After living here for over three years, I was looking forward to this trip to gaze at the beauty of this region of Guanacaste, via air. The gyrocopter was blue like the sky above us. The pilot did the pre-flight checklist and radioed the area control tower about our take off. Over the intercom, he said, “We’re good to go.”

The last time I was in a helicopter type of aircraft was in my Navy days at Naval Air Station, Meridian, MS. I had the opportunity to fly in the Huey (UH-1N) on several occasions. But this craft was small and slick. Yet there was no fear, for I had every confidence in our pilot’s skills.

We took off and headed toward Brasilito. I saw Huacas, the business center, and then CRIA (Costa Rica International Academy). We flew over my casa at the Village, then over Reserva Conchal, the golf courses and then Brasilito. Mar Vista’s property was amazing to see from the air. 

Of course, soaring over Playa Flamingo gave us a great view of the new marina, the boats anchored in the bay, before turning back south along the coastline.

Manta rays were spotted along with some turtles. Tourists looked up and waved as we returned the greeting. It was neat to see the brown beaches of Brasilito, then the one rock intrusion in the water before viewing the beautiful white shells of Playa Conchal.

We continued flying over a wide stretch of beaches on the way to Playa Grande and then Tamarindo. Before finishing the tour, we descended lower above the estuary to see if any crocodiles could be seen. Today was a “no,” but it was no less amazing to see the almost-untouched beauty of the water, land and lagoon topography.

I’d highly recommend this adventure be added to your bucket list. It’s a higher level of fun and you’ll see the beauty of Costa Rica from a totally different perspective.

Marc Ostendorp: