Well, more damp than bone-dry, as BRANDI MUELLER adds time with the wildlife of the rainforest to days spent diving on Costa Rica’s spectacular Pacific coast

Opposite page: Dive-boat headed for Bat Island with Rocket Frog Divers.

OFTEN THE DILEMMA of the diver is based on obsession with diving. I fall into this category while planning adventures to far-flung locations. Diving becomes my sole purpose and sometimes I forget about the magic that can be found above water.

A land tour might be done on the last day before flying, but rarely do I find myself on trips with an equal balance of aqua and terra.

It can also be hard to co-ordinate everything into one trip. The planning can be a nightmare: what’s worth seeing, what isn’t? How long does it really take to get from A to B (and C, D and E)?

How does one reach all the important places without being gone for months?

And what do I do with all my luggage?

Enter Bill Beard’s Costa Rica. The opportunity of seeing the best of everything Costa Rica offered above and below intrigued me.

Someone else was going to plan a multi-activity trip for me? Yes, please!

Bill Beard was one of the first scubadivers in Costa Rica, developing the industry there from 50 years ago. After

a few emails I was sent an itinerary that of course began with diving but took in zip-lining, canopy walks, bird-watching (I desperately wanted to see a quetzal), waterfalls and more, all in nine days.

It was ambitious, and I could never have planned all that with my limited knowledge of the country.

It has both Pacific and Caribbean coasts, though heading east to the latter coast would not form part of this particular trip.

I started out on a sunny morning, admiring birds and roadside strawberry stands as the car twisted and turned on an easy tour to Volcan Poas and a waterfall, just outside San Jose.

Above, clockwise from top: Sting ray and friends,

which included many pufferfish;

moray eel with cleanerfish; seven whitetip reef sharks.

Below left: Monkey Island.

Next morning Jose, my driver, arrived to take me to the Guanacaste province on the Pacific Coast to dive. At one point he asked if I was in a hurry (I wasn’t) and he pulled over to show me a tree filled with macaws. We saw both the scarlet and the great green varieties found in the country.