Costa Rica!!!
Omg y’all! Costa Rica was not on my radar before this trip, and I have no idea why not! Seth randomly found cheap tickets during his Christmas break from school, so we booked the tickets and then worried about what there is to actually do in Costa Rica! I knew our friends visited for their honeymoon, but other than that, we did little to no research until right before our trip! We actually booked the excursions in the airport before we flew out! But omg Costa Rica farrrr exceeded my exceptions!
we flew in and out of San Jose, and After picking up our rental car (and a sim card super cheap at Walmart), we began the drive to the jungle! We randomly pulled over for a much-needed lunch in San Ramon at a cafe called Chepes. Maybe we were starving, but it was a fabulous meal! Definitely order the mango juice! I could have taken a bath in it! We had decided to spend 3 nights in the Arenal volcano area, and it was Awesome!! We stayed at La Finca Lodge near La Fortuna. We loved it! Our room had a volcano view and a hammock! Like sooo romantic! All the staff members were so helpful and attentive! Highly recommended!
La Fortuna was a cool little town! It was about 30 minutes from the hotel, but close to all the excursions! We found a little organic cafe, which was amazing! I highly recommend the vegan banana bread! Also, eat at a Soda while in Costa Rica! It is a local spot serving traditional food, rice, beans with chicken/pork/beef/fish with a salad and juice. Don’t worry about missing them, they are all over!
While we were in the jungle, we spent the day at the Tabacon spa! It was amazing and so relaxing! We tried to book a massage, but it was all booked up. So I recommend booking more than the day before! But the pools are lovely, and the restaurants and bar are great! Treat yourself to a Pina colada in a pineapple! So bougie and amazing! It was super romantic after dark as well!
One of my favorite things we did while in Costa Rica was an Atv tour through the rainforest! I have past trauma involving an Atv from my childhood, but I dug deep and pulled myself together, and we had the best time! We saw 2 sloths, a poison dart frog, and tons of birds/insects! I teared up when I saw a baby sloth! Literally a dream! It was so fun to get off the beaten path and into the wilderness! Our guides were awesome, and we would never have been able to find our way without them!
Peep the volcano in the background!!!
After the crazy ride, we treated ourselves to a much-needed massage right across from the atv place! We just walked right up and got amazing couples massages and facials for $80! Such a steal for relaxing open-air massages! Like literally the perfect day!
After our time in the Arenal area, we drove toward the Pacific coast. We stopped along the way to see the Rio Celeste waterfall. It was a bit rainy, but the hike was easy and really pretty! The waterfall is massive! Much more dramatic than I was expecting! Sadly, you can’t get really close to the water, but I am sure that is for safety reasons. There were a few park ranger type of people milling about, so it would have been hard to jump the fence. But still cool to see!
We stayed near Tamarindo, and I really liked our hotel; Les Voiles Blanches. It is a bit outside of the town, so it’s kinda a pain since you will have to drive and park in Tamarindo for meals and such, but it is very peaceful. The beach in Tamarindo was not my favorite for sunbathing, but perfect for surfing! I rented a board right in town and surfed one morning. I would definitely recommend going to La Flamingo for a more picturesque beach for sunbathing/sunsets! Las Catalinas is another beautiful secluded beach! Tamarindo also has fantastic food! Pick a type of food, and you will find it there, and it will be fabulous! Sushi, poke, Italian, traditional Costa Rican, Mexican, you name it! I listed our favorites below! Make the drive down to Avellana (20 mins on a gravel road) to go to Il Rustico! It was our favorite spot and will for sure have a Michelin star someday! Such an experience! The Surf Box was my second favorite, so check it out!!!
Other things to note:
Have some cash at all times because there are random tolls or parking charges.
Wear tons of bug spray, but if you are anything like me, you will still get eaten.
We did not have 4 wheel drive on the rental, but it wouldn’t be a bad idea!
We drank the tap water, and we were fine!
Helpful links
To Stay:
https://www.booking.com/hotel/cr/les-voiles-blanches.html
To Eat:
https://www.facebook.com/chepesrestaurante/
Wabi Sabi Sushi
Santa Rita cafe
Shrimp Hole (went here twice)
Antichi Sapori Tamarindo
Surf box (la Flamingo and we went here twice!)
Tamarindo Coffee Roasters
Il Rustico (our fav!!!!)
To do:
