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Celebrating in a new country, Costa Rica,

Welcome to Costa Rica, Golfito and Panama Posse

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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

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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
Playful dolphins entertain us

Isla Santa Catalina & Bahia Honda

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We visit two islands: Isla Santa Catalina and Bahia Honda.  First, a short 13 nm away, is a small island called Isla Santa Catalina.  We pulled up anchor at Isla Cebaco in sweltering heat, with no wind, scattered clouds, and a bright blue sky.  It was good weather conditions to fly the jib with 12-13 knots of wind at 60 degrees.  All of our charts showed many reefs and shallow spots along the way.  And midway between us and our destination was a 4-meter shallow spot that we were trying to avoid.  Strange to be so far off shore in only 7-17 meters of water.  The depth vacillated a lot and quickly.

As we were motor sailing along, we noticed a huge squall off to port.  It appeared to be heading away from us, but as we continued along, it kept getting bigger and bigger.  Lots of thunder. Dark foreboding clouds, and big swells.  We hustled to put the eyebrow and rain shades down before the worst of it hit, but to no avail.  The rain was coming down in sheets making it challenging to see.   In fact, it was coming down so hard that we lost sight of the island that was a ½ mile in front of us.  Luckily, we have 5 charts, all of which combined are decent to navigate by so we were able to drop the hook and retreat inside.

Even though rainy season is not technically supposed to start for 5 more days, we’re thinking it’s here.  We remained inside for the rest of the night as the sky unloaded buckets of water.  It was a peaceful night until about 0200 when it became really rolly.  High tide came in and brought with it some big waves that kept us awake for a few hours.  But by early dawn, it calmed down and became the sweet, innocent anchorage we fell asleep in the night before.

Image:  Top: is Isla Catalina with a dilapidated surf shack and lower three photos are neighboring islands with some serious surf and breakwater.

The next morning, we set our schedule as we periodically have to live by a timeline.  We are trying to make our way to Gulfito without missing the many islands that lay between Panama and the Costa Rica border.  Monica, Matt’s mom, is coming to visit us in northern Costa Rica in a few weeks.  It is a little over 300nm from Isla Santa Catalina to Herradura Bay where we are meeting her.  Technically, we could make that passage in 2-3 days, but we would miss dozens of lovely anchorages, beaches, and islands.

After we created a “soft” sail plan, we got Sugar Shack ready to head to Bahia Honda.  A short 21-mile motor in really calm conditions, no wind, lots of birds and fish, and a few dolphins.

These dolphins always look like they are scratching their backs on the bottom of our bows.  They seem so close.  But, Matt said that our red bottom paint would come off on their silky skin (it’s ablative paint which means it is meant to come off easily but prevent growth).  Since the dolphins had no red tattoos, I assumed they are just barely missing our boat.

As we entered the mouth of Bahia Honda, we were surprised by the tall, green, mountains that make up this beautiful and spacious bay.  Image below: Top entering Bahia Honda (overcast day); Middle little island with trees speckled in white birds; Bottom surrounding islands.

As we were anchoring, a panga approached with an older gentleman and two kids.  They politely stayed back until we set the anchor.  Only then, did they approach our boat.  His name was Domingo and the kids were his grandchildren.  He wanted to welcome us to the bay, showed us where he lived, and told us that he has not seen many boats lately.  He gave us a bunch of sweet finger bananas and a pineapple and asked for nothing in return.  Of course, I scrounged around for school supplies for the kids and Matt gave him a few small fishing hooks.

Around 1500 another squall came through.  At least we were already anchored and prepared, so Matt took advantage of the fresh water and washed off the deck and took a shower.

I love this shot of two of my new favorite bananas.  The small one is a fingerling banana which is really sweet and the two large ones are plantains.  Matt has become an expert at frying them in oil to perfection for a sweet treat after dinner.

Later in the afternoon, Kennedy stopped by.  He is Domingo’s son and the father of the two kids we met the day before.  He told us that he works for an American family across the bay and that they are part of the Bush family.  Interesting.  Kennedy has worked for the family for over 20 years.  He was very nice and asked for a few items to trade as he said that everything is very expensive to bring in from Panama City and he’d prefer to trade for fruit.  They were looking for children’s clothes, shoes, batteries, cooking oil, milk, and fishing hooks.  Across the bay is Isla Bahia Honda where there is a small village, school and tienda (market).

The night was really calm and peaceful.  This is a very tranquil bay, full of wildlife and sweet people.  The next morning, we received another visitor, Santo who is Domingo’s other son.  He was interested in trading his word work for batteries, jackets, shoes.  At this point we are emptied out, not sure what we will do at the next stop.

After a few hours of cleaning, we pulled the hook and headed to our next stop.

COMING UP NEXT:

  • Islas Secas
  • Isla Parida
  • Isla Gamez
  • SUP adventures