Life’s a Beach – Tough, But Someone Has to Do This

The Beach of Playa Jaco

I thought it would be good to start off this post with a photo of the beach we took from the side of a mountain on one of our hikes.  As you can probably guess, this post is all about the beach, a place where we spend a good portion of most days.

Now that we have been here for a while we have learned that the beach is about four kilometres long from the rocks and river on the north end, to the rocks and nearby highway on the south end.  It’s a good hike to walk all of it in both directions, especially in the constant heat.

This particular log is where we usually park our footwear, hats and glasses when it is time to play in the surf.  We store our stuff in one of those cloth grocery bags which we got at a local store and hang the bag on one of the little knobs or the log.

Of course, it’s hard to not include a photo of Maureen in this post about our beach, so here it is – yes, those are her footprints in the sand.  On any given day we are at the beach about twice a day.

Sadly, this isn’t a beach that is good for hunting seashells.  This tiny pink shell is a rare thing to see on the beach.  Usually all the shells that we see are filled with owners and are busy making a living in the surf.  It is actually quite different from any other beach experience we have ever had.

This is a surfer’s paradise.  Waves like this make being in the water very interesting indeed.  This is a wave pool beyond your wildest imagination.  The waves are powerful and you have to be careful because of the rip-tide.

As you can see, the waves get so big they literally come crashing right over you.   Both of us have been knocked down a few times while playing in the surf.  Believe it or not, it is fun.

Naturally, there are a lot of surfers here taking the challenge.  More people end up in the drink than being successful at riding a wave like this guy was able to do.  It’s amazing what some of the better surfers can do as tricks with their boards.  And the others?  Well, it does look like a painful sport as we see them crash all over the place.  Like I said, it is fun out here.

And what is a beach with out a sunset or two?  There is little doubt in my mind that sunset is the time of the day when the beach is most crowded.

Everyone wants to see the sun go down.  As the sun dips into the water, cameras are flashing all up and down the beach.  I include our camera in this activity though I don’t use the flash.  More often than not, all eyes are on the sun and frequently we hear applause as it finally sinks into the Pacific Ocean.

Such is daily life on the beach in Playa Jaco.