Tortuguero Island

Tortuguero island was the first official USAC field trip. It was included in the cost of tuition. Our day started bright and early at 7am, where we boarded a bus for an hour road trip to Puntarenas. In Puntarenas, we stopped to pick up the USAC students who are staying there and we all loaded onto a boat that was chartered by a private company.

Lighthouse in Puntarenas

The first part of the trip, and arguably the most exciting, was the boat ride to the island. Once we all settled down, the crew served us fresh pineapple and watermelon. I've never been a fan of tropical fruits but for some reason (probably because they are local) they were super delicious. It was on this trip that we also saw dolphins. This is the first time I had seen dolphins and it was really amazing. Not long after we saw the dolphins, the crew spotted a couple of humpback whales too! At this point I decided to hang out on the deck of the boat, despite the fact that I got soaking wet doing so. This turned out to be an advantage though, because we arrived at a small island. We didn't dock here, but we did get the chance to hang out and see some spider monkeys.

Overall, the ride was a lot of fun and it was really beautiful. At the same time, however, we saw a lot of garbage and plastic in the water. This was particularly sad because when we were trekking along in the boat, we accidentally ran over a sea turtle. It was mistaken for another piece of trash in the water. All of us were really horrified and this was a sad reminder to be better about our waste production.

One of the small islands near Tortuguero

Nonetheless, we got to the island after about an hour in the boat. The boat literally pulled up to the shore and we all hoped off directly onto the beach. The beach of Tortuguero Island was rather small, but still really beautiful with its white sand beach. I was a part of the second group to go snorkeling, but while we waited, we played in the water. The waves were not very big but the current was strong and the water was warm. It was refreshing to hang out in, especially after being on a hot bus and boat for a while.

Our beach on Tortuguero

Around 11:30, the second group went back on the boat to go snorkeling. They took us to a smaller island just off the coast of Tortuguero. After giving us the gear, we all jumped in. It was interesting because not everyone in our group knew how to snorkel so the first five minutes were just us adjusting to the water and teaching each other what to do. Initially, there weren't a lot of reefs, but there were fairly big schools of fish. The farther I went around the island and the farther I got from our large group, the more I was able to see. I saw giant sea urchins, really pretty bright blue fish, parrot fish, cool starfish, and a puffer fish. I was disappointed we didn't see any sharks but the guides told us they didn't really have reef sharks in the area, which makes sense. After about 45 minutes, we got back on the boat and headed back to shore.

Found a cool starfish

Once we got back to the island, we had lunch. I was surprised because it was actually really delicious chicken, rice, and garlic bread. Normally I don't like food served on group excursions so I packed my own lunch, but this was so good. And dessert was surprisingly wonderful too, considering it was marshmallows. These marshmallows were covered in chocolate, condensed milk and coconut. At first we only got one each, but my friend Katie and I went back later for a whole other plate of them.

Mmm delicious

After lunch, we had about 2 hours of free time left. I spent the rest of my time exploring the island, swimming in the water, snorkeling around the beach, and attempting to tan. The island had a really cute gift shop and a bar that serves its drinks in coconuts and pineapples. This was definitely one of my favorite days so far and I can't wait for the other trips.

More pictures of the day:

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On the beach

Snorkeling selfie with my friend Mathea

Boat trip

Fish from snorkeling

Sunset of the way home