Yachts International — July-August 2017

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photos by diego mejias | photoprocr.com

“My strategy is, let’s get the owners down here and

show them the destination, so they’ll be comfortable

leaving their boats here,” he says.

And crew will get comfortable understanding how

easy it can be to show guests a good time, Ofer says.

Compared with other destinations he has visited, he

says, Costa Rica offers easy access to everything.

“Stepping off your boat anywhere along the coast is

an amazing experience,” he says. “You can do all the

land activities without having to go on a three-hour

tour. It’s awesome. You can sea kayak from your boat

to a jungle and see wildlife, or do horseback riding

on the beach, or see turtles nesting. It’s accessible.

It’s easy.”

One of the signature experiences that Ofer shows

yacht owners (and hopes to someday show charter

clients, too) is an encounter with mega-pods of spin-

ner dolphins. Even for him, after all he’s seen around

the world, this Costa Rica opportunity remains a

favorite.

“These are thousands of dolphins in one pod, many

pods at once,” he says. “They’re the most playful thing

you can find. So we park the yachts right there in the

middle of the ocean, and the guests are swimming

with thousands of dolphins. You can do it snorkeling

or with Seabobs or scuba gear or just hanging behind

a tender. You can sit on a tender and watch as they

jump out of the water. It feels like a circus. They’re

jumping up and down and making noises, and you

can sometimes see them all the way to the horizon.

People say, Wow! And they laugh and they scream

and they take pictures and they want to jump in the

water as quickly as they can. It’s sheer, raw, natural

excitement.”

For more information: origenescapes.com

Top: Diving off Costa

Rica is nothing short of

spectacular. The underwater

volcanic rock formations

and corals are a magnet

for sea life. above: Large

stingrays are a common

sight in the waters of

Costa Rica. righT: Rising to

5,437 feet—high above the

rest of the countryside—

the almost perfectly

symmetrical Arenal Volcano

is a sightseer’s dream, with

an abundance of outdoor

activities to check off on

your Costa Rica ‘must-do’

list.

deSTinATiOnS