Costa Rica 2014

We spent a week in Costa Rica, which was not so much "celebrate my retirement" as "trigger my retirement". We'd tentatively reserved the bungalow for 2014 before we left the hotel during the 2013 trip, so the dates didn't have anything to do with my retirement plans; however, when I had to set a specific date for my last day of work, I said "You know, when I came back from vacation last time, I didn't want to have to go back to work. This time, let's not go back to work."
Costa Rica this time, compared to last time, was less exciting, less adventurous, more relaxed. We knew where stuff was and how it worked. We mostly stayed at the hotel, or on the beach, or walked into town and looked around.
Three adventures we did have: the Pacific, snorkeling, and kayaking.

• On one of the days we walked west along the beach and around the point; somewhere in there, we passed from "Tamarindo Bay" to "Pacific Ocean". I went out on the rocks to where the waves were crashing in, and it was just the same as it was on the bay side--except this was the PACIFIC OCEAN and the nearest land in that direction was Hawaii.
• We took a four hour snorkeling excursion with six other people, taking a boat north quite a ways--I believe it was to Playa Prieta. We saw a devilfish jump entirely out of the water; we saw several sea snakes, including one that got closer than I was really happy with; and one of our party saw a small white-tipped shark. And of course there were the usual abundance of tropical fish, from eighteen inches long down to tiny darting gold flecks. One key point: "snorkeling" is another word for "laying face down in the sun for hours, not realizing how burnt you're getting." 
• We took a kayak out to el Capitan. It was a bit nerve wracking because you have to go at an angle to the waves, instead of bow on, and I was worried about us rolling over. We made it, though, and beached on the islet. On the near side, there are millions of shells and fragments, and hermit crabs creeping about. On the seaward side, there's nothing but volcanic rock, swept clean by the waves. Just a few feet from the ocean, though, there's a tide pool about ten feet long and seven feet deep; it shelters some fish and a colony of spiny urchins, dark burgundy in color and about the size of a lemon.