October CR WarmUp

8/7/2019 October CR WarmUp

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tropical escapes

Oahu, COsta RiCa and st. Kitts W en temperat re

r se, s d es t e p ss b l ty ad ent re and r mance. T e z ne j st s t t e

Tr p c Cancer as an deal and n t n cl mate, t en year-r nd t ma nta n

water temperat res t at bec n swarms t rtles, w tet p ree s ar s and l c s

t er nned den zens — yet c l en eac e en n t enj y a wal n t e beac .

BY TY SAWYER AND TARA BRADLEY

L E f T T o R i g h T : T Y S A W Y E R ; J o h N M o z o

/ o C E A N S T o C k

. C o M

48 O ob 2007 o . o . o O ob 2007



o . o52 O ob 2007 . o O ob 2007

history on Oahu.That night, I’m back in the wonder

that is Waikiki. Perusing the stalls of theInternational Marketplace, watching local

surfers, shopping at one of thedozens of ABC stores and stock-ing up on macadamia nuts. A fullmoon rises over the bay, cast-ing a silver sheen on the shore

and the famous beach. I leave my windowshades open at my ResortQuest room andfall asleep, basking in the magical glow of the Hawaiian night.

The next morning, I’m headedback to the bay, still within site of myhotel, and soon I’m descending uponthe fairly new wreck of the 168-foot SeaTiger. Sunk in 1999 in 107 feet of wa-ter, the upright ship looms dramaticallyup from the sand. The deck is coveredwith a massive aggregation of snapper.

A couple of sea turtles rest near somedeck gear, and two green morays slitheramong the growing coat of red hydroidsthat have begun to carpet the surface of this artificial reef.

rises beside our villa. Higher and higherwe go. The beats become louder, therhythm more pronounced. Then we seeit. Adorned in bright purple and orangewith grand headdresses covered in se-quins, beads and feathers that reach thewooden roof above, dancers move in arapid rotation — their feet stomping tothe band’s restless drums. Sweat glistens ontheir bodies as they pulse through the faintglow of the nearby lanterns. We have hap-pened upon a local wedding. This is ourfirst glimpse of pura vida.

While watching the locals celebrating,time gets away from us until we remem-ber we have a dive boat to catch in themorning. We make our way back down

at 1024 (1024 Nu’uanu Avenue). Theshop is filled with locals, all having teaand all women. But this is not a properEnglish tea. No, this is Hawaii, so every-

thing comes Hawaiian-style, and here inChinatown, there’s an Asian twist. Here,you come for tea and put on a featherboa and fancy hat, or for men, a top hat(the feather boa is optional for men),

and you sip orange pekoe and nibblescones in this outlandish attire. Other-wise, the shop looks the part. The tea,cucumber sandwiches and scones wouldall be right at home in an English gar-den. But the owner has taken all thepretense and stodginess out of this tra-dition and infused it with a bit of wildabandon. I sit for tea, chat with the localwomen and have a grand old time in mytop hat. Afterwards, the owner takes mefor a quick tour of the dragon-shapedgarden in the back and tells me aboutthe resurgence of this important part of Honolulu’s dynamic history. As I wanderthe streets I can sense the pride localshave taken in this part of their town andthe desire to retain the roots of their

trOpical escapes cOsta rica

Back on deck after the dive, I’m alittle stunned. The wrecks of Oahu, es-pecially those off Waikiki, tend to getoverlooked because they’re smack in the

middle of the busiest spot in the Pacific,a city where it’s easy to get caught up inthe whirlwind of tourist distractions. Inthe back of my head, I almost begin tothink that I’ve just been shown a littleHawaiian secret. The best spotin the islands for giant seaturtles and inarguably the bestwrecks in all of Hawaii. I can’twait to explore more.

But right now I’m off to an evenmore unheralded part of this famous city— Chinatown in Honolulu.

