Our neighbors' parents own a hotel in a small tourist town, called "El Coco," in the Northern Pacific region of Costa Rica. They invited us to come along with them to spend a couple of days at a reduced rate, so we jumped at the opportunity to go and learn some more about an area of Costa Rica we've never been to. Yesterday we went to "Playa Hermosa," which is quite close to the hotel. It was fun, but it was like many other beaches we've already been to here in Costa Rica. Today, however, we went on a one hour drive to arrive at a beach known as "Conchal." What makes this beach different is that the "sand" is made up entirely of broken shells. It is, therefore, much more like the white sand beaches in Hawaii where I grew up. It is also a little unique in that the first 100 feet or so of water is very shallow and then there is a steep drop off. This creates kind of a sea break and the waves crash down on this spot and then run up the beach. This creates a fun game where you lie on the sand and wait for a big wave to come and wash you further up the beach. If you are a little more adventurous, you swim out past the drop off a ways and then catch an incoming wave. You feel like you are going to be slammed into the sand, but of course the water under you creates a cushion and you slide up the beach. You can then flip over onto your back, ride the wave back out to sea and repeat the process. The kids and I spent a couple of hours doing this. When I got home and took a shower, I discovered I had removed a significant quantity of sand from the beach. This was also very reminiscent of my youth in Hawaii.
Here is a sequence of photos showing Matthew getting swallowed up and spit out by a wave…