Dear Puntarenas

1/13/26

I visited you 3 years ago almost to the day.  Though I didn’t articulate it this way, you were a bit like a pre-teen, ugly duckling about to go through puberty and hopefully exit a beautiful swan.  Well, to be candid, you’ve matured some but are still a bit stuck in a pre-pubescent stupor.  I'm a girl dad of 2 wonderful daughters (now 35 and 30), but trust me, the prepubescent stupor stage is tough. Reminds me of a joke.

A teenage girl is on the phone for about 30 minutes when she abruptly hangs up. Her dad says, "wow, that was a short call, you're normally on for 2hrs". She replied, "wrong number".

Here’s an excerpt from the 2023 blog post I wrote back then.

I promised at the beginning that I would report on the good, bad and ugly. Well, Puntarenas has all three. From the good perspective, it has a mild climate, warm ocean breezes, and a fantastic beach with sand incredibly fine and comfortable to walk on that's a beautiful mocha color. On the bad side, the beach and park that stretch along the shoreline for about 2 mi had a significant amount of trash lying about. From the "ugly" perspective, it's a poor village with locals who depend on the cruise traffic for their livelihood and so they were more aggressive than I like. The unfortunate part is the real estate along the shoreline could be some of the most expensive in the world....it is really an idyllic location and just needs some infrastructure.

Well, you’ve definitely matured.  The taxi drivers wanting to sell guided tours were civil, organized, articulate and prepared.  While we still didn’t opt for a taxi tour like we have in the last 2 ports, I think it might have been a good experience.  They were starting at $30 pp, which means we probably could have gotten it for $20.  For 3 hrs, that would have been quite reasonable.  Maybe if we come a 3^rd time, we’ll venture out on this type of excursion. 

And let’s talk trash for a minute.  Not that kind of trash talk.  Real trash.  It was an interesting phenomenon.  I could tell there was a concerted effort to present a cleaner Puntarenas.   Several street sweepers with wheel barrels were working along the curbs where trash and leaves tend to collect.  Bravo.  And the beach was cleaner as public trash bins were now available and they were being used…..a lot.  But no one apparently informed the trash collectors to collect it, so it was overflowing and had been for a while.  “A” for effort but they need to close that loop.

Your people were warm and more engaging than in the past.  On my walk, I was greeted with many “Buenos Dias” and the like, accompanied by a small smile and even eye contact.  You may not agree but as much as we’ve traveled, that cultural shift to greet tourists is the beginning of a better, more prosperous Puntarenas.  The puberty metaphor is a good one, not just in looks but in behavior.  Keep up the good work.  I look forward to reacquainting myself with you in about 5 years.

Warm Regards, Andy

My walk around Puntarenas functioned as my workout today.  In addition to that, I ventured up to the Pickleball court before breakfast to check it out and met Joe, a Romanian Jew, who was waiting for others to show up.   But because it was a port day, no one else came.  So he and I warmed up and then played singles.  I’m new to Pickleball but people tell me I’m pretty good.  Maybe it’s all those years of tennis, racquetball and paddleball.  He beat me 11-5 but in my defense, utilizing just ½ the court for the singles version took some getting used to.  So I’ll add Pickleball to my morning routine.

I also had my first juice from the juice bar.   They run $8-$12 each and they’re fairly small glasses but they’re included in the premier package, so you can order 2 if you like.  I ordered “the cleanse”.  I think it had carrots and cucumbers and turmeric.  It worked.  I think I’ll add that to my daily routine too.  I like that there are healthy options I don’t normally treat myself to at home.   I’ve been to Planet Smoothie one time only.   $16 was a lot to spend for a healthy drink….without alcohol. 

Like many days, today found its own rhythm.  After a light lunch and a much-needed dip in the pool, I began today’s blog entry.  If you don’t blog, please know it’s work.  Good work but nonetheless work.  It takes no less than an hour each day to pull together thoughtful and hopefully interesting entries.  I did the same for the 2023 World Cruise and turned it into a book we LOVE referring back to.  So I know the same effort on 2026 will be worth it, but it’s still work.

Getting 10,000 steps on land in the heat is definitely more taxing than those same steps on a treadmill in the air conditioned, windowed fitness center.  So I found myself around 3:30 wanting a power nap, and so that’s what I did.  Felt great, but later you’ll learn, it didn’t quite extend my evening the way I had hoped it would.

Dinner was good.  I realized I haven’t been taking pics of the food or the menus, so I’ll try to do better.  Most people love that element.  The show was outstanding.  A HIGH ENERGY gentleman named Tom Franek played piano with a comedic twist.  It’s hard to describe exactly as I’ve never seen an act like it before.  I kid you not, he could play complicated, fast songs upside down, backwards, and contorted across the piano.  I’m suspecting he was a child prodigy.  There’s just no other explanation for such super human talent.

Then we went to the Lido deck to experience 80’s night.   Dance music and line dancing to Thriller and such. 

It was fun and lively….but despite the extremely festive and loud atmosphere, I fell asleep on a chaise.  One of the professional dancers noticed and well…there’s a pic of him making fun of me……well deserved.  That even surprised me.  But I’m blessed that I can sleep just about anywhere, and this is proof of that.

Tomorrow’s a sea day and a schedule packed with a fitness class, pickleball, a workout, and 2 different shows in the evening we’ll bounce between after a specialty dinner at the Crown Grill.  I promise to have pictures of THAT meal.  Hasta Manana.