While exploring the resurgingstreets of Chinatown, I come acrosswhat seems like an impossible shop: Tea

Pura VidaDiSCovERiNg ThERE iS NEvER A DuLL MoMENT iN CoSTA RiCA

By Tara Bradley

m u s t d O

m u s t d i v e

Tea With a TwistTea at 1024 n h n l l ’s C nat wn sa n q e c mb nat n a tear m andb t q e. Enj y a trad t nal En l stea – hawa an-style: C me as y are

r p c t a ne- -a- nd t t r mt e b t q e t wear be re ta n teaat t s l cal a r te.

1. YO-257 2. San Pedro3. Sea Tiger 4. l of Oz5. m h c

O utside our beachside villa, myfriends and I fill the air with thestories, mystery and scandal that

only lifelong friends can create. And sinceI have known these friends — Trish and

Anne — for over half of our lives, there isa lot to laugh about. We have decided toescape from our homes on opposite coastsand meet in Costa Rica — where lo que pasa, pasa (whatever happens happens). As we sit in our hideaway at Ocotal BeachResort, the anticipation of our upcomingadventures adds to the excitement. Butour voices are soon overpowered by thebeat of drums through the night breeze.

We follow the sound along the string of stone steps curving up the mountain that

to the shore. The water rushes ovebare feet, the phosphorescence capurple sparkles against our toes. A sounds overhead, followed by firefilling the sky. We haven’t seen dyet, and Costa Rica has already gi

destinatiOn primer

aVeraGe WaTer TeMP: 80°F WHWear: 3-5 mm f ll aVeraGe VIZ:100 fee (v r e ; Co R c rro

wo bo e of w er) WHeN TO GO:ro ; be v z from J e o sep ember

(Continued on page 90)

seeING red Le t: th g g ow ofc by ch f m o, h ho w -

w b Ho o .R t:th o o f h b o by -

h g - g g .

BACk oN DECk AfTER ThE DivE,i’M A LiTTLE STuNNED.

COsta RiCa

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usa

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fOOTPrINTs IN THe saNd RPl y E p ll nor e k.

Pan

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C L o C k W i S E f R o M T o P L E f T : T Y S A W Y E R ( 2 ) ; B R E N D A W E A v E R ( i L L u S T R A T i o N ) ; B L A i N E h A R R i N g T o N i i i / C o R B i S



o . o54 O ob 2007 . o O ob 2007

a royal welcome. The next morning willmark the first open-water dive for myfriend Anne, and I can already tell thetrip will be anything but uneventful.

They’re nervous. As we jump aboardPADI Gold Palm IDC Ocotal Resort’s diveboat with PADI Dive Instructor Flaco,the usually talkative Anne is quiet whilethe rambunctious Trish jokes to relievethe tension. Anne has just completedthe PADI eLearning course, and withinminutes of descending the line atTurning Point, her rising comfortlevel becomes evident, so Trishand I leave her to finish her skillswith her PADI Instructor Phillipe.

As we fin along the reef of Turning Point with Flaco, the openmouths of green and chain moray eelsappear out of what seems like every cor-al head. Their scorpionfish neighbors tryto seem less obvious. Nearby, a puffer-fish family of 10 bounces off one anotherlike fragile bumper cars. In the shadowsof a coral head, an eight-foot whitetip

reef shark slumbers on the sandy floor.Careful not to wake it, Trish and I slowlyapproach it for an up-close-and-personallook before we head back to the surface— Trish’s eyes twice their normal size.

Our surface interval brings us to aplace Flaco has affectionately named Flaco’sBeach, (after himself). Side by side, we fl oaton the surface as Trish retells the story of her first shark encounter, the size of theshark growing with each new version.

And with her check-out skills behind her, Anne is ready to join us on our next day of diving — and to check out the shark talesshe is sure we have fabricated.

That night at Ocotal’s rooftop res-taurant Roca Bruja, we join our friendSisinio for dinner and are greeted by ourwaiter Jose, who smiles as he stretchesout his bearlike arms in greeting andsays, “Pura vida girls.” When he seesour confused faces, he says, “It meansgood things — when you see somethingbeautiful you say, ‘Pura vida.’ Life is good.”Later, as we dine, we begin to understand

what he means as we share whacomes our favorite meal in Costa— fresh ceviche.

After dinner we sign ourselvfor the next day’s Costa Rica Adv

Tour. We are told wgo tubing from the bthe La Victoria Wathrough the rapids oNegro, rappelling throlarge canyon by the B

River and horseback riding througdry forest trails of Hotel Haciendachipelin. And although the mai tathe bar are tempting, we make ouback to the room so we are readwhatever form pura vida will takefollowing day.

The helmets should have bsign. Our tubes float us atop thewater that slowly carries us — bfor long. The first rapid looks fiercewe had imagined. Not able to slow dI go with the current and fly out otube like a rag doll only to be du

rHyTHM Of lIfe Le t t r t: Whf h ho o off of co o

i ; o g f g h bo c J o; wh -f -

h o y b g h o y.

cOntinuinG educatiOn

get y r Ad anced Dspec alty. f r m re n , t

. o .

“WhEN You SEE SoMEThiNg BEAuTifuLYou SAY, ‘PuRA viDA.’ LifE iS gooD.”

L E f T T o R i g h T : J E f f R o T M A N

/ S E A P i C S

. C o M ; g A R Y B R A A S C h

/ C o R B i S ; C L A S S i C S T o C k

/ A L A M Y



o . o56 O ob 2007 . o

underwater and tossed like a toy in awashing machine. When I surface, thelooks on Anne’s and Trish’s faces are of complete fear. One by one they toppleover the waterfall and into the crashingwater below. A hint of excitement startsto show in their eyes, and with no otheroption, we get back on our tubes and areforced to surrender ourselves to the river— forever to be known as the “CategoryFive Rapid River of Death.”

After we dry off, the guides hand usweathered gloves, hook us onto zip-linesand secure the straps of our harnesses.

And just like that we’re off — from bridgeto platform and platform to waterfall, weswing through the air overlooking theriver below — so clear that it’s nearly im-possible not to notice the details of thefallen leaves lying on the rocky bottom.

With each new platform, we are guideddeeper and deeper into the dark green of the forest. When we reach the last line,Trish surprises us with a confession: She’safraid of heights.

Following one adventure with an-other, we let a group of horses carry ourfatigued bodies to what will be our finalreward — a mud bath followed by hot

springs. Our somewhat leisurely gal-lop along emerald valleys offers us thechance to take in the incredible beauty— all further enhanced with the hint of wild mint on the wind. No matter howworn out we may be from our earlier ad-ventures, it is hard not to enjoy the view— simply pura vida.

The next morning, animals are ev-erywhere. We wake to howler monkeysdancing on our roof, catch a bright redcrab trying to scamper into our room,have breakfast under the pleading gazeof a hungry raccoon, and dodge iguanasand other lizards lurking around almostevery corner. As we walk toward the diveboat at Ocotal, I look back to see a white-throated magpie jay perched on my chair,attempting to eat my leftover pancakes.

Animals are everywhere underwater,too. Newly certified Anne is ready to findthe sharks we’ve been talking about, sowe set off to explore Shark Channel. Thename alone has her worried. Beneath thesurface trumpetfish align like swords onthe wall of an ancient Renaissance for-tress. An octopus gives itself away as itskirts from crevice to dark shadow, itscolors changing from white to purple topink. I tug Anne’s fin to get her attention,and we watch as the octopus performs its

rainbow of costume changes. And like astage curtain, the thermocline — signalinga drop in temperature — glistens in the

water column behind it. Ahead, Sisinioflashes the shark sign followed by thenumber “three.” The girls and I slowlyapproach as three sleeping whitetip reef sharks come into view. Disturbed by ourpresence, they circle one another, andthen us. We sit motionless as they disap-pear and then return. Two, three ... sixlaps. Their graceful movements begin tohypnotize us and our breathing beginsto stabilize. When they finally settle, weleave them in peace as we ascend througha school of brown damselfish, blue chro-mis and yellowtail snappers. When wesurface, it is Anne’s turn to exaggerate.

