Save a Sea Turtle

Beyond Puntarenas’ last paved roads, horse trails trace the coastal rainforest from Hacienda Ario’s 4,700-acre cattle ranch to Cirenas (Center for Investigation of Social and Natural Resources), where travelers attend workshops on permaculture, hydroponic farming, and ocean conservation. At a beach sanctuary just below the visitors’ center, Cirenas volunteers protect turtle eggs and hatchlings from natural predators – or worse, poachers.

On a lucky day, visitors might help uncover a cupped-palm-size hawksbill, guarding it from a safe distance as it crawls clumsily out to sea. Volunteers aren’t shy about sharing each turtle’s 0.1 percent chance of survival, which means every single hatchling gets due regard as an underdog champion.

Watch the Sunset from Nantipa

By the time I returned to Santa Teresa Beach after my anticlimactic surf lesson, the monkeys had entered howling hour, shallow pools had emerged from low tide, and a mist hung across the coastline. Now this was more like it. The surfers had exhausted themselves, but up and down the shore, friends, families, and couples gathered for nature’s daily performance. Here, at one of Costa Rica’s westernmost points, Ticos know the spot to see a big sherbert sun dip below the ocean.

My order during this citrus-tinged social: a tamarind cocktail at Nantipa’s Manzú restaurant. On my last night in Central America, I wondered, Do I have regrets of adventures unsent? Only, perhaps, not asking for one last plate of Manzú’s patacónes (crunchy fried plantains) or polishing off one final bowl of its tender palmilla salad. Pura vida, I’d have to say – because in Costa Rica, it’s OK to drink dessert on the beach and sit and watch the ice cream melt.

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