Like every time we try and travel in Central America via public transportation, we were 3 hours early to a 3 hour late bus. Everything works at it's own pace here, and we just can't seem to get it right. Frustrating as it is, it's all part of the fun (or at least that's what we keep saying "were having fun...") and eventually it always seems to work out.
The bus from Manuel Antonio to Golfito is about 4-5 hours. Many people stop in Dominical for the beautiful beaches there if you want to break up the trip, but we were too intrigued by Pavones (a hidden Gem they say). From Golfito it is a 2.5 hour bus ride (it would be less but the roads are terrible) into the jungle and ending up in Pavones.
There is no sign saying when you are in Pavones and we were told by the local (who just happened to have spent 2 winters in Aspen) to get off at the Mira Olas sign and to search for a cabina from there. Well, of course, we missed our stop and ended up about a half hour outside of Pavones in the dark wih only a small Soda in sight. Luckily the people in the Soda were kind enough to call us a taxi and for $10 we were back where we wanted to be.
One thing to note about Pavones is that no one here speaks any English, and if they do know any (which is very rare) they refuse to speak it anyways. So we have really been relying on the little bit of Spanish that we know to get by.
We found a nice cabina (jazmine cabinas) and settled in. The first day we burnt our skin laying on the beach. The next we hung hung our hammocks in the shade and spent the day reading and lounging. The third day we finnally met some local boys who offered to teach us how to surf, so we hooked up with them at 7:30 am and attempted to surf on Pavones waves.
Neither of the boys spoke any English, and I was amazed at how much of my terrible caveman Spanish they understood. So we surfed, I mostly swallowed seawater but stood up a few times so I feel vaguely satisfied... And when we couldn't handle being battered by the waves we headed into Rio Claro.
The river is clear and a bit colder than the seawater so it is very refreshing. Our friend took us to a bridge about 40ft above the water where you can jump from. Although the water is a bit shallow, we took the plunge and it was really fun! Many young local boys were there attempting to create the largest splash.
We went to lunch after and planned a bonfire on the beach for later. After a nice long siesta and a bunch of fresh vegetables for dinner we met with our friends and headed to the beach. They quickly created a massive bonfire and poured rum and ginger ale drinks. We sat around trying to learn about each other in Spanish until the fire died and then we headed home.
We were also lucky enough to have a guy (originally from Alaska but now considered a local after living in Pavones for 9 years) take us on an ATV ride and hike to a beautiful waterfall that we swam and cliff jumped in!
Pavones was definietly a highlight of our trip, and I highly suggest it as a way to get of the beaten track.