And by the time we are back at Ocotalwaiting for our rental car, the whitetipshave grown from eight feet to 12.

For our final dry day in Cos-

ta Rica we decide to take a road tripfrom Ocotal to Tamarindo — one of

Seduced by St. KittsThE oLD WoRLD ChARM of DiviNg’S NEWEST hoT SPoT

By Ty saWyer

destinatiOn primer

aVeraGe WaTer TeMP: 78-83°FTO Wear: d ve k or or y mmm f ll w er aVeraGe VIZ:fee WHeN TO GO: Ye r-ro

B y day two I was suffering fromfull-blown Caribbean intoxica-tion. I found myself at sunset,

standing atop the cannonaded buttress of the Fort Brimstone ruins. I could see thenearby island of Saba rising from the ho-rizon as if perched at the edge of the earthto house the retreating sun. Behind me,the volcanic peak loomed over the “farside” of St. Kitts — the little-seen crater of Mount Liamuiga was wrapped in a shawlof color-shifting clouds. My girlfriendwalked up, and together we watched thesun lose the battle with the moon. Fora moment during the transition, therewas only stillness. Then the sun was

gone, and the first of the stars eruptedfrom the deepening darkness.

Then it happened, almost suddenly,as the moon took over the evening — thatelectric tinge of romance and adventure.It swept through the dimly lit streets andfilled the spaces between the trees on thevolcanic hillsides, between the old sugarmills that pockmarked the landscape,between plantations, and all along theuninhabited coast where fallow sugarcane rustled with the quickening breeze.

At that moment, I was hooked, drawn inby the Old World Caribbean charm thatstill lives and breathes here.

St. Kitts came out of left field for

HOld sTeady th z - o y ooff - o w of

h mo o fo — o hof of h gh .

trOpical escapes st. kitts

(Continued on page 92)

m u s t d O

m u s t d i v e

Sunset Sailf r t e per ect way t end a day, sa l

nt t e r z n n t e Trisha Anne — oc tal’s s nat re 65- t sa lb at.Enj y res p neapple and c ld P lsnerbeers as a p d d lp ns play lly l-l w y r wa e.

1. t g po2. sh ch3. c i4. p Go5. p m

C L o C k W i S E f R o M B o T T o M L E f T : Y

. L E v Y

/ A L A M Y ; T Y S A W Y E R ; C A R L o S v i L L o C h ; B R E N D A W E A v E R ( M A P )

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O ob 2007



o . o92 O ob 2007 . o O ob 2007

Costa Rica’s notorious surf towns. It isonly eight in the morning and we’ve al-ready hit a roadblock as a group of cowsis herded across the road. And almostas if on cue, the nearly forgotten Chi-cago tune “Saturday in the Park” comesacross our rental car’s radio on RadioDos — Costa Rica’s station of choice. Af-ter the last cow has cleared the way, wedrive through tire-threatening, potholedroads lined with skyscraper-size pejibayepalm trees. As we pull into town, the dust

settles on the road and the colors begin tounfold. Shops decorated with hammocksin reds, greens and pale yellows line thewalkway accompanied by table after tableof homemade jewelry, bongos and bikinis.In the distance, the salty air leads to theshore. Off the road a hand-painted signreads “Surf Lessons $25.” Within minutes,we’re riding above the water we have beensubmerged in all week. Hours pass beforelightning begins to show its fierce face,and we make our way back to the sandy

shore and our worn-out rental car. We have crashed through the “Cat-

egory Five Rapid River of Death,” dancedwith the whitetip reef sharks waiting forus on every dive and ridden the wavesof Tamarindo. We wanted an adventure,and from the looks on the sunny facesof my friends, it has been another onefor the books. We’ve created new talesthat will be told when we find ourselvesreunited again, ready for another ad-venture. But the stories aren’t the onlything I’m taking back with me. The twolittle words that have been following us

around all week are with me too. PuraVida. And the best part is knowing that itwas with me all along.

