The View from the Treehouse

I've only slept in a treehouse once before (cat rescue story - ask me about that another time). It was nothing like this!

This will be an experience to remember.


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Staying at Beside the Point

I spent three nights at Beside the Point, the hotel attached to the Tamboo Bar & Grill.  I was a little concerned that noise from the bar would keep me awake, but it really was not a problem.  They had a band one night that finished about 9:00 PM then had music until very late (way past my bed time!).  My room was on the front side of the building and I could barely hear the music. The air conditioner probably helped because it offered some background white noise.
My room (#3) is the door to the left of the white car.  As you can see I was only about 50 steps from the bar, and 60 steps from the beach.
The room was no frills but clean and comfortable.  it had a TV (never turned it on), a small refrigerator, private bath with shower, air conditioner, and a full size bed.  It also had plenty of electrical outlets for charging personal electronics. 

My only criticisms are the lack of coin operated washer and dryer for guests, and the early morning visits by various delivery trucks and garbage pickup.  Each morning at about 7:00 AM the recycling truck would arrive, bringing with it the crashing sounds of barrels of glass bottles being dumped into the truck.  A few minutes later the normal garbage truck would stop by, and after that delivery trucks for the bar and restaurant.  I was up most days before 7:00 AM, but on the last day I tried to sleep.  That was a futile exercise because of the noise.

The view from the Tamboo was great.  It was relaxing just to sit on the deck sipping a beer and watching the waves, the palm trees blowing in the breeze, and the surfers.

Tuesday Notes

Another breakfast at La Punta Bakery.

Surfing lessons day 2 - back to Aquadilla.

Lunch at a hole in the wall cafe in downtown Aquadilla: yellow rice with peas and stewed "pulpa" or octopus. It was delicious!

After surfing I took a shower and a short nap, then headed up the hill to take some sunset photos.

Dinner at the Shipwreck Bar & Grill in Rincon for some excellent fish kabobs and draft beer.

Back at Tamboo for a beer and some blogging on the deck (where I am writing this). The warm moist breeze feels amazing! I don't want to go inside!

Giant waves are crashing on the beach - almost sounds like the roar of thunder. The waxing moon is bright in the sky. The full moon is coming on New Years Eve - a "blue moon" because it's the second full moon of the month.

This is my last night at Beside the Point. Tomorrow I go to the Bamboo Tree house where I'll stay for the next two nights (including New Years Eve).


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Monday Notes

Up at 0630 ready to surf!

Drove up the hill to La Punta Bakery. Waited in line with the locals to order my "sandwich de huevos, queso, y hamon" with a large "cafe". Ate the fantastic egg sandwich on lightly grilled cuban bread with a steaming hot Puerto Rican coffee. The cost: $3.75. I got another large coffee to go and that set me back another $0.75.

At Rincon Surf & Board I was greeted by Alexandra and Brian who run the place. There were about 10 of us for lessons and after loading the boards on top of a minivan and SUV we headed up to Aquadilla. They chose that location because the surf was too big in Rincon (12 to 15 feet).

I'll add more about surfing later.

Back to Rincon in the afternoon. Teamed up with Annette from Houston (another student) for a couple of hours and drove around to all the Rincon surfers beaches (there are about a dozen) to watch the pros tackle the huge waves.

Dinner on the deck at Tamboo. Annette headed back to Aquadilla where she was staying. I took a nap and later checked out the night life at the Calypso Bar, and La Casa Verde.

There was live music at the Calypso. La Casa Verde is a surfer and turista hangout. I had some fun and interesting conversations with a few locals who seemed appreciative that I was making the effort the speak Spanish. They told me jobs for locals are few and they survive on the money that surfing and tourism brings into the community.


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Beside the Point & “The Tamboo”

For the first three nights I am staying at “Beside the Point".  It is a small hotel / Inn associated with the Tamboo bar and  restaurant.   I ate lunch there when I arrived and the shrimp wrap was excellent!  This evening they had a traditional Puerto Rican band playing until about 9:00 PM. 



The Tamboo is an open air bar with a large deck that overhangs the beach.  It’s a surfer’s beach and the waves today were between 3’ and 6’.  It was inspiring to sit on the deck and watch the surfers catching the waves.  Later I spoke to someone at a local surf shop down the road and he said they are expecting VERY BIG surf for the next few days.



Tomorrow my surfing lessons begin with Rincon Surf School. This is something I’ve wanted to do for a long time and I’m really excited to finally be getting the chance.

Amazing Contrast

I am simply amazed that a person (in this case me) can wake up in New York, walk out the door into a freezing rain, and have lunch on the deck of a tiki bar in the caribbean while watching surfers tackle 6 foot perfectly curling emerald colored waves, with the late, great Bob Marley singing in the background.

Posted via my cell phone.

Making My Escape

It was only two days ago that the Nigerian terrorist idiot lit his own crotch on fire in an attempt to kill a plane load of Christmas day travelers.  I knew the TSA was still reacting to the event, so I gave myself extra time this morning.  It turned out to be unnecessary.  I arrived at the airport at 4:15 AM for my 6:00 AM flight, and was at the gate by 4:45 despite there being only two open security lanes.

