Beautiful weather, blue water, white sand and palm trees.. next to that we have a sweet swell hitting the Caribbean Coast, starting on monday with the highest point on wednesday. A little breeze hits the waters, not glassy but not to choppy either.

BEST PLACE TO SURF THIS WEEK

The best place to surf this week will be Cocles beach break. The swell will start with a 5 ft. wave on monday. Perfect for beginners, longboarding and paddle boarding. The waves will grow till 8 ft. on wednesday, perfect for shortboarding and maybe some longboarding at the reefbreak close to the Island at Cocles.

NEWS AND UPCOMING EVENTS

Ask for our special surf discounts at our tour desk in Rocking J’s. Come and learn how to surf at the beautiful Caribbean Coast!

Oh Yes! Clear blue water, white beaches, a little breeze and the beautiful sun is hitting the Caribbean coast this week. Waves are a little fast, in the morning glassy and getting more choppy in the afternoon.
The best spot to surf this week is Cocles beachbreak with waves breaking knee high. Perfect for beginners, longboarding, boogieboarding and also for the more advanced surfer.  Also Playa Grande beachbreak is throwing some good waves!

Come and enjoy the beautiful beaches of the Caribbean with us! At our tour desk in Hostel Rocking J’s we have a 10% discount at surf lessons! We also offer snorkel tours, rafting, dolphin watching, and many more adventures! We hope to see u soon!

Waves coming up at the Caribbean this week. And believe it or not, no rain but sunny with beautiful blue water!

All the spots are breaking. For beginners there’s black beach a perfect little wave for lessons, ankle till knee high. Than for the advanced surfer there’s some perfect waves breaking close to the Island in Cocles, chest till head high. Also the beach break at Cocles is breaking but it’s a little fast and closing out. When you go more up on the beaches you will find Punta Uva reef break where there’s nice soft rights breaking, perfect for the advanced surfer and not many people surfing this wave, knee till chest high. And a little more up there’s Playa Grande beach break or Manzanillo reef break. And off course for the professional surfer: SALSA BRAVA, breaking beautiful in Puerto Viejo town!!

For beginners we have special groupslessons with a discount of 10% at our tourdesk in Rocking J’s. Come and enjoy the Caribean waters with the best local instructors!

After the perfect swell for Salsa Brava the waves went down. A little choppy in the morning turning in to more glassy waves in the afternoon. Sun is still shining but not to hot, perfect to be in the water!

Best spot to be is Cocles Beach, here you can find lefts and rights from knee till chest high. For beginners Black Beach is the spot, perfect little waves to learn on!

For beginners we have special groupslessons with a discount of 10% at our tourdesk in Rocking J’s. Come and enjoy the Caribean waters with the best local instructors!

http://www.frommers.com/micro/2010/top-destinations-2011/puerto-viejo-costa-rica.html?plckCurrentPage=1

If you cannot make a copy of your passport, bring your passports to the main office of Caribe Shuttle located in just south of central Puerto Viejo inside Rocking J’s Hostel and Campground and we will copy it for you! Passengers must do this AT LEAST ONE DAY BEFORE their trip or while making reservations. Our driver will collect your copy

On the bright side, this new immigration requirement may passengers to cross the border faster!

Second: The fee at the border has been raised to $3. Grrrrrrr! This fee is NOT included in the price of the Caribe Shuttle and will be collected at the border by Panamanian officials.

Please CONTACT US if you have any questions.

With the swell hitting Salsa Brava it will be one of Puerto Viejo’s best contests ever! Come and see the boys ripping up this beautiful wave this Saturday in Legalize it surfcontest or write yourself and show what you got! For special tours this week, come and step by our tourdesk located in Puerto Viejo’s most popular hostel Rocking J’s!

nothing but footprints on our

beaches..

… but unfortunately this is not the way tourism is currently working in most third world countries… This blog tells you a bit about the beaches in Panama and Costa Rica and the consequences of not maintaining them…

Freedom, Peace and Exhilaration…, that is what traveling, relaxing at a beach and sea related activities such as sailing gives you.

Most of our visitors agree that the most enjoyable part of the whole trip around Central America is the tropical weather and rain forest environments offered by the Panamanian and Costa Rican beaches. Costa Rica and Panama are considered to be one of Central America’s greatest natural treasures both for tourists and locals. You will learn this for yourself just when you talk to the people that have visited the great natural wonders that our countries have on offer.

The majority of the guests that visit the Carribean side of Panama, are foreigners that flock the islands of Bocas del Toro, with its amazing beaches and sands to escape the busy city life.

However the downside of having all these visitors is that they do leave their tracks. Apart from sharing their happiness, joy and culture, unfortunately some of them also share their garbage. They leave it there for your kids to pick it up tomorrow.

Don’t think it is just a small problem, for those who live on the islands and are eco-minded, it is disgusting to see how locals do not even respect their own beaches. Or, for instance, how foreigners make visits to our islands and cannot go out and have fun without leaving their six packs on the beach after a whole day of surfing.

For another example, think about our nocturnal friend called the Turtle. They need to come out of the ocean and lay their eggs on the beach. Jellyfish is their favorite meal, however, sadly enough they confuse it often with plastic. The plastic makes their tummy feel foul and nasty, which result in them not eating anymore. In this case, they die in about four days, thanks to the plastic that we leave on our beaches.

This is just an example. Do you have any other suggestions as to how we can encourage tourists  to keep respecting our nature? I would love to know any ideas that you have how to get a cleaner beaches!

Recently I joined the Catamaran La Movida and The Caribe Shuttle The Eazy Fast and Secure way to travel between Costa Rica and Bocas del Toro!

So on this blog I would like to share with you guys my experiences here on the islands, so you have an ideas of everything what is going on here on the island.

You want your next vacation to be productive, fun and an everlasting beautiful memory? Come to Bocas del Toro using the CARIBE SHUTTLE!!

Then go sailing with captain Marcel, a mad wise captai with a real fun sense of humor, in a 40 foot Catamaran!

This beautiful sailing trip brings you through the most amazing islands and shows you around the outline of the Bocas del Toro island group. The cream on top of the pie is the dolphin watching tour, included in your sailing trip! How amazing to see those dolphins roaming through the waters right next to you! It also includes two snorkeling trips which will leave you in complete wonder of the most beautiful reef that the Bocas archipelago has to offer.

Lunch is also offered on this trip, a huge turkey and cheese sandwich, a snack of fruit, snorkel equipment and fish trawling is all included in this ultimately relaxing sailing trip. It leaves every morning at 9.30 and only costs 44 dollars. For more details take a look at www.bocassailing.com .

So don’t wait any longer!! Get on the Caribe Shuttle and go to my islands! Make your reservation for the shuttle here, or visit our office in Rocking J’s, Puerto Viejo right at the tour desk there.

I am waiting for you!!

Leidi “Layla” C

The Caribbean border between Panama and Costa Rica reopened again yesterday, Friday, November 28, after a week-long closure. Extensive flooding in the border towns of Sixaola, Costa Rica, and Guaybito, Panama, and surrounding areas shut the border crossing down as of last Saturday morning, November 22, the last day that the Bocas Shuttle was able to operate.

I have never seen rain like we had in my life, and I’ve lived in rain forests for over ten years. Moreover, older residents of Puerto Viejo de Talamanca who spent their whole lives here have been telling me the same thing. This might have been “the storm of the century!” I hope so, because I don’t want to see this kind of storm again. In just the Talamanca area alone I’m told that there are nearly 4000 homeless, and Panama was harder hit than Costa Rica. Happily, things are quickly going back to normal in Bocas and Puerto Viejo, and we are enjoying our second day of beautiful sunshine. I’m going surfing!

In the mean time many communities in highlands and border areas are still cut off and suffering. Find out you can help.

Though the border opened yesterday, a lack of fuel in the area kept boats, water taxis and ferries from running, so the morning shuttle was not able to operate. All transportation on the roads leading to Bocas de Toro were shut down for a week, so all supplies including fuel, food, water and medical supplies are in short supply. Now, however, we are happy to announce that as of today the Bocas Shuttle between Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica, and Bocas Del Toro, Panama is now operating normally!!

Stay tuned. Passengers on the last shuttle to Bocas before the closure are writing reports for us on their experience on their journey to Bocas and their days stranded on the islands.