Costa Rica

Costa Rica may be a well established destination on the tourist trail, but the Nicoya Peninsula is still very much the country’s own Wild Wild West. Lucky for us, what started off as a transportation nightmare led us to discover our favorite beach on Costa Rica’s Pacific coast: Samara Beach.

Why Visit Samara Beach?

We had no plans to visit Samara Beach. Sure, it was suggested in the guidebooks like countless other Costa Rican beaches. However, despite naysayers’ warnings that efforts to traverse the entire peninsula by bus would prove futile, our plan was to get from Playa del Coco in the north down to the popular, once-isolated beach town of Montezuma on the very southern tip of the Nicoya. We pushed along all the way to the sleepy, scorchingly hot inland city of Nicoya, the peninsula’s namesake, before realizing, weary and dusty from an already long afternoon of bus travel, that there was indeed no way to get down to Montezuma without paying a private taxi $120 to make the remaining five-hour, tire-busting trip. After chatting to several very helpful taxi drivers and a group of American language students on their way back to Samara Beach after a trekking adventure, we spontaneously decided to join our fellow ‘gringos’. The next bus to Samara Beach left just thirty minutes later and arrived within an hour.

As soon as we arrived, we were enchanted by the beauty of the beach from the start. We basked in the late afternoon sun, admiring the tropical palm trees which line the miles of wide, white sand beach. The town itself is really only a collection of hotels and restaurants along one road perpendicular to the coast and a smattering of hotels and beach lounges on the beach.

Despite the well-developed tourism here, this beautiful beach location is noticeably absent of all-inclusive resorts, and the tourists here are different than the older retirees of Playa del Coco or aging hippies at Montezuma, populated instead by younger couples and smart travelers looking to escape all of that.

The area is certainly almost exclusively populated by tourists, ex-pats and locals working in tourism, but Samara Beach does not feel contrived the way that many Costa Rican destinations have now begun to feel. There are no chain hotels, no fast food restaurants, and no multi-story buildings. When you look back at the land from the water, the buildings peek out from amongst lush jungle and striking cliffs. The best thing about Samara is that the endless amount of sandy beaches always feels  fairly empty, no matter how full the hotels actually are.

The ocean here is shallow, and the waves are present enough to learn to surf but unforgiving enough to enjoy a day splashing around in them, not the case in many locations up and down the Pacific coast from Mexico through Nicaragua (exception: San Juan del Sur). After a day in the waves, there are sunset beach lounges with mellow music, creative cocktails and international cuisine. The magical sunsets during our stay turned the sky various shades of purple and pink, causing a wall of bikini-clad amateur paparazzi to form, trying to capture the stunning scenery.Even though there are quite a lot of international (mostly American) tourists, Samara Beach still manages to feel like an off-the-beaten-path location – which, of course, the town is not. Visitors here can surf, kayak, take a boat ride, book a sport-fishing trip, go diving, head inland to the jungle nearby for canopy tours, or rent a bicycle or hop on a horse and ride up and down the miles of deserted coastline. Samara Beach even advertises itself as a key spot for destination weddings.

The hotels remain reasonably priced, although budget accommodation in Samara Beach, as in Costa Rica in general, is harder to come by. We stayed at Casa Valeria, which Frommers called the best budget option on the beach back then. The hotel has 9 stand alone beach bungalows for $50 and a pair of cheaper rooms for $30. (Note: Casa Valaeria is still around, I found a standard room including breakfast for $38 on Booking.com in 2019, but I do think that there are now newer, better options in town.)

There is a new hostel in town, Hostel Matilori, which cost around $16 per person per night in a dorm or $40 in a private room – the advantage to the bungalows and other hotels is that the hostel has two shared kitchens. (Update 2019: The hostel is not so new anymore, but still has great reviews. You can book it here.)

Samara Beach is the Costa Rican vacation we really wanted, fulfilling perfectly the image still being sold in the travel brochures. The level of tourism here makes for the perfect peaceful escape – all of the organization you need and none of the banana-boat and disco clubs you don’t. The problem with Samara Beach is that it is at its tipping point, and while the balance is now is perfect, more tourists arriving each year might convert the place into another overly Americanized beach like Montezuma, Playa del Coco or Jaco Beach (lined with Quiznos and Pizza Huts).

This is why we beg you…please don’t go to Samara Beach. But if you do go, which you really should, please don’t tell anyone else about this perfect Costa Rican beach location.

