Snorkeling Manuel Antonio

My parents came down to Costa Rica last weekend (the day after my twenty-ninth birthday) for a vacation. We took off to Quepos on the west coast to spend time at the Manuel Antonio Park. After their last trip my dad became enthusiastic about the snorkeling we had done, and bought the three of us equipment. We decided to find out what we could see at the beaches within the park. Our first try was at beach 3 which looks like the most sheltered, but once we had gotten away from the shore we found the water pretty rough. The sand was too stirred up to see much plus it was difficult to get close to the outer shoreline where the fish gather. I got tired and woozy after an hour of swimming around. It was disappointing after the quantity and variety we saw at the point we visited last year.

Later in the week we tried the south edge of beach 2 on a recommendation. It's a wide beach, but that part of it turned out to be well sheltered. The water was clear and we started seeing fish almost immediately, too numerous to name or count (as if I knew any of their names in the first place). My dad pointed out a brilliant starfish and a small red eel. I saw a pair of large fish (a couple of feet long) that darted away almost as soon I spotted them. We saw many schools of smaller fish. You could float above the rocks and see them weaving in and out and popping out of hiding places. It's incredible down there. You stick your head above the water and you have no idea how vibrant it is right below the surface. As I was coming in at the end passing from the rocky outer area to the empty sand close to shore a tiny yellow fish passed directly in front of my goggles. It couldn't have been more than inch from my face. I turned to find it and was surprised to see that it was sticking close to my body, swimming all around me. I had picked up a satellite. It had taken shelter around me like I was big rock, and as we swam into the open area it tried to hide close. I had to get out but I hope it found its way back to shelter.

We also did one of the canopy tours where you ride zip lines through the jungle. In truth you pay much more attention to the stability of your platform than the scenery around you. It included about a dozen lines, two rappels and a "Tarzan" swing. One of the guides found and displayed a tiny, black and green poisonous frog. It's colors were extraordinary. He also pointed out a walking tree which stands propped up on its roots and shoots down new ones in the direction of greater sunlight (uphill). It actually moves about two inches a year.