Dominical Beach: Day and Night

Dominical is my happy place. There are many happy places to be savored in Costa Rica, and many beaches with my footprints seared across the sand. It would be hard to pick my favorite beach: Ventenas has mysterious sea caves that sound like the whole ocean is trapped inside them, Whale's Tail has a secret tail, (depending on the tide) Baru Beach is remote, infinite and wild, Dominicalito is full of playful tide pools, rustic fishing boats and weathered wood and rocks, Dominical is home to surfers and playful dogs. 

I like to sample them all. 

Follow my feet...

Obviously, this is an alien pod ready to zap me with a toxic tongue - or something like that. 

Shadow play.

Watcher in the rocks.

Watchers at sunset.

I always get a money shot. I was trying to trap sunset through the opening. Instead, I captured both, alluring sides.

The sand gets rocky near the Baru River.

I've barely scratched the sand of our last trip. 

Stay tuned...

 

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Viewing Ventenas

Playa Ventenas, Costa Rica

Enjoying the view. That's what Dean is doing. 

 Do you feel like you could die happy, if only you could spend just one day on the perfect beach? Not me. I demand to have hundreds, even thousands, of those kind of days. But, if you do happen to find yourself on death's door, you just might complete your bucket list here in Costa Ballena. Even the locals think it is the most beautiful beach in Costa Rica.

I tried out my new water camera.  The results were mixed. Literally!

School is not out little doggie.

Caves! 

Here is what the caves look like from a boat. In the middle of the photo there's a sneaky little opening to the beach beyond.

Sea arches dot the coast line of Costa Ballena.

What's this? Mysterious cave creatures...

There are a lot of great things about Playa Ventenas. For one, it's in Costa Rica.  Enough said.  But there is so much more. Blue green mountains create the jungle backdrop. Close to shore, palm trees sway along a cool mountain stream. Take a step, barefoot, and follow the water as it drizzles into the warm ocean.  And did I mention the sea caves? There are two of them. At high tide the ocean fills them up to the brim.  At low tide the mysteries are revealed. You can walk all the way to the ocean. And at all times, the ocean is funneled through the caves, creating an echoing roar as it bursts in and flows over your feet.  Heaven.

The caves simply create unbridled joy! (see above)

And did I mention the view?

Who is that handsome devil?

Be sure to stop by The Chorus of the Crows for the blog post of your dreams. Ha!

The links:

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 P.S. Be sure to pop over to Our Seaside Baby to participate in a new travel link-up. The blog has a great post on Venice this week. Plus prizes for the linky winner. This week it was me!

Casa Quiet

Do you remember Casa Construction? It had breath taking mountain views. Plus, a wee bit of noise. Well, we moved into Canto del Mar after leaving Casa Construction last Winter. We managed to find a bed off the dusty streets, an affordable place and another great view!  Not quite so great. But good. Really good. There was some road noise.  But compared to the bulldozers, gravel trucks, hammers and saws reeking havoc from dusk till dawn at Casa Construction, let's just say it was a wild improvement.  At casa construction, you could pass a cup of sugar through the palm trees to the gravel truck driver. Or a cerveza if he asked for one.  I think I even saw a monkey waving a white flag with a bandanna filled with bananas on a stick. He was swinging as fast as he could down the mountain.

Pipas Frias. A fresh, chilled coconut opened with a small machete and served with a smile and a straw.

We were in Costa Rica for a long time this year.  But we were still tourists after all.  And nothing is so refreshing after a hot day on the beach than Pipas Frias.

When we got home in the afternoon, we sometimes had nude sunbathers on our deck. 

We just asked if he wanted a drink. "Gracias," he replied.  Or was that me.

We got to walk on a new Dominical beach. Our favorite restaurant just happened to be perched on a rock ledge at the end.  Paraiso Lodge.

When this boat brought in the day's catch, we witnessed a girl fight at the far corner of the beach.  The men had all they could do to break it up. I don't know what the problem was, but I doubt it had anything to do with Mahi. Man-he maybe.

The vultures eagerly awaited some scraps. Or my toe.

We're up there somewhere.

At low tide there were little pools to cool your toes in.

And at night there were amazing sunsets.

 I love this photo.  And I loved the tourist friendly and quiet Canto del Mar. 

Did you eat your leftovers? They're getting re-heated and served over at The Chorus of the Crows 

Saturday's Critters

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Wild Bird Wednesday

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Beautiful Baru

Mornings are magic at Baru.  Hacienda Baru is located just outside the surfer town of Dominical, Costa Rica.  And it is one of my all time favorite beach walks. I hear a lot of people reminisce about white sand beaches.  They are the type that usually go to Sandals, sip sweaty umbrella drinks and barely explore the outer reaches of their beach towel. They have their priorities screwed up!  I think a perfect beach has a firm walking surface, warm water and miles of unexplored sand snaking as far as the eye can see.  Sand color is completely optional.  I've even walked on green sand beaches!  

The pelicans were skimming the surface. They only care that the water is blue.

You won't see any celebrities.  But you will see stars.

Sand dollars are the only currency you'll need.  There's nothing to buy at Baru beach.

You can drift aimlessly...

Drift wood collects near the mouth of the Baru River.  It is the only beach chairs you'll find here.

There are no hotels either.  It's just you and the view.  Oh, and the sand is brown.

Meanwhile, I went to Panama! Be sure to hop over to www.thechorusofthecrows.blogspot.com for a new post about Panama City and how this exciting location impacted my writing.

Saturday's Critters

Bird d'Pot

Wild Bird Wednesday

My World Wednesday

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Casa Construction

I love this photo. The sun is crawling up the Mountain side, the sky is frosted with a blush of colors and the silhouettes add some interesting magic as well.

Sunrise in Costa Rica is a soul replenishing experience.

But the beauty of sunrise in Dominical is not just visual.  If you were watching this awakening glow in person you'd feel the caress of the moist morning air and hear a chorus of birds among the rustle of jungle leaves.  

Hmmm.. The human sense of hearing is so questionable. It can be so pleasurable sometimes. I enjoy the ruffle of wings as a bird nestles in a near by tree. The rumbling, earthy growl of the howler monkey greeting the day.  The song of the birds is the only alarm clock I'll ever need on vacation. 

 The visual beauty of this Casa is undeniable.  In fact, this breath taking vista might be the best we've ever experienced.  So why did we leave disgruntled and a week early? I think the title of this post says it all. It was my well earned nickname for this lovely rental. 

But I will say this, we kept coming back up the mountain anyway. Casa Construction was a hop, skip and a frog jump from Jolly Rodgers Pirate Bar. You couldn't keep us away from the best burgers in Dominical! And good pizza too. Plus, big strong drinks to keep you jolly. Except through construction noise at 6 am.

My meager mystery bird photo this week. I hope I've earned a simple silhouette!

At sunset the construction ended.  I aimed my camera towards the setting sun and breathed a sigh of relief.

But at 6:00 am the workers staying on the lot next door expelled a big yawn, stretched, stepped out of their shack and climbed into a bulldozer!  And the construction was happening all over the hillside.  So motorcycles and trucks full of gravel were lined up like a parade at dawn  The explosion of sound fell in the negative sound spectrum.  In other words.  It sucked!   

Sunset didn't suck.

Sunset soothed.

Sunset glowed.

Sunset amazed.

Saturday's Critters

Bird d'Pot

Wild Bird Wednesday

My World Wednesday