Practical information for visiting Samara Beach

How to get to Samara Beach

The closest airport is Liberia (about 2 hours by car from Samara), but you can also fly into San Jose and get to Samara by car (4 hours) or bus (about 5 hours). A taxi from Liberia airport is between US$50 and US$60. Important: Negotiate the fare before you get in the cab!

To Samara Beach by bus: You can take a bus from San Jose or Liberia to Nicoya, and then change onto a bus to Samara. The bus company that runs from Nicoya to Samara is called Empresa Rojas. It takes about 90 minutes to get from Nicoya to Samara.

Alfaro express buses go directly from San José daily at noon from Avenida 5 between calles 14 and 16. The trip takes 5 hours; check here for current timetables and fares (2017 fare: ₡4,395/ US$7.95). 2019 fare: ₡4.470 / US$7.97)

To Samara Beach by car: You can rent a car right at the airport in both San Jose and Liberia. The roads are simple country roads but okay to drive on. If you don’t want to drive all the way to Samara from San Jose but would like to have a car to explore more of the Nicoya Peninsula – you can also rent a car in Samara.

Where to stay in Samara

Budget:

• Las Mariposas – hostel right on the beach, private single rooms from US$35, doubles from US$40, dorm bed US$15 – review score 8.5
• Woodstock Hostel – close to the beach, but further away from the center. Double room US$31, dorm bed US$15. Review Score 8.9
• Oasis – 2-bedroom house right on the beach from US$35. Review score 8.9
  
• Hostel El Dorado – double room for US$40, review score 8.6

Value:

• Sunset Chillout Bed & Breakfast – triple room from US$60 (incl breakfast) – review score 9.6
• Hotel Entre Dos Aguas – hotel with pool. standard double room from US$60. Review score 8.9
• Hotel Belvedere – hotel with pool. spacious rooms from US$65. Review score 9.4
• Hotel Paraiso del Cocodrilo – a bit away from the beach in a jungle setting. rooms from US$65, apartments from US$75. Review score 9.0
• Villas Tangerine – Bed & Breakfast right on the beach, doubles start at US$70 incl breakfast. Review score 9.0
• Samara Palm Lodge – hotel with pool, 6 min walk to the beach. Doubles from US$75. Review score 9.6
• Hotel Samara Inn – $76 including breakfast. Review score 8.7
• Good Life Lodge – $85 for a double room. Review score 9.8

Splurge:

• Samara Chillout Lodge – New adults-only boutique hotel in a quiet area away from the beach. Rooms from US$95. Review score 9.5
• Las Perlitas – Beautifully decorated hotel with pool in the center of Samara, doubles from US$99 incl breakfast. Review score 9.5
• Hotel Leyenda – Small hotel with beautiful swimming pools and gardens. Doubles from US$99 including breakfast. Review score 9.1
• Hotel Samara Paraiso – small hotel with swimming pool near Izquierda Beach. Apartments and bungalows from around US$120. Review score 9.4
• Colina Del Mar – Intimate hotel away from the beach on a hillside, stunning nature setting. Small swimming pool. Rooms from around US$149 including breakfast. Review score 9.3
• Nammbu Beach Front Bungalows – Playa Carillo. My favorite beach just south of Samara – if you want complete serenity, this small boutique hotel is for you. Rooms from US$150
• la isla que no hay – Two bedroom house in the center of Samara from US$199 per night (sleeps 4 people), swimming pool. Review score 8.9
• The Hideaway Hotel – on the far southern end of the beach, between Samara and Playa Carillo. Swimming pool and on-site restaurant. Double rooms start at US$278 – review score 9.1

Airbnb’s in Samara Beach

Check out Airbnb homes in Samara by clicking on the map below. There are also Experiences, i.e. tours run by locals, that you can book via Airbnb.

Where to eat in Samara Beach

There are several inexpensive sodas, local restaurants in Samara. These simple restaurants serve up Costa Rica’s main dish: casado. A casado usually includes your choice of beef, chicken, pork or fish, rice and beans, salad, a vegetable side dish, and fried plantains. Vegetarians can ask for fresh cheese or eggs instead of meat. A casado is between US$4 and US$6.
Other places worth checking out:

