Whale Sharks and Humpbacks with Agua Azul Charters

There have always been a number of things that occur on a weekly basis that remind me why I like living here.  The fact that I can surf any day I want, the ability to go somewhere in nature where I know I won’t see any people if I don’t want to, or the ability to go to work with no traffic are all things that I enjoy in my daily routine.  However, every now and then, a real life altering event seems to occur for me here.  The past two weeks in a row have been no exception.  

I’m gradually working myself into a new hobby which I really enjoy.  It’s not a hobby you can do anywhere in the world, but Costa Rica is one of the best places to try.  Spearfishing has always caught my interest, but I had only previously done it with a pole spear, which is just a straight rod with a spear tip on one end and a rubber band on the other.  I had never really entertained the idea of using a six foot long spear gun like the one I have now.  I certainly never would have gotten into it if there weren’t already a group of guys already doing it here.  Ryan Bombard, the owner of Agua Azul Charters, is a world class spearfisherman from what I can tell so far.  He’s been a huge help in bringing me along and teaching me the correct things to do.  Spearfishing can be much more technical than you might believe.  It can also be somewhat equipment intensive if all you’re used to is your surfboard and leash.  The good news is, Ryan is a distributor for Riffe spearguns, which is one of the top quality outfitters of anything having to do with spearfishing and free diving.  Most of what you purchase up front when buying Riffe will last either for a life time (if you keep up your proper maintenance) or is something that may need to be replaced every couple of years if it’s a smaller piece of the puzzle.  The difference in equipment is unbelievable if you’re accustomed to your run-of-the-mill snorkel gear, and the results it can provide lie within my story.

A week ago we had amazingly clear, blue water off of Guiones bay.  Conditions were fantastic other than the small scale swell that managed to provide enough up and down movement for me to feel queasy for much of the trip.  I’m hoping that Ryan’s new 31’ Fountain that he’ll have here for November will resolve a good bit of that.  Anyhow, the day began like most other fishing days.  We met at the beach around 7:00AM and were dropping off the side of the boat within a half an hour.  The visibility under water was as good as it gets.  Reef fish and spotted eagle rays were all around doing their thing.  It always amazes me as to how little some of these animals care when a human is around.  Sometimes you can even hitch a ride on the giant Mantas if you approach them right.  Today’s ride would be provided by an even bigger ocean dweller, however.

On what I believe was our third spot for the day after stalking the reef for about thirty minutes, I stuck my head above water to orient myself to the boat.  I was lucky to do it when I did, as the captain yelled that there was a Whale Shark by the boat.  I started heading to the boat as quickly as I could, and remember seeing a huge white underbelly hanging down from the opposite side of the boat.  When I got closer, I’m pretty sure the animal felt me coming, as it left that side of the boat and began to swim towards me.  I stopped swimming, not sure how wary it would be of people.  It was a juvenile, and this may very well have been the first time it had ever even seen a person.  It swam right up to me and circled me twice.  The entire time it was close enough to touch, so naturally, that’s what I did.  The animal seemed to spook momentarily, and for a second I thought I had been the cause of it’s departure and knew the other guys in the group who hadn’t gotten back to the boat yet would be angry with me.  Luckily it came right back, and hung around for a good five minutes.  Plenty long enough for all of us to hitch a ride on its back or dorsal fin.  Even though this was a smaller whale shark, it still made me feel very, very insignificant.  I’ll never forget it as long as I live.

So if that wasn’t enough, Capt. Ryan decided we could take out the Zodiac (a small inflatable boat) this past weekend to capitalize on what may have been the last solid day of clear water.  As the rainy season gets going and the river mouths start pumping out brown water similar to Willy Wonka’s chocolate river, it gets very difficult to find areas inshore with suitable visibility.  So we grabbed Erik from the office (to see if he’d enjoy a new sport) and headed out toward the outer reefs.  When we arrived at our second spot, I was the first one in the water.  As soon as my head went under I could hear clicks, whistles and deeper moans.  If I hadn’t seen it on National Geographic all my life, I would have freaked out.  But one thing was certain...I was very close to a very big whale, or multiple whales.  There was a little bit of current at this spot, so I had to kick my way over towards the reef fairly briskly.  The closer I got to it, the louder the sound of the whales.  It almost seemed like the closer I got, the more frequent and excited the sounds became.  Were the whales communicating about me?  With what happened next, I think they were.

Just when I thought things couldn’t get any louder under the water (Ryan and Erik later confirmed that they could hear it above the water in the boat), one of the whales let out a sound so loud that it vibrated my chest cavity in the water.  Two seconds later, a whale rolled over right below me and exposed an enormous white underside.  I had been right on top of them and had no idea!!  The whale that had rolled had been a baby.  I stuck my head out and yelled to the boat that I was right on top of a whale family.  Not more than five seconds later I stuck my head back under and saw the mother whale come up from the bottom within fifteen feet of my face, and breach.  I was absolutely blown away.  As the whale breached, I popped up above the water to watch it’s enormous back part  the waters.  It was a humpback.  If I were to guess the size, it would have had to have been between 60-80 feet.  But it was hard to tell.  It was old enough to have barnacles on its fins, and an eye bigger than my head was round.  She looked right at me on the way to the top, with its calf positioned on the other side of her.  The whole experience lasted not more than twenty seconds, and then they were gone.  We were all pretty awestruck.  I know I was.  Chances are, that will be the only time I stumble upon a couple of Humpback whales and get within that type of close proximity by shear luck.  But then again, I live in Costa Rica, and it seems like this type of thing happens all the time.  At least my track record this month seems to indicate that.

A huge thanks goes out to Capt. Ryan Bombard from Agua Azul Charters for putting us on the spots with the fish (and the whales).  We capped the day off by filling our freezers with meat enough for a few weeks.  I really dig my new hobby. 

You can book your trips for the high season with Agua Azul by contacting us at info@surfingnosara.com.  Ryan also offers rod and reel fishing, both inshore and off.