Remote and solar powered lodge which you have to take a boat and then catch a horse carriage ride to access the huts and dorms…check. In the spirit of my extreme penny pinching I had Kevin organize and make sure the beach trip which was included in the volcano boarding could serve as our transportation to surfing turtle lodge. Luckily for us Kevin’s Spanish creates vast opportunities and our turtle lodge trip is no exception. The truck loaded with foreigners stopped by El Jardin, Kevin and I jumped out and filled our water bottles, grabbed our bags and hop in the back of the truck and said, vamos! We got jostled around chatting with a Dutch guy about our trip and eventually made it to the beach. After checking maps.me we found out we have a 4km walk to the opposite end of the beach to catch the boat. Again Spanish is gold down here. The drivers took us for free to the other side and we caught a boat for $1. Crossing the lagoon/ocean took about 5 minutes before the horse arrived with a wagon and took our bags and us to the lodge. The first night we had a semi private room and we dropped off our things and explored the tiny place.
The menu sucked but the views and the chill vibes were exactly what we needed. We played chess and then put in our dinner order of chicken wings which came out fried with french fries. I was starving and ate part of Kevin’s meal because he was unsatisfied and wouldn’t have it. So the next morning when we went to order breakfast he went straight to the cooks to order. We even chatted with the owner to be able to get a handful of bananas which only cost us $1 for around 8-10.
We spent our mornings workingout at sunrise and then hitting the ocean to surf. We had the entire ocean to ourselves and although we got tossed around it was a blast. My favorite surf story might be the first day we went surfing. Kevin grabbed a short board and I asked what he was doing. He replied with it can’t be that hard he knows how to snowboard and wake board. I figured I would let his ego be checked once we got into the ocean. We paddled out and I sat up on my board and laughter ensued. Kevin was trying to sit on his board but kept falling off. He yelled over….how do you sit on the board? Balance duh! I switched him boards and just enjoyed watching him try to catch waves and then get scared because some were relatively large. I scouted waves and gave him perfect chances and at mid day we called for a break and decided to start with the short shore waves once they had broke and it was just white wash. This worked much better for teaching and learning and practicing standing up.
Most evenings we waited for the sand to cool and then gathered for mini tournaments of beach volleyball with the group of individuals who were either guest or working at the lodge. Kevin had some amazing dives and serves which pleased the crowd, even I was impressed and thought back to us playing in Switzerland and going to the extreme when we played, leaving covered in sand.
Kevin and I both got time to work on things we enjoy, him his book and me the blog because I got sick and behind and then didn’t have WiFi. Surfing turtle lodge has so much potential and we heard it was a hot spot two years before but the previous riots really made this remote place empty not to mention it isn’t the easiest place to access and that just adds to it’s beauty. I imagined if they had a garden and grew their own food and revamp the menu, continued with the solar and utilized black and grey water this place would be a dream. They could even have nightly bonfires on the beach and nightly game nights to create the family feeling. Either way it is worth the visit and I enjoyed the get away and kick starting Kevin’s love for surfing even if he had to go through an ego check in the ocean.
BrokeonBike 