Month: February 2020

Scuba Diving in Costa Rica (w/pics)

~ Steven A. Melnick ~ 1 Comment

I spent part of my time here in Costa Rica SCUBA diving. When I started talking about getting certified to SCUBA dive, my wife was less than enthused. She said something to the effect of, “Are you nuts? You’re going to be 70 years old in a couple of years.” I said, “I hate to break the news, but I’m going to be 70 years old in a couple of years whether I SCUBA dive or not !” I was extremely careful about seeing our family doctor and every medical specialist I routinely see to make sure they saw no issues. They proclaimed me a picture of health. I did not see my dentist (sorry, Hugh). All gave me the green light health-wise and saw no reason I couldn’t SCUBA dive. So…

I did the online classroom work and the initial pool classes/dives back Virginia in September. I did the required four open water dives in West Palm Beach, Florida at the Blue Heron Bridge to complete my PADI Open Water Diver Certification under the watchful eyes of Donna and Dick Barret, certified instructors, and received my PADI Open Water card. But since I was coming to Costa Rica anyway to escape the colder north, I decided to bring my dive gear along and made arrangements to complete the Advanaced Open Water dives here in the warmer waters of the Pacific. As before, I did the classroom requirements online, provided the statements from my doctors, and off we went into the Pacific Ocean with Rich Coast Diving in Playas del Coco under the watchful eye of Samantha Waters, instructor extraordinaire. I learned so much from Donna, Dick and Samantha and will be forever grateful for their guidance and patience.

The Advanced Open Water consists of five required dives which I explained in a previous post (Underwater Navigation, Deep Dive–100 feet), and three electives. I’ve always been a water rat and SCUBA was an itch I had to scratch before I reached the point in life where I had to dive using a walker !!!

I took a few pictures during one of the elective dives (Underwater Digital Photography) and I have much yet to learn about taking good pictures underwater. Totally different circumstances for good shots underwater than on dry land. My dive buddy, George Kieffer, and my instructor (Samantha) also took some photos with my camera. So, make no mistake, the good shots were taken by them !

Here’s a few pictures to give you a taste of my dives. Surprisingly, because it was very windy, the visibility was only about 15-20 feet. Also, the area we were diving in is volcanic so much of the background is volcanic black rock instead of colorful coral reefs. Nonetheless, I learned a lot, met new people from around the world (England, Germany, and Los Angeles–that’s a different country, right?) and had a ball.

I will be diving again in the Bahamas in April and will spend nine days in Cozumel in May with two dives a day from the boat and unlimited shore dives (i.e., waddle into the water like a penguin from shore).

Enjoy the pics … going from left to right, that’s me, me ascending from the depths, a puffer fish with me way in the background, a less than friendly eel that wasn’t too happy to see us, sea urchins, and a round ray lying in wait.

The Kindness of Others …

~ Steven A. Melnick ~ 1 Comment

“You cannot do kindness too soon, as you never know how soon it will be too late.“ …Ralph Waldo Emerson

Traveling provides the opportunity to see new sights, meet new people, and experience different cultures and languages.  By far, meeting new people from all over the world ranks high. I have met people from at least a dozen countries in my short stay in Costa Rica.  Many just stay a few days, but some are here for one or two weeks and, seeing them around this small, boutique hotel everyday, prompts many pleasant conversations.  A guest from Germany, who I chatted with daily, left the hotel yesterday. As he was leaving, I noticed he had a ukulele case slung over his shoulder.

I said, “Andre, I didn’t realize you played the ukulele.” and I then told him my tale of woe with the ukulele.  As I’ve written before on a Facebook post, I said, “I play the piano. It’s got 88 keys. The ukulele has but 4 strings — how hard could it be to learn?  To this day, I have yet to be able to even tune the damn thing.”  

Andre laughed and immediately handed me the ukulele case from his shoulder.  He said, “Here, take this as my gift to you.” I, of course, resisted his offer but he was rather insistent that he wanted to give it to me.  He said he has a couple of ukuleles and this is one of his favorites. He said he really wanted me to have it as a gift from him. He said, “When you learn to play it, remember me!”  How could I refuse and I accepted his kind gift.

I was touched not only by his generosity and kindness but also that he gave me “his favorite.”  I will give learning it another try, much to my wife’s dismay no doubt but probably to Andre’s delight, and each time I learn a new tune I will remember Andre from Germany with fondness.

Interestingly, Andre spoke no English just two years ago but made up his mind to learn the language.  Today his English is quite conversational — I wish my German and Spanish were as good. His quest now is to become conversational in Spanish.  While in Costa Rica he was able to make progress toward that goal and is now heading to Argentina for four (I think) weeks to immerse himself even more in Spanish.  Andrea is about 50 years old, recently retired, and obviously putting his retirement time to good use. I have no doubt that he will achieve his goal to become multi-lingual.

Best wishes to Mein Freund, Andre, und vielen Dank für Ihr freundliches Geschenk der Ukulele.

Hotel In The Shade — Tamarindo, Costa Rica

~ Steven A. Melnick ~ 2 Comments

Right now, I am spending the month of February in Tamarindo, Costa Rica — mostly to get away from winter but also to complete the required SCUBA dives for my PADI Advanced Open Water certification. I have completed six dives over three days at Playas del Coco last week (about an hour from Tamarindo). Two required dives are (1) Deep Dive of 100 feet (think Marianas Trench) and (2) Underwater Navigation (just you, a compass, and the fishies — along with your dive buddy and instructor, of course). Elective dives included (3) Underwater Digital Photography, (4) Advanced Buoyancy Control, and (5 and 6) Search and Recovery. The staff and instructors at Rich Coast Diving in Playas del Coco were extraordinary. Highly skilled and very safety conscious. It was a very pleasant experience and I added another “notch” to my PADI certification belt.

The gem at the heart of my month-long stay, however, is finding the Hotel In The Shade in Tamarindo, Costa Rica. A boutique hotel with 16 rooms, it is new, clean, and safe (walled in, combination lock on the gates) and is within walking distance of virtually everything. The pool you see in the picture above has just been constructed this year and is a wonderful place to cool off after a hot day of walking downtown and on the beautiful beach. Dennis does an outstanding job of maintaining the pool along with his other duties.

The staff at the hotel are amazing. The manager, assistant manager, and receptionist (Vanina, Oriana, and Anna), the breakfast cooks (Benél and Greggorio), the house maids (Yahaira and Lisbeth), and the maintenance man (Dennis) are the most pleasant and accommodating group you could hope to find. The owner (Viktor) has assembled a fine team of people who are warm, friendly, professional and very customer service oriented. I am enjoying my stay in Tamarindo in no small measure due to the very pleasant interactions with the staff.

The hotel is in a quiet and safe area of Tamarindo away from all the commotion of the party crowd downtown. With three nice restaurants right next door, you barely need to the leave the immediate area except for the walks on the beach. Peace and tranquility abound. It is the perfect place to write, edit some audio files for my latest audiobook narration, and simply chill out away from the winter cold.

One of the unexpected side benefits has been the variety of guests who have come and gone during my stay so far. Naturally, folks from the USA and Canada comprise a large portion, however, I have met and talked with people from Germany, The Netherlands, Estonia, Venezuela, El Salvador, England, and Columbia to name just a few. It is truly a cosmopolitan group and has been a pleasure to learn some of their stories.

I recommend it highly !!!