Punta Franca

We put in a solid day of driving to get to Pedasi. There is one beach on the way that is popular with the residents of David, Las Lajas, so we did a side trip out to have a look. There was not a lot out there. The ocean had that superfine black sand like Aticama, Mexico. The kind that saturates your bathing suit, hair and being. We decided to make the run for Playa Distiladeras in Pedasi.

For most of our travels, we book a lodging ahead of time. Today we were just winging it and seeing where we might end up. We navigated the traffic of Santiago and turned right down the Azuelo Peninsula. Chitre had a moderate population with a bit more traffic, roundabouts and speed traps. It was late in the day when we reached Pedasi, a quaint town with the basics- bank, grocers and a new hospital. It’s an up and coming expat haven. Not as known as Boquete or Coronado.

Our first foray was out to Arenal beach. Fisherman were waiting to offer boat trips. The sea was calm with a soft wind ruffling the surface. There were no places to stay so we continued down the road to Distiladeras. We pulled up to a beautiful beach and looked around. There were sets of condominiums but they seemed empty and lacking life. We drove a bit further and came upon Punta Franca and checked out their rooms.

What a sweet spot up on a bluff overlooking the ocean. PJ loved the deck with open views to the sea. We negotiated a multi-day rate with Andrew, the manager then got ourselves set up in he room. The first night we were invaded by the no mouth land crabs that are ubiquitous in Central America. We finally figured out that they were coming in under the door that was lacking the rubber insulative piece at the bottom. We stuffed in some towels and I evicted the few remaining crustaceans we found and we finally got in some sleep.