Given our less than stellar experience with diving in the Carribbean for the past couple of years, we opted to return to Costa Rica for our Christmas vacation for 2025. Again we had the pleasure of the company of my sister-in-law and her husband. We started our trip in La Fortuna at the edge of the cloud forrest. We went on a hanging bridges tour, and swam at the base of the La Fortuna waterfall. Our agent for the trip did 'warn' us that our accomidations for the trip at the Amor Arenal were quite opulent especially when compared to our subsequent destinations. After La Fortuna we headed to a hacienda in Guanacaste. While a more rustic experience, we did have an amazing day trip to Rincon de la Vieja National Park. We were able to soak in the theramal springs and enjoy an 'adventure' day of horseback riding, zip-lining, and whitewater tubing. Our final stop was Tamarindo on the Pacific coast. While the crowds were a bit much for my taste and the waves for surfing less than ideal, there were some unexpected highlights. On our second day there was a troupe of holwer monkeys in the trees in the center of the hotel grounds. Later that day when we came back from luch there was a mother and baby in the trees almost close enough to touch. After we ran back to our room to get our cameras, the troupe moved across the roof of the hotel. I would hear the male calling for his harem, from the direction of our room. Just off the landing was the male howling for his group no more than 10ft away. Almost too close for my lens to get pictures. Our final day we took a catamaran tour. As we were leaving the harbor the captain mentioned that the sometimes saw dolphins and whales in the inner harbor. No more than five minutes after this the boat was radioed that there was a mother and baby humpback whale in the harbor. The baby was feeling extra playful and breached multiple times. It was an amazing way to end our trip.