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Paddling a kayak on the open ocean can be an exciting way to experience Costa Rica's marine and coastal wonders, and several companies offer sea kayaking tours along different parts of the Pacific coast. Sea kayaking is much easier than river kayaking, and most trips can be done by people who have never tried the sport before.
Sea Kayaking
With 635 miles of shore line along the Pacific coast and 132 miles on the Caribbean, and both oceans fed by literally hundreds of rivers, Costa Rica offers unequaled opportunity to enjoy the rapidly growing sport of sea kayaking. Sea kayaking is a natural way to experience our beautiful Costa Rica. The sea kayak is a self propelled small craft devised by the ancient Eskimo tribes in the Arctic ocean region and has evolved into a stable, efficient and extremely sea worthy craft which makes wildlife observation excellent and totally unobtrusive. No experience is necessary to control the kayak for the first time. The rudder and paddle are your tools for mastering the operation of this craft.
Sea kayaking interior rivers - a silent and personal way to see nature
In addition to the "sea", there's a few rivers in the interior which beg to be explored by the "stealth" of the sea kayak. The adventure begins when you have the right equipment and the right adventure leaders. We're pretty adept at exploring estuaries with hundreds of animal species and birds along the banks.
Sea kayaking with Serendipity is a loving affair, and our custom trips can be from one day to two weeks in length. Since we offer only self-formed group trips, the distances, the friskiness of the water, and the degree of difficulty is entirely in your control. Give us your priorities and we'll organize the expedition, then we get to join in your discoveries with you.
CARIBBEAN CANALS
First we go via road northeast as far as it goes (and, trust us, the 4-wheel-drive is only the beginning of the equipment we'll need) until we reach an insurmountable obstacle in the road (usually mud, above the bumpers). From here we carry the sea kayaks and all our gear to the closest water deep enough for paddling, which may be a few hundred yards or it may be a mile or more.
Then it is all serenity. The first canal is hardly more than a ditch, and the paddles will touch both banks as we start. Each canal joins a larger canal, until fairly quickly we reach mature estuaries. As we progress into deeper wilderness the subsistence farms disappear, the animals get bigger and the noises get more bizarre. Welcome to true wilderness. And the water is so mirror smooth there is no experience required on this trip... just some tireless arm muscles.
The first day of paddling is about 5 hours, but, after bouncing on what appears to be endless terrifyingly bad roads, then possibly carrying kayaks a fair distance, five hours is enough, and your arms will feel like rubber bands. Our destination for tonight is the coastal town of Tortuguero, the first dry land in this direction. (We've tried to find camping spots on this route but there's no dry land -- only dense trees and deep, wet forest floor mud. We're thinking of hanging sleep platforms, like mountain climbers use -- would you like to be one of our guinea pigs for this?) When we arrive at the hotel, the tourists will all come out to look at us, like some forest animal climbing up from the water --- what, you came in by sea kayak? Wow! What did you see? Any animals? Any crocodiles? Can we buy you a beer and talk about it?
The second day is either on foot in the narrow spit of land between the main canal and the sea, also known as Tortuguero Town, or we can do further exploration by sea kayak in nearby canals. The kayaks have a huge advantage over the tour boats that swarm out from the hotels in this area; we can get into very narrow canals, and into shallow canals, silently. And we can go when we want, which usually means before breakfast at the hotel, and before the motorized tour boats start out. And we can wait out after dark, when the tour boats have all gone in for cocktails. Best of all, we have great freedom to explore, and we can grab the hammocks for a full afternoon of recuperation.
Tortuguero National Park is famous for nesting Green sea turtles. However, access is strictly controlled, by land, and escorted by a National Park ranger. The best time for this is at night, during a full moon, in nesting season (July thru September is nesting season for the Green Turtle, and the hatchlings start heading for the sea about 2 months later).
There's as many days here as you want, exploring the canals. But there's another option, if you have to move along to other places -- a shorter route back by sea kayak (but consequently a rougher way back by 4 x 4) or, pack your bags and catch the commuter flight back (only at 7 AM) to San José. We'll paddle the kayaks back out without you, and, if the guides leave a day earlier than you do, they may even make it all the way back to San José in time to meet your flight.
PACIFIC ISLANDS
The Nicoya Peninsula is the big area in the center section of Costa Rica that sticks out into the Pacific. There's a dozen or so unoccupied islands off the coast here, and we can move from island to island for a few days camping.
We start by taking the ferry from Puntarenas to Playa Naranjo. Then we're off, following the coast south, from island to island, all uninhabited, all inviting us to camp. We need to bring everything with us for the three days it takes to get to Paquera. The wildlife on this voyage can be extreme. The northern end of the Gulf is fed by the Tempisque River, which is a naturalists paradise. The Gulf of Nicoya is home to not only dolphin, frigate birds, porpoise, sea turtles and lots of fine fish, there's also been quite a few spottings of orcas and other whales in this protected bay.
This voyage requires some real sea kayaking skills in open water -- know how to Eskimo roll, know about wet exits and surfing.
AROUND THE HORN
Well, sort of. In this case, the southern tip of the Nicoya Peninsula, where you get out of the protection of land and into some real ocean. We'll skirt the coast, starting from Paquera, paddle out to the Negritos, down to Curú, then head over to Alcatraz and Tortugas, then to Tambor, and finally on to Cabo Blanco island. If you are up to it we can go on around the tip, out of the protection of land and into the Pacific, ending up in Malpais. We have a few options in this area for camping or hotels, so we design this adventure around your desires for hot meals and hot showers.
This voyage requires definite prior experience and Eskimo roll, because you need to go solo in order to carry enough equipment in your kayak (all food and water, too).
MIGHTY TEMPISQUE
The Tempisque River meanders through the Guanacaste (north Pacific) region before it gets serious and heads into the Gulf of Nicoya. The bird and aquatic life is only surpassed by the crocodiles. We would end the voyage at a biological research station on the river just before the tidal section of the river gets strong. This includes one night of true (extreme primitive) camping.
Curu Sea Kayaking
With 635 miles of shoreline along the Pacific coast and 132 miles on the Caribbean, and both oceans fed by literally hundreds of rivers, Costa Rica offers unequaled opportunity to enjoy the rapidly growing sport of sea kayaking. Sea kayaking is a natural way to experience the beauty of Costa Rica. The sea kayak is a self propelled small craft devised by the ancient Eskimo tribes in the Arctic ocean and has evolved into a stable, efficient and extremely sea worthy craft which makes wildlife observation excellent and totally unobtrusive. No experience is necessary to control the kayak for the first time. The rudder and paddle are your tools for mastering the operation of this craft.
Some of the hotels where you can practice sea kayaking are:
Capitan Suizo
Hotel Villa Caletas
Hotel Casa Turire
Occidental Allegro Papagayo
Tamarindo Diria
Parador
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