Top 10 Magical Moments of Living in Costa Rica for 3 Months
Costa Rica offers a spectacular mix of untouched jungles, lush rain forest canopies, and wild coastlines. No shortage of beauty here. Add to that backdrop quaint remote beach towns, wild animal encounters, and easily accessible adventure outlets, and you have a magical mix. There is so much to love in Costa Rica, but let’s start with 10.
1. Most magical mirror beach goes to Esterillos Este. The most stunning beach I’ve ever seen. Ever. At sunset, low tide, the water on the beach is like an expansive mirror. Sky, water, and sand all become one. Collect some sand dollars as small mementos of this magnificent walking on the sky experience. I get the chills remembering that little slice of heaven.
2. Most magical book nook/coffee shop is on the Atlantic side of Costa Rica in Puerto Viejo. Cafe Rico is a place to grab a coffee, a book, a snorkel, a hand painted mug, or a bike. The owner and his Mastiffs are wonderful company in this setting where the walls are books, and the coffee is always ready.
3. Most magical restaurant vibe. Panama takes credit for this next location, but it’s only a short day trip from Costa Rica to Bocas del Toro. The Indalo has a mystique all it’s own. Part Asian influence, part comfy college lounge, we chose the tables out on the pier to watch the sun slip into the bay. At night a dj sets up in front and plays funky eclectic music, that beckons you to stay. Once we found this restaurant we couldn’t stay away.
4. Most magical wild animal encounter, Sloth sightings. These adorable little round faced creatures and their deliberate slow motion arm movements are something bucket list worthy. To see a sloth is to love a sloth. No matter how often it happens, a sloth encounter is one you’ll never forget. This sighting was near Jaco. But if you want to see them really up close and personal, go to the Toucan Rescue Ranch in the suburbs of San Jose.
5. Magical underwater moment happened at Starfish Beach. Playa Estrella is close enough to the Costa Rican border that it’s worth the short trek into Panama to have this experience. The beach was mostly deserted and the starfish were plentiful. Take a snorkel and an underwater camera.
6. Volcano Arenal hot springs are a heavenly soak at the foot of an active volcano. The hours melt away in this mountainous hideaway. There are many hotel and resort options. Ours included zip-lining as well as frog, butterfly, and crocodiles on site.
7. Most magical sky colors. There are sunsets and then there are Tamarindo sunsets. As dusk approaches people gather on the beach to watch the unique sky show of oranges and reds flung across the heavens.
8. The magic of riding the waves for the first time. I’m told there’s nothing quite like getting up on your first time and riding a wave into shore. In Costa Rica there are surf schools everywhere which pride themselves on getting you up on your board the first lesson. And they know how to deliver. Cali was up on her second try and surfed for the rest of her lesson. This is a must, must do!
9. Most magical coffee shop is El Cafetal, at Crocs Resort, Jaco. It’s our home away from home, strong wifi, smooth coffee, smoked salmon and avocado paninis. The baristas are friendly and attentive. The wide variety of international scrumptious desserts, delicious wraps and paninis, and fresh smoothies will keep you coming back over and over again.
10. After travelling around the country for a month, we came back to the first town we visited, Jaco From our balcony directly on the North end of the beach, we can see the surf change from blue to grey, from turquoise to brown. Macaws fly past with bright wings expanded, beach weddings are celebrated, fireworks explode at close range. Jaco is the perfect mix of everything Costa Rica has to offer.
Costa Rica, for me, is the perfect mix of a number of things I’m drawn to when traveling. To me it’s like being in a place like Guatemala, but more livable. It has the Central American culture, but also has great infrastructure like good roads. It does cater to visitors, so you feel safe, people are friendly and not as resentful of your presence in the country, since the infusion of tourist dollars is a key part of their livelihood. The people are extremely warm and helpful, again, not something you will always feel when being an outsider. There are great schools to plug into, a huge ex-pat community, everything you would want, plus the beauty of the culture.