• Samara Organics MercadoCafe (Natural Center, in front of Gusto Beach Restaurant, Sámara, 50205, Costa Rica)
• Ahora Si! (Samara’s first vegetarian restaurant)
• Bohemia Cafe (great breakfasts, smoothies and light fare in the center of town)
• Lo Que Hay (Mexican restaurant right on the beach)
• Luv Burgers (Vegetarian Burgers)
• Restaurant Giada (Italian restaurant right in the center of town, look for Hotel Giada on Main Street)
• Roots Bakery & Cafe (Fantastic bakery /coffee shop / breakfast place in town. Near Hotel Giada)
• El Lagarto (Best place in Samara for steaks, barbecue and seafood)

Afterword: I first visited Samara Beach in 2011, and I have gotten many emails from readers over the past few years asking me if Samara “was over”. i.e. if it had been discovered by mainstream tourism. After a short return in 2012, I finally returned to Samara this past winter and I am happy to report that I found the exact same tranquil beach paradise that I found when I first ended up in Samara nearly a decade ago.

A few years ago I would have answered the question of safety in Costa Rica with a sound YES, but after my latest trip at the end of 2018, I feel a little bit more wary about wholeheartedly recommending Costa Rica as a travel destination – especially to a solo female traveler – than I would have when I visited Costa Rica for the first time, as part of a Central America backpacking trip in 2011, and then again for a two-month housesit in a seaside villa in 2012.

My experiences traveling Costa Rica

The first time I visited Costa Rica, I entered the country overland from Nicaragua, having just traveled through Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala. I had sketchy moments in all of those countries, including gunshots outside the hotel I was locked up in in Honduras’ capital Tegucigalpa, an attempted bag slashing in Guatemala, and a being told to put my guidebook away in San Salvador, to not clearly out myself as a tourist.

Back then, arriving in Costa Rica after traveling through several poor and politically unstable countries felt like arriving in North America. Just a few miles south of the border we were able to drink the tap water again, there were hot showers, ATMs abound, and American hotel and restaurant chains including Hard Rock Café and Taco Bell. While I had always felt a little tense and ‘on guard’ while traveling through Costa Rica’s neighboring countries to the north, this tension immediately eased and I started to let my guard down. Costa Rica felt so much safer than the rest of Central America!

When I revisited the country a couple of months ago for a 3-week road trip, I didn’t feel as safe, however. I was already more vigilant and aware of my surroundings, and I had bought travel insurance before the trip. My pre-trip research had led me to several Tripadvisor forum threats and articles about tourists getting their rental cars broken in, armed robberies, tourists raped and two female tourists were raped and murdered just a few months before my visit. In January 2018, an entire tourist bus was robbed at gunpoint on the Caribbean Coast – something that you usually only hear happening in Guatemala or Nicaragua. There had been enough incidents in Costa Rica recently for the UK to publish a travel advisory.

And as my Costa Rica trip was coming to an end, news of a female tourist that had gone missing slowly broke. As I returned to the U.S., I watched the story of the missing girl unfold, which eventually turned into the horrible news of the third female tourist murdered in Costa Rica in 2018. It was her last night in the country, and she was supposed to fly back to Florida the next day, spending only one night by herself in an Airbnb after vacationing with her sister-in-law. She wasn’t even a solo traveler, just one night by herself after a girls trip that should’ve been her birthday trip, just as this was my birthday trip, too.

Is Costa Rica becoming too dangerous for female travelers? asked The Costa Rica Star a few days ago, stating that all of the female travelers who were killed while vacationing in Costa Rica “were seasoned, well-traveled females, who nonetheless wound up as victims of murderers and predators.”

I know that a lot of travelers, especially female travelers, will now rethink their travel plans to Costa Rica, which is why I wanted to talk about my own experiences traveling Costa Rica and how safe I felt there, and also share some safety travel tips for Costa Rica with you.

It is difficult for me to say ‘Go to Costa Rica anyway!’ or ‘Stay away from Costa Rica’. Because I myself have traveled to several countries or cities where other travelers had bad experiences, but I personally had a great time. In Ecuador, I went to a beach town where two female travelers from Argentina had been murdered the year before. I visited to Koh Tao, which had made news for several tourist murders. I traveled to Colombia on my own after reading a fellow female traveler’s horror story of getting robbed at gunpoint. And that trip turned out to be one of my best trips of all time.

While I feel that the murders in Costa Rica are still isolated cases (they were not connected to another), I don’t think they should be completely left out of the picture when planning a trip to Costa Rica – no matter if it’s solo, on a girls trip or with a boyfriend. I strongly recommend to take safety precautions if you are planning to travel by yourself, look through travel forums on TripAdvisor or Lonely Planet to find the most recent safety information.

