Off to Costa Rica!: Day 5: Tortuga Island

It was another early morning as we prepared to embark on our catamaran cruise.

We pretty much look like we just got out of bed, which would be accurate. We boarded a tour bus at the hotel and had about an hour bus ride.

The tour guide was bilingual and super nice. His name was Carlos and was a great guide. If anyone looking for a great vacation Calypso cruises was an amazing experience. They have wonderful service and the crew are some of the friendliest people I've met. We arrived at the place where we were to depart the island and have breakfast.

Gotta love those black beans and rice! After breakfast we all applied plenty of sunscreen and boarded the boat.

From left to right: Mrs Monroe, Mrs. Tann and Ariana

Ariana with the captain

When the sun came out it was super hot on the ride there, but we stayed cool in one of the pools on the boat. Who knew? In water on water. It was close to 2 hours before we arrived at Tortuga Island. The water was close to clear and the beach was absolutely beautiful.We got off the boat, set our stuff down, and headed off on a snorkel tour.

The water was a bit choppy that day so it wasn't perfect weather conditions, but it was still really fun and I saw tropical fish swimming around the rocks on the sea floor. Some people said they even saw an eel. About 20 minutes of swimming and then we headed back to the island.

Lunch was absolutely delicious. We had some kind of lime fish salsa for appetizer, Costa Rican BBQ for our entree, and lemon cake for dessert.

After lunch we got to swim for a little while before we went on a banana boat ride. I've never been on a banana boat ride, but I have been tubing and it was pretty much the same thing.

It was a blast and none of us fell off surprisingly! We came back and hung out on the beach. There were also animals that wandered around along the forest line to the beach. We saw deer, wild pigs, and a collared peccary.

Wild Pigs

This is a collared peccary. This isn't my photo though because my camera died before I could take one. These animals act a bit like pigs but are furry and they let you pet them. There was only one and we all got a chance to pet it as it was searching for food underneath the food shelter. We went swimming for awhile longer before we left.

This really was one of the coolest experiences I've ever had and I'll never forget it! Sadly, we soon had to leave the beautiful island and board the boat. Sun burnt and sandy, we reluctantly stepped aboard. The ride back was a bit more enjoyable because it wasn't super hot and sunny.