COSTA RICA, PACIFIC COAST - VILLAS SOL RESORT
(Please feel free to phone our USA office any time, for prices & info: 612-yyy-zzzz.)
Your Bill Beard's Diving Safaris vacation package includes: 7 nights accommodation (double-occupancy) in an ocean-view room in Costa Rica's premier Pacific Coast diving resort + 6 days of guided 2-tank boat diving with the most experienced dive operation in Costa Rica + free snacks & beverages on the dive boat + hotel taxes paid. Round-trip transfers overland from San Jose to the Villa Sol Hotel via air-conditioned van are extra. Also extra are tips, drinks & meals each day of this Costa Rica dive resort package.
A new & well-appointed vacation property, Villa Sol Hotel is situated just above one of western Costa Rica's most renowned white-sand beaches, appropriately named Playa Hermosa, or The Beautiful Beach. Views from the rooms & the beach are sweeping & wonderful. The resort features 100 total rooms, 54 of which are deluxe. The deluxe rooms at Villa Sol Hotel offer 2 double beds, private bath, central A/C, walk-in closet, private terrace or balcony & daily maid service, with the kind of sweet-spirited service that only the ultra-gracious "Tico" people of Costa Rica can provide.
There are two swimming pools at Villa Sol, plus a tennis court, volleyball nets, jet skiing & kayaks available, as well as a mini-market, a car rental office & a passenger tram that carts guests from the beach to the hotel lobby. Villa Sol also features several in-house restaurants, bars & nightclubs, including a nifty poolside bar, where your favorite libations can be served as you float your stress away.
Since we all know that Costa Rica diving holidays need to encompass far more than simply scuba sorties -- because eco-tours abound in this verdant land -- Villa Sol & Bill Beard's Diving Safaris are within an easy day's drive of five national parks, wildlife sanctuaries & biological preserves -- the glory of inland Costa Rica. There's a vast number of visually exciting hikes, graded from gentle to strenuous, whatever you want, if you're willing to hoof it for verdant views. Costa Rica's eco-adventures are one of its top international claims to fame. The cloud forests in and near the Guanacaste Mountains are world-renowned. Once Bill Beard's Diving Safaris brings you back from their magical Costa Rica scuba diving world, your appetite for eco-tours may be pretty keen; if so read further on. We have eco-energy to the max down in Costa Rica!
At Bill Beard's Diving Safaris & also the Villa Sol Hotel, electricity is the same as in the U.S., so there are no worries for divers who bring small appliances, nor for underwater video buffs who need to recharge their battery packs. This beautiful property is located only a few blocks from Bill Beard's Diving Safaris' main office, & a short walk from the center of the village. This is THE nerve center for serious Costa Rica diving. Nadine & Bill Beard did a commendable job shaping & honing their keen little corner of Costa Rica.
Nadine & Bill Beard ran their Diving Safaris business on Costa Rica's Pacific Coast for more than 30 years, then sold it to a personable young couple from the States named Earl & Bobbi Jo. These new owners are widely regarded as the savviest & most reliable dive operators on the Northwest Coast of Costa Rica. This couple is basically one of the salient forces for safe, organized scuba diving in a Costa Rica that can be a bit benignly "manana" oriented. You'll enjoy the friendly expertise & relaxed competence their crew brings to the job. It's a couple blocks walk or tram ride down to your beach in front of Villa Sol Hotel, so the Bill Beard divemasters will keep your dive gear for you during your stay. They'll rinse & store it & have it ready for you the next morning, so you don't have to lug it back & forth at all. Bill Beard's Diving Safaris will pick you up by boat at the beach, or by van at your hotel entrance, whatever you prefer.
One of several facts that make Costa Rica diving quite pleasant most of the year is the mild climate in the Golfo de Papagayo region of Guanacaste state. Temperatures rarely go higher than 90 degrees F in the summer, or slide below 75 degrees in the winter, with water temps staying pretty stable between winter's 78 & summer's 82 degrees. Visibility averages about 40-50 feet from December through April. Then May through November the visibility -- especially in deep summer -- can reach 80 feet.
This is not a prime coral environment on the Northwest Coast of Costa Rica. This is not Fiji by any means, we must advise. What scuba divers come to see are the big critters: groupers, mantas, bull sharks, vast schools of gleaming jacks & rays, many of which converge on Murcielago Island, & around the sea pinnacles off El Ocotal. It's not uncommon on a typical Costa Rica diving trip to see a flying phalanx of eagle rays come soaring overhead, blocking the sun for a few seconds while your heart is pounding like a piston & you rush to grab your camera. Some of the best big-fish action in Central America is yours for the sheer enjoyment of it all, right here on the "Parrot Gulf." Pacific coastal Costa Rica is Big Critter Central in this hemisphere.
Nearly any month of the year on a Costa Rica diving tour you stand a decent chance of sighting the mammoth, adrenaline-coaxing, yet supremely gentle whale shark. The best time to increase your odds of sighting big schools of flapping manta rays at the Catalina Islands, 14 miles south of the Villa Sol Hotel, are December through May, where Bill Beard's diving crew has chanced upon as many as 50 of these wonderful creatures on one air tank! Some of these graceful manta rays flex wing spans from 12 to 20 feet across! Other classic dive sites that Bill Beard & the lads have developed include Punta Gorda, Escorpiones & Los Meros, where underwater camera buffs will have the chance to nab shots of the elusive harlequin shrimp, rare nudibranchs & more than 12 species of eels, all framed against a backdrop of delicate cream-white hydroids that seem transplanted from another distant planet of exceptional tranquility.
Nadine & Bill Beard ran their Diving Safaris business on Costa Rica's Pacific Coast for more than 30 years, then sold it to a personable young couple from the States named Earl & Bobbi Jo. These new owners are widely regarded as the savviest & most reliable dive operators on the Northwest Coast of Costa Rica. This couple is basically one of the salient forces for safe, organized scuba diving in a Costa Rica that can be a bit benignly "manana" oriented. You'll enjoy the friendly expertise & relaxed competence their crew brings to the job. It's a couple blocks walk or tram ride down to your beach in front of Villa Sol Hotel, so the Bill Beard divemasters will keep your dive gear for you during your stay. They'll rinse & store it & have it ready for you the next morning, so you don't have to lug it back & forth at all. Bill Beard's Diving Safaris will pick you up by boat at the beach, or by van at your hotel entrance, whatever you prefer.
One of several facts that make Costa Rica diving quite pleasant most of the year is the mild climate in the Golfo de Papagayo region of Guanacaste state. Temperatures rarely go higher than 90 degrees F in the summer, or slide below 75 degrees in the winter, with water temps staying pretty stable between winter's 78 & summer's 82 degrees. Visibility averages about 40-50 feet from December through April. Then May through November the visibility -- especially in deep summer -- can reach 80 feet.
This is not a prime coral environment on the Northwest Coast of Costa Rica. This is not Fiji by any means, we must advise. What scuba divers come to see are the big critters: groupers, mantas, bull sharks, vast schools of gleaming jacks & rays, many of which converge on Murcielago Island, & around the sea pinnacles off El Ocotal. It's not uncommon on a typical Costa Rica diving trip to see a flying phalanx of eagle rays come soaring overhead, blocking the sun for a few seconds while your heart is pounding like a piston & you rush to grab your camera. Some of the best big-fish action in Central America is yours for the sheer enjoyment of it all, right here on the "Parrot Gulf." Pacific coastal Costa Rica is Big Critter Central in this hemisphere.
Nearly any month of the year on a Costa Rica diving tour you stand a decent chance of sighting the mammoth, adrenaline-coaxing, yet supremely gentle whale shark. The best time to increase your odds of sighting big schools of flapping manta rays at the Catalina Islands, 14 miles south of the Villa Sol Hotel, are December through May, where Bill Beard's diving crew has chanced upon as many as 50 of these wonderful creatures on one air tank! Some of these graceful manta rays flex wing spans from 12 to 20 feet across! Other classic dive sites that Bill Beard & the lads have developed include Punta Gorda, Escorpiones & Los Meros, where underwater camera buffs will have the chance to nab shots of the elusive harlequin shrimp, rare nudibranchs & more than 12 species of eels, all framed against a backdrop of delicate cream-white hydroids that seem transplanted from another distant planet of exceptional tranquility.
For couples who bring small children & need a sanity-enhancement break to accommodate their half-day dive trip, baby-sitting services are easy & affordable to contract at Villa Sol Hotel. (Don't worry, we love kids. Our three-family partnership has six chiquitos already!) For those who prefer a one- or two-bedroom condo instead of a hotel room, we can also secure these for you at extra cost.
Costa Rica dive vacations are popular with divers who want to blend mountain & rain forest eco-tours along with a relaxing coastal dive vacation. Costa Ricans are known for their gracious humor & outgoing displays of hospitality. Side tours & meals throughout rural Costa Rica are very economical if you want to ramble & roam a bit around the jungle countryside after your dive tour.
Costa Rica vacations are also renowned for the otherworldly peace, & the exotic birds & mammals of its misty cloud forests. Bring a big rain hat for the Costa Rica highlands -- that's a given !. Air tickets are extremely reasonable to Costa Rica & land costs for do-it-yourself eco-tour extensions are quite low as well. The sky & the sea are the limit down here. Que vengan Uds para gozar de la hermosura y la tranquilidad. Costa Rica realmente brilla.
Costa Rica dive vacations are popular with divers who want to blend mountain & rain forest eco-tours along with a relaxing coastal dive vacation. Costa Ricans are known for their gracious humor & outgoing displays of hospitality. Side tours & meals throughout rural Costa Rica are very economical if you want to ramble & roam a bit around the jungle countryside after your dive tour.
Costa Rica vacations are also renowned for the otherworldly peace, & the exotic birds & mammals of its misty cloud forests. Bring a big rain hat for the Costa Rica highlands -- that's a given !. Air tickets are extremely reasonable to Costa Rica & land costs for do-it-yourself eco-tour extensions are quite low as well. The sky & the sea are the limit down here. Que vengan Uds para gozar de la hermosura y la tranquilidad. Costa Rica realmente brilla.
For prices & more info, call John, Susan or L.J. at 612-yyy-zzzz.
For more details on Villas Sol Resort + Costa Rica Eco-Tours, click here.
All Photos © Copyright Bill Beard's Adventure Travel. All Rights Reserved.
For more details on Villas Sol Resort + Costa Rica Eco-Tours, click here.
All Photos © Copyright Bill Beard's Adventure Travel. All Rights Reserved.