Another thing that is fantastic about Costa Rica is that they care deeply about their environment. The government decided years ago to stop funneling money into a military budget and instead focus on education, general infrastructure, and environmental responsibility. And it shows. The wildlife, pristine landscapes and clean air and water are unmatched anywhere in the world.
I love, love, love Costa Rica. If I were going to live anywhere in Central America, it would be here. We’ll be back.
If you are interested in the travel minutiae, the where and what we did, read on.
Costa Rica was our first stop on our World Trip. In fact, it was the only plane tickets we bought in advance. We booked a condo for a week in the coastal town of Jaco. We weren’t sure how long we would stay, and ended up there for three months. To say we loved it is an understatement. So much of what this country has to offer is addictive, the nature, the friendly people, the ease of getting around.
First we rented a car and drove to the far corners of Costa Rica. The range of what you can do in CR with a car makes it worth the mandatory 1K refundable deposit for renting one. We drove to the Pacific coast and stayed in a beach town called Jaco for a week. Here was the first condo our our trip.
Then went south along the coast through Quepos, Dominical, Manuel Antonio, down to Uvita. In Dominical we rode horses into the rainforest, where some brave souls jumped off waterfalls. We slept in an open tree house in the rainforest and discovered just how large rainforest roaches can get.
Then we drove over the Cardilleros Talamanca mountains over to the Atlantic coast and Puerto Limon. The driver through the mountains was a spectacular! We stayed in a few different rainforests, one with a sloths and toucans outside our window in trees.
On the Atlantic side we drove down to the spectacular wild coastline to Puerto Viejo de Talamanca, a cozy relaxed coastal village. We went to the Jaguar sanctuary, which was interesting despite the fact that it didn’t deliver on the Jaguar part of the equation. From there we had to leave our car and take a shuttle to the border of Panama. In Panama we took a shuttle and boat to the archipelago Bocas del Toro. On the island we stayed in a floating hotel, and took more shuttles and boats to Starfish Island, our ultimate destination in Panama.
We drove up the Atlantic coast back across toward the Pacific coast in the Northern part of the country, through Siquirres, across the Central Mountains and then the Tilaran mountains to La Fortuna, to the Arenal Volcano National Park. There we stayed at the base of an active volcano at a hot springs resort. We went back later in our summer to stay there again.
From the volcano we kept traveling to the Pacific coast through the Guanacaste Mountains and over to the city of Liberia. We wiggled down the Pacific coast to Tamarindo and stayed there for a week. In between Cali’s surfing lessons, we poked around in the Nicoya Peninsula with day trips. That was when we decided to stay for two months in Jaco. Of all the towns we visited, we thought it had what we were looking for, not as affluent and touristy as Tamarindo, but enough so that there are many restaurants we could enjoy, surfing, and an authentic feel that we were looking for. When we travel, we aren’t drawn to a place that feels like home, but rather one that doesn’t, since that’s the point.
We drove back through Puntarenas, saw another great out of the way sanctuary for Macaws, which ironically did have jaguars, and then back to Jaco. In Jaco, we found a great condo on the beach, signed Cali up for school, to help keep her Spanish sharp, Madi found volunteer work, we dug in. We ditched the car and bought beach bikes. Within a short amount of time we had our favorite grocery stores, movie theater, restaurants, surf instructor, and even a church in English where the girls volunteered in the nursery, and the girls had friends. I’m always astounded how quickly any place can feel like home. The girls are pros at making their own happiness wherever we land. Pretty cool life skill.
We ended our three months at another gem we found, called the Toucan Rescue Ranch. It’s a bird and animal sanctuary in the suburbs of San Jose. They have a guest house where you can hear see and hear the nocturnal animals. In the morning you can have your breakfast with the buckets of baby sloth also having theirs. This was one of the highlights of the year. We ended up sponsoring the sloth Millie for a year, Madi’s Christmas present to me. Madi also went back the next summer and volunteered for a month in their clinic. Close by was also the Sibu Chocolate Factory that has the best hot chocolate I’ve ever had. Don’t miss that.
Thank you Costa Rica, we’ll be back.