I had not been in Terminal 7 of JFK since Jetblue finished their remodeling and I must say it is very nice.  The seats are comfortable, there are several places to eat including multiple coffee kiosks (a must at 5:00 AM), and free wifi.  They also have several rows of computer workstations throughout the terminal where you can plug in and charge up. 


The flight to Aquadilla from JFK is an easy 3 hours and 15 minutes.  I was able top sleep for about an hour and we landed at 10:20 Puerto Rico time (one hour ahead of EST).  The Aquadilla airport is small, clean, and simple.  There were no crowds and parking and rental cars are a few steps way.  

I had arranged for a  car through Popular Auto Rental Car (info on the side bar).  They were closed today but their man Ramon Vega gave me his personal cell phone and told me to call when I landed.  He was at home when I called and he drove over and delivered the car to me under a big tree in front of the airport. 


Ramon said they are closed when I leave too, but no problem – I can lock the keys in the car leave it in the bowling alley parking lot across the street from the airport.  He’ll stop by later in the day to pick it up.  Talk about low key! The car is a brand new Ford (Fusion, I think).

Although I updated my Garmin maps before the trip, my GPS was not a lot of help.  It got me going in the general direction but I needed to refer to printed maps to get me the last few miles.  The GPS took me to side streets rather than main highways, and to roads that have obviously been closed for years.  It was not really a problem because I was in no hurry and used it as an excuse to explore.

Rincon is about 25 miles from the Aquadilla airport.

A look back at surfing in Costa Rica in 1977

I learned to surf during my teen years in Costa Rica. In the mid-1970's Costa Rica was an undiscovered surfing mecca. The only people who surfed were a handful of local "gringo" kids and a few adventurous surfers who made their way down from California. The beaches and the waves were empty. There were no surf shops or surfing schools. Surfboard wax was impossible to find; the only supply was shipped in or carried back from the States by friends and relatives.

Some of the Costa Rican beaches we surfed at in the mid-1970's were:

• Dona Ana near Punta Arenas. We would take the the train down from San Jose with our surfboards and backpacks and stay in cabanas right on the beach for a few dollars a day.
• Playa Jaco - now a huge tourist and surfing town. Back then Jaco was a sleepy fishing village. I went there with my family once for a week and was the only surfer on the beach the entire time.
• Manual Antonio - now a national park. We had friends from Arizona (the Bergeron family) who had a built a home home a few feet from the high water mark at the end of the 3rd beach. When Costs Rica turned the area into a National Park the government evicted them and they returned to the States. We used to camp on the beach for days on end, sleeping in hammocks strung between palm trees. When it rained we'd move our hammocks to the open-air thatched shelter the Bergerons had for guests.

I wonder where the Bergerons are today?

Why Rincon?

When planning this trip I wanted the destination to:

• Warm, sunny & on the water.
• Options for peace and quiet and activities, depending on my mood.
• A location in Latin America – I enjoy the food and the culture, and I wanted an opportunity to brush up on my Spanish.
• Low to moderate cost for the trip.

I began with the thought of going to Vieques or Culebra, but they are harder to get to and have fewer options for  activities.

In my research led me to Rincon on the western tip of the island, and the more I learned the more I liked.  In the end, my decision to go to Rincon, Puerto Rico for a surfing vacation was based on:

1. Ease of access: reasonably priced direct flights from JFK Airport in New York into Aguadilla, Puerto Rico, only about 20 miles from Rincon.  I’ll catch a morning flight from JFK and I’ll be having lunch in Rincon!
2. Accommodations: even though it is one of the busiest weeks of the year I was able to find accommodations for about $100 per night.  Keep in mind I am going on one of the busiest weeks of the season (the week after Christmas) and with only a few days notice.  If I was traveling any other time I could have easily found nice places to stay with lower rates.
3. Variety of Beaches: Rincon is the western tip of Puerto Rico with the Atlantic on one side and the Caribbean on the other.  The north side (Atlantic) is known for it’s consistent waves.  The south side (Caribbean) is generally calmer.
4. Lots of Activities: On days that I don’t surf there are plenty of other things to do like fishing, scuba diving and snorkeling.  Unlike some of the more secluded options, there’s a vibrant night life and many places to eat.  I’ll be spending New Year’s Eve there and would like the option of going out and partying.

I Need To Escape!

I need a break. I REALLY need a break! It has been a good year, but a very exhausting one. I didn't expect to have time off over the holidays, but things changed at work and an opportunity presented itself.

Will it be Florida, Costa Rica, Puerto Rico, or someplace else?  Where ever I go. I'd like to spend part of the time learning to surf.  Perhaps I should say "re-learning" to surf because I was an active (but not very skilled) surfer as a teen growing up in San Jose, Costa Rica.  How long does "muscle memory" last?

This will be my travel blog for that trip.

(Photo by A. Mercogliano)