Special thanks to Costa Rica Tourism (visitcostarica.com), Ocotal Scuba Diving Resortand Hotel (ocotalresort.com) and Sisinio Al-varado.

cOsta rica listinGs

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TrOPICal esCaPes/COsTa rICa (Continued from page 56) TrOPICal esCaPes/sT. kITTs (Continued from page 58)sites that comprise Monkey Shoals (es-pecially for that name), which harboredheaps of marine life, from sleepy nursesharks and sea turtles to a secret paradeof macro critters.

Back above the water, betweendives, there were tons of places to dis-cover. Besides the UNESCO World Heri-tage Site Fort Brimstone (the Caribbean’slargest intact fort), there was a lushrainforest filled with playful vervet mon-keys, which were introduced to the is-land by passing sailors. We spent a daywith Greg’s Safaris exploring the Valleyof the Giants, which took us deep intoSt. Kitts’ fascinating rainforest. We alsofound old sugar mills, romantic planta-tion homes and petroglyphs carved intorocks — all remnants of St. Kitts’ in-teresting past. In a sleepy village calledMiddle Island, we met an elderly womanwho took us on a tour of the first Angli-can church established in the Caribbean(by Sir Thomas Warner). There was acovered and cracked marble gravestonefrom 1648, marking Warner’s gravesite,but the woman was keen to show us her

husband’s grave — right next to War-ner’s. She spent 30 minutes telling uswonderful stories of their time together,which greatly illuminated St. Kitts’ past.

We went on to visit the batik factory atRomney Manor. This art form has founda unique expression on St. Kitts, makingit hard to leave without bringing a pieceor two home. Before returning home,we took the time to stroll around Basse-terre, French for “lowland.” Its central“circus,” with a four-sided clock as thecenterpiece, was like London’s PicadillyCircus, a gathering, passing and meetingplace for locals and travelers alike. Wesampled milk straight from the coconuthere, and the friendly locals with theirlove of sharing stories made us feel athome on their island. The architecturewas a mix of old West Indian colonialand Creole that hearkens back to the17th century. Yet even with the longand heady history, the unique natural

and cultural heritage of St. Kitts remainsrelatively hidden behind the veil of thesugar-based economy. Well, the secret’sout. Let the seduction begin.

Special thanks to the Golden Lemon (goldenlemon.com), Ottley’s Plantation (ottleys.com), Rawlins Plantation (rawlinsplantation.com), Greg’s Safaris (gregssafaris.com), Adam’s Unlimited, Bertrum (our af- fable driver) and Jason (our accommodat-ing guide).

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cOntinuinG educatiOn

get y r underwaterNa at r D er spec alty. f rm re n , t . o .

N B ?grab a r end and et t em cert ed.A ter enr ll n n PADi’s new eLearn npr ram nl ne, st dents can c mpletet e r c rsew r w ere er and w ene ert ey l e. T ey can a e t e r pr ress,re ew answers and c rrect resp nses att e r wn pace. once t e c rsew r asbeen n s ed, t ey can t en c ntact t e rl cal PADi d e s p t c mplete t e rp l s lls w t a PADi instr ct r. And t ebest part? T e c ec - t d es can cc ralm st anyw ere — be t w t t e r l cald e s p r n t e r next acat n. Learn-

n w t d e as ne er been s easy.

f r m re n rmat n n eLearn n , c ect pad .c m.

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