We just returned from 2 weeks (Nov 22 – Dec 6) at Club O, and I was debating whether or not to write a trip report. After all, what can I say that hasn’t already been said many times before. But then again, there might be some things in this report that might just add to the wealth of information already out there. I won’t bore you with the mundane day-to-day stuff, just some of the highlights. So here goes …

[color:"blue"] Weather: [/color]
The rains had let up a few days before we got there. The island was lush and green. Other than a few pools of water by the roadside, there was no evidence of the rain of the previous couple of weeks. The first few days of our stay, the weather was hot and humid. As the week progressed, the wind picked up a bit. Towards the end of our stay, the wind was quite strong, but not to the point of sandblasting the beachgoers.

[color:"blue"] Beach: [/color]
Generally, the beach seemed wider than at the same time last year. The first few days, you could not walk along the beach in front of Pedros; it was easier to walk up above beside the restaurant. As the days progressed, it became possible to cross the rocks along the beach. Once again, towards the end of our stay, we had to resort to walking up above. The beach in front of Papagayo had more sand this time than last year. You could walk in front of Papagayo without getting your feet wet (on most days). Further up towards Mt. Vernon, the beach landscape changed almost on a daily basis.

[color:"blue"] Crowds: [/color]
There appeared to be fewer people on the beach than in previous years. Even on a day with 6 cruise ships in town, the number of “cruisers” walking the Club O section of the beach did not seem to be many. The second Thursday there were no ships docked, and Main Street in P’burg was almost deserted.

[color:"blue"] People: [/color]
People are what makes this place a wonderful place to visit. A personal perspective --- as usual it was nice to renew friendships with people we had met in previous years, as well as to make new friends. A couple of folks well known to this board made for memorable moments. At one of the Wine & Cheese evenings, Eric and Carol regaled us with accounts of their recent trip to Tahiti as well as their upcoming trip to Botswana. The latter was of particular interest to us as we are planning a somewhat similar trip. On one of our visits to P’burg, we dropped in to DK Gems to meet Deepti. Now here’s one charming young lady. She spent about a half hour telling us about her family and her business. We came back on another day and bought some necklaces that we found were very fairly priced. She took us to the back of the store where she maintains a “rogues gallery” of TTOL’ers who have visited her store.

[color:"blue"] Next time: [/color]
We went with another couple who didn’t know what “nekkid” was and had never even remotely considered a naturist holiday. After about 2 days, they were talking about the “next time we come here”. Same time next year!



Kevin