Before sharing some safety tips, I wanted to point out that you should take into consideration that crime is not the only safety issue in Costa Rica – there are a number of non-crime related safety issues in Costa Rica, that you should consider, too:

Natural hazards in Costa Rica

VOLCANO ERUPTION: Costa Rica is home to five active volcanoes and over 200 dormant volcanic structures, and volcanic eruptions are a common occurrence. It is rare that people die during an eruption, but it has happened, and an eruption can effect your trip and the places you’re able to visit.

EARTHQUAKES: Costa Rica is also sitting on the edge of the Pacific Rim’s Ring Of Fire which means earthquakes are common. I myself have experienced several earthquakes in Costa Rica, which is not a pleasant experience, and again, can affect your trip if roads and other infrastructure are damaged during an earthquake.

MONSOON RAIN: Monsoon rains are quite intense in Costa Rica, and in 2018 they led to several fatalities involving tourists. A newly-wed man who was on his honeymoon with his wife was swept away and died when the couple got caught in a flash flood, and four Americans, part of a 13-people bachelor weekend, drowned when they went rafting in a river that turned into a deadly torrent after heavy rains.

Monsoon rains can also affect your trip if they cause travel delays, landslides that cause road closures, and limited activities, so make sure to check the weather for the month you’re planning to visit. July – October are usually the rainiest months, but this year, it rained well into November, which made driving during our road trip dangerous at times.

Crocodiles

Believe it or not, but Costa Rica takes the #3 spot in the ranking of countries where tourists are likely to be attacked / bitten by a crocodile, according to a nature guide I took a tour with on this last trip. We encountered crocodiles in several locations, including a close encounter in the swamps of Cahuita National Park. There has been a growing number of crocodiles in recent year, so don’t underestimate their speed and how close you can get to them. Crocodile sightings on popular surf beaches have also increased.

Safety advice in Costa Rica

Looking at the bigger picture, I think that natural hazards are much more prevalent than crime, especially murder and rape, and tourist-targeted crimes in general, but be aware that petty theft and pickpocketing are not uncommon in Costa Rica.

Here are some safety tips for Costa Rica:

Avoid carrying lots of cash

Since pickpocketing can happen, especially when you take buses around the country or in San Jose, I’d advice you to not carry around too much cash, and while traveling in between cities, have it in a safe place on your body (I am using both a money belt and pickpocket-proof tanktops with hidden pockets). Have your cash in several places, not just one.

Debit / Credit Cards

Costa Rica has become much more receptive to card payments since my last visit – take advantage of that and don’t carry around hundreds of dollars in cash. If you lose your debit or credit card, you can cancel them quickly, but if you lose $500 in cash, you won’t get them back.

Valuables

This should go without saying, but don’t flash your valuables. An iPhone, a tablet or an expensive digital camera are very attractive to a lot of people, especially those living in small beach towns without access to the newest gadgets or the funds to buy them. Don’t leave your valuables out of sight when you’re at the beach, and have your backpack always on you when you travel on buses, don’t ever put them in the overhead compartment.

Thieves are very clever and if you are approached by someone and something feels off, it might be a spiel to distract you so that they can get to your valuables.

Taxis

There are plenty of unofficial taxis in Costa Rica – if you do take taxis, make sure that you take an official taxi (including the airport!). Taxi robberies have occurred in Costa Rica.

Rental Car Theft

Car break-ins are anything but uncommon in Costa Rica, so make sure to never leave any valuables in your car, even when you’re leaving the car only for a short while. If you are in transit and stop for a meal somewhere along the way, I recommend covering your suitcases or using a manned car park.

Travel Insurance

After having our beach bungalow broken into in Colombia a couple of years ago, I have become much more diligent about buying travel insurance. Better safe than sorry. Make sure to take down serial numbers of all the electronics you’re bringing to Costa Rica (tablet, camera, phone, etc) – most insurance companies require the serial numbers if you file a claim.

Adventure Travel Activities

Since Costa Rica is known as an adventure travel destination, make sure that the insurance package you purchase covers the activities you’re planning to do. After carefully reading the small print of the insurance company I usually use, WorldNomads, I noticed that ziplining, snorkeling, tubing and white water rafting were covered under their Standard package, but diving and abseiling were only covered in the more expensive Explorer package. Check beforehand if you need additional coverage for the activities you’re planning to do.

