"Geoffrey W. Schultz" wrote in message
4.17...
After going through the Panama Canal I think that we're going to head up
the coast of Central America before heading to the South Pacific. This
seems to be a lightly cruised area without a lot of information available.
In particular there doesn't seem to be any information about Costa Rica.

I'd be very interested in obtaining information about anchorages in Costa
Rica in particular as well as Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and
Nicaragua. I have a copy of "The Forgotten Middle" which covers the later
pretty well.

The Forgotten Middle is pretty good as a guide book.

In Panama we stayed in several of the Perlas Islands. Found a nice
anchorage about 10m West of Punta Mala (?) (the main point on the west side
of the Gulf of Panama). Not in any cruising guide, but easy to pick out
from a chart. A few more anchorages in Panama (beware - we noted a few
rocks in the islands between there and the entrance to the river to David
that were not charted). Friends went up river to David and liked it. Isla
Parida was nice.

C.R. - lots, but open anchorages are open to big swell. There is a reason
surfers got to CR! Golfito is a good anchorage, but theft still seems to be
a problem. First decent stop after Panama I recall. Bahia Ballenas was
excellent - protected and you can take a ferry into Puntarenas. Ballenas is
the home of Heart (of Heart Inverters). His kids run an excellent
bar/restaurant.

I didn't like Puntarenas - good place to get supplies but filthly harbour.

Cocos Island is a national park. Didn't get there but friends gave it a
good rating. Might be a small fee for visiting.

Bahia Cocos is the a nice small town and first legal port of entry when
entering from North. Probably last spot to check out when heading north.
Marina Flamingo nearby for fuel.

Didn't stop in Honduras or Nicaragua on the west coast.

El Salvador - stopped only in La Union. Average town and an o.k. market but
high tides make dinghy rides to shore sometimes challenging. nicer
anchorages available out in the Gulf of Fonseca islands but we didn't have a
good chart so didn't explore.

Have fun. You're sure to do a lot of motoring in the ITCZ from the Canal to
the middle of CR but it's a nice part of the world.


--
Evan Gatehouse

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