Where Life's a Beach

When we thought about Costa Rican beaches we envisioned lush green jungles that trickled down onto a beautiful sandy beach. And well, we were about right.

We decided to dedicate a day to exploring the outer beaches of the area on a rare sunny day, but after some frustration with the rental car we ended up exploring only two local beaches close to our Playa Hermosa.

We trekked over the lush hills to the next coved beach areas Playa Coco and Playa Octocal. We had visited Playa Coco (Coco Beach) a few nights before to check out the disco scene, which is alive and kicking with locals, which was nice to see. We heard Playa Octocal was a white sand beach which meant cleaner water, a great swimming beach and snorkeling. We didn't get a chance to dip our toes in the water, again rental car issues - Boo for Budget! But we did manage to take a few pictures and see the lovely beach area we'll definitely be back to enjoy someday.

We'd go back and enjoy the calm waters and have lunch and shoot some pool at Father Roosters.

We took some photos, soaked up the beautiful scenery and then headed back to return to the Villas to return the rental car.

After returning the rental car we decided to head down to our local Playa Hermosa and soak up the sun and more importantly get in the water.

It was around 4pm and we knew from our week long stay that by 5:30pm it would be completely dark, but that didn't keep the locals from enjoying the beach until the sunset.

We've mentioned how terrifically modern Costa Rica is right? Well here's an example of that. All the beaches in Costa Rica are public, no beach area can be purchased and privatized including the secluded hillside beaches along the coves. If you can get to the beach by boat, you can enjoy it openly and freely. The government also says its a no-no to sell things on the beach so we were not bothered by anybody selling souveniors or trinkets. It was nice because we relaxed and really enjoyed our cute little Playa Hermosa.

Costa Rican Sunset from Buddha Bellies on Vimeo.

It's Beginning to Look and Feel Like Summer

The first weekend that the sun came out in its full glory this year and I was lucky enough to be going to the Oregon coast for a girls' weekend. The warmth of the sun was much needed. Thanks Miss Kimmy V for hosting!

From the moment we stepped into our cars for the drive out to the coast, we knew it was going to be a relaxing weekend.

Having grown up visiting the Oregon coast regularly, I knew that you never know what you're gonna get weather-wise at the coast. It could be gorgeous in Portland and absolutely cloudy and cold on the coast. But we didn't care, we had set a weekend and armed ourselves with books, magazines, games and DVDs in case the weather wasn't going to cooperate. However the weather not only cooperated, but decided to completely show off!

We arrived a little after sunset on Friday and enjoyed some down time before heading off to bed. The sound of the ocean just feet away and below us made for a very restful sleep. Soon the sun was pouring through the windows and the ocean and beach were calling! I was the first to awake and decided to head out to see the ocean, feel the sand and smell the air.

I decided to go for a quick walk to the large rocks at the southern end of the beach.

It was still early out, but many people were already setting up for a nice long sunny day at the beach.

My stomach was growling and I suddenly realized "I haven't even had a cup of coffee yet", so I headed back to the beach house, which was a bit further down the than I remembered, but I didn't care if my calfs would be throbbing later, it was totally worth it!

When I got back to the beach house everyone was up and eating breakfast. Is there anything better than a long walk on a sunny warm beach followed by homemade omelettes and good Oregon coffee? I don't think so, at least not this morning.

We soon finished our delicious breakfasts and headed down to the beach. It was a glorious day and we really couldn't have asked for more!

We did basically what you do on the Oregon coast, we walked along the beach and played chicken with the waves.

We watched the seagulls play chicken with the ocean.

We flew kites.

We buried each other in sand and made ourselves into mermaids.

We poked at, examined and basically was curious about everything on the beach.

We watched the surfers.

We scanned the horizon for whales, but found only fishing boats.

And we sat in awe at the beautiful day, the warm sand and the incredible ocean.

It was such a great weekend. It made me recall all the wonderful memories I have of going to the Oregon coast as a kid and wondered why we don't go more often.