Safety tips for solo female travelers in Costa Rica

Trust your instincts

First and foremost, always follow your instincts. If something feels off, you are most likely right about it. The sad thing is that Stefanie, the girl that was murdered in Costa Rica last month, knew something wasn’t right and texted her friend that the place she was staying at felt sketchy – but it was too late. If you feel uncomfortable in a hostel or Airbnb, leave. That goes especially for remote bungalows and cabins.

Inform people of your whereabouts

I have to admit that I am particularly bad with this when I travel alone – I visited a remote village in the Amazon, a 2-hour boat ride away from the closest town, and without any internet or cell phone network, without telling anyone, and jumped on the back of a motorcycle with a stranger not once but twice in the Philippines – without telling anyone. I’ve gotten better with informing people where I am and what activities I’m doing, and I have also started using my cell phones location services – see below.

Use your smartphone’s location services

This is a great way for people to locate you should you go missing or get hurt during a hike, unable to move. Most people dislike these services and don’t want the  tech companies that use location services, but for safety reasons while traveling alone they can be useful, and my family is always relieved when they can spot me on the map somewhere. The New York Times published a useful article last year when and when not to use location services on your smartphone.

Know basic self defense moves

If you do travel alone, it doesn’t hurt knowing some basic self defense moves, and be it something basic like how to use your key as a weapon, in case of an attack. It is sad that we live in a world where we always have to be alert, and even though I find that most people are good, I can’t deny that there are bad people in the world and again – better safe than sorry. If you cannot afford a self-defense class, check out these videos on Youtube:  

• 5 Self-Defense Moves Every Woman Should Know
• Simple Self Defense Moves You Should Know

Airbnb vs Hotel / Hostel

Considering that the last girl murdered in Costa Rica was staying in an Airbnb – and in a seemingly safe one, in a gated apartment complex with a security guard (who turned out to be a sexual predator / her killer), I’m a bit cautious about recommending Airbnb’s to solo travelers right now, even though I myself stayed in one (an easily accessible beach bungalow without security guard, cameras, etc) and had no problems whatsoever. If you do prefer vacation rentals over hotels, just make sure to read the description and reviews carefully and only book a place that you feel 100% comfortable with. And if you get there and things don’t look as expected or / and you’re feeling uneasy – don’t be afraid to leave early. Remember that hotels and hostels do have the advantage of having a receptionist / staff around, which might give you more piece of mind than the solitude that comes with an Airbnb.

Do your research

A quick Google search is the first thing I always do when I travel somewhere – and even just putting ‘Costa Rica’ into the search box and clicking on the ‘NEWS’ tab will show you recent events in Costa Rica. Many things like crocodile attacks or earthquakes don’t make international news, and even the most recent murder, which made news in the U.S. because the girl was a U.S. citizen, wasn’t reported in Europe. If you google the specific place you’re planning to visit, you’ll get more detailed news about that town, and I also recommend reading forums like Tripadvisor’s for the latest travel news. When I traveled around Colombia, where I felt a little uneasy in the beginning, I also always talked to other solo travelers, asking them about their experiences and how safe they felt on buses, etc.

Be cautious when venturing off the beaten path

If you are like me, you want to get off the beaten path, but if you are a solo traveler, keep in mind that safety is a bigger issue than it is for solo male travelers. If you are planning to visit lesser popular places such as Tortuguero (where one female tourist was murdered in 2018) or the Osa Peninsula, try to find another traveler to team up with. If you feel confident traveling alone, remember to inform someone of your plans.

Don’t visit the beach alone at night

…and also not with someone you just met. The female traveler who was killed in Santa Teresa, a popular surf spot on the Pacific coast, was walking the beach with another female traveler when the women were attacked by two men (the other girl was able to escape).

In Puerto Viejo, the main tourist hot spot on the Caribbean coast, we were offered drugs on a daily basis, and some of the guys who tried to sell us drugs seemed rather sketchy. In December 2018, a male photographer was murdered at night on the beach in Puerto Viejo when he got up early to photograph the sunrise.

Is it safe to travel in Costa Rica?

So, would I say it is safe to travel in Costa Rica? I still think that Costa Rica is still the safest country in Central America, and I don’t think you should be put off by the recent murders, which are, as I mentioned before, still isolated cases. It is important, however, to be aware of the fact that crime and yes, even murder, do exist in Costa Rica, and to always be on guard.

I personally was more afraid of the natural hazards that I listed, but because I was aware of the recent tourist murders, I was much more aware