when we headed back to the boat.  On our way, we stopped by “Kokopeli” (Brian and Mizzy) who were hosting “Nomad” (Tom and Susan) for sundowners.  We chatted a bit and headed on.  We had not seen these boats since Portobello.

Since we ate so late in the day, we were not hungry for dinner, so we served cheese and crackers and left-over pizza.  It was a rolly night as the fishing boats, tankers, and pangas go by at crazy fast speeds.

The next morning, Heather, Michael, and Wayne packed.  It was time for them to head back to the states.  We transferred Heather’s great photos from her camera to our phones, made breakfast, and chatted until we had to make our way to shore.  Omar, the taxi driver who picked up Wayne would pick up our group and take them to Tocumen airport.  It has been an amazing journey and we were thrilled to have them on Sugar Shack.  Always sad to say “goodbye.”

Matt and I wandered around the little town to get the “lay of the land”, headed back to the boat, did some laundry and tried to stay cool as it was a hot one.

Wildlife in the Pacific Seen in First 2 Days:

  • Whale spouts
  • Dolphnis
  • Stingrays
  • Jelly Fish
  • Variety of Birds
  • Turtles