when is high tide?

The place: 12 miles north of Playa Manzanillo

The time: 12:53 AM

The tide: Rising

Proximity to my truck: 15 feet.

My heart rate: over 200

I scramble for my laptop and fire it up. It blinds my tired and irritated eyes. I can barely look into the dark when rudely awoken from a dream let alone at an insanely bright 17 inch display. I squint through swollen lids and encrusted eye boogers at the spreadsheet I made for Costa Rican tides. High tide 1:28 am.

“okay 30 mins or 15 feet, which will happen first? If the tide does actually get high enough to bring water to my car it will be brief and I can dig myself out in the morning no problem. I hope.”

I stare anxiously out of my tent for the next 45 mins as my camp remains high and dry. I fall asleep after the adrenaline wears off and wake to the sunrise and low tide 125 yards away. Not really sure why a kid from the desert was smart enough to download a tidal chart but I am glad I did. I’m also glad I trusted my own instincts in setting up my camp. I asked a local a mile or so down the beach from me if I would be okay camping on the beach or if I needed to be up in the trees. Had I listened to him there would be no round of golf, there would be no Dot. There would just be a very sad me stuck in Nicoya staring at his buried truck.

So the Nicoya Peninsula is officially my favorite region of Costa Rica. For the first time since leaving Baja did I get to fully use my vehicle. 5 river crossings (one about 30 inches deep 200 yards long) 10+ miles of beach driving, more dirt than paved roads. It was dryer and flatter than the rest of the country. The only food available could be found in the ARB fridge in back of my truck. 3 nights on the beach, another tire rotation, long boring days of hitting golf balls, taking a nap, wandering around the beach, throwing rocks. A good time was had by all. And by ‘all’ I mean me.

I did a few things on the beach near Playa Manzanillo that were awfully nostalgic. I had my first campfire since Baja. It took 45 minutes of nursing smoldering, rain soaked, drift wood to finally get it to burn but once I got it burning it lasted for 2 days. That process alone would not be possible if not for all my time in Juneau, AK learning how to convert wet wood into a roaring fire. Not because I had to, but oddly enough because I wanted to, I ate a Nissin Cup-O-Noodles and 2 fresh bananas for dinner. I hadn’t eaten a one since high school. It was damn good and took me back to a time when I was happy with cheap plastic tasting food. I did learn something new about them though. The perfect utensil for such an exquisite meal? A titanium spork. I’m not making it up. The damn thing is perfect. Tines for the noodles, spoon portion for the soup. A match made in heaven and one I plan to exploit again sometime soon. The second night on the beach I stopped everything to actually watch the sunset. Or observe the earth rotating as it were. It isn’t something I do very often. But the timing was right for me stare into the fiery orb for the 15 seconds it took to descend below the horizon. The whole world slows down when you take the time to stop and enjoy something that simple. I then took a few pics, turned 180 degrees and watched the full moon rise on the opposite horizon and instantly I was 15 years old again, sitting on Melissa Dixon’s trampoline with Kelly Welker. It was the first time I ever watched the sun truly set. And coincidentally we watched the moon rise as well. Unfortunately even with all that natural beauty going on around us I didn’t get lucky. I did however take her home in my friends Toyota Mini-truck. * Of course we managed to take the scenic, off road route back to her house. So all in all not a bad night.

My time on the empty stretch of beach ended with a near humiliating experience. After repacking the car, collapsing the tent etc etc. I took a dip in the almost too warm (yep me rubbing it in for all those buried in snow back home) ocean to clean up before my drive to Playa Herradurra. I had seen an SUV go up the beach about 20 mins earlier (in 2+ days I saw maybe 20 people) and figured I was all by my lonesome. With my thumbs hooked into the waistband of my wet shorts ready to change I caught movement out of the corner of my eye. Two Americans, Jamie and Ryan, in their rented SUV had pulled up next to my camp as I was digging out clean clothes. Not as much for my sake as for theirs I’m glad I didn’t great them with an awful view of me in my birthday suit. I’m pretty sure they had no idea. But the embarrassment made me start sweating in the humid heat. So much for my bath. To make the issue even worse, while they were approaching me to ask for directions, I realized that Jamie was a rather attractive young lady. As I stood their dripping wet with sea water and sweat I was amazed at how gorgeous this woman was. Much like the previous night’s sunset I found myself just staring at the natural wonder. Jamie has to be one of the top three most beautiful women I have seen. Not in Costa Rica, not on this trip, but in my entire life. The kind of beauty that sort of stops you in your tracks and leaves you breathless. Even more so in contrast to my fat, hairy belly standing next to her . So I threw on the filthy shirt I rotated my tires in and stumbled through the directions to Playa Samarra with them. We shook hands and off they went.

The Conclusion: A few minutes later I was rallying down the beach, coke in hand, windows down, music blaring and genuinely in love with the beauty of Costa Rica’s Peninsula de Nicoya.

*Expedition Americas does not condone the illegal use of a motorized conveyance by minors or other unlicensed drivers. However, that doesn’t mean that the times of vehicular indiscretion are not remembered fondly. So while not condoning such behavior we are not going to condemn it either. Otherwise many great memories would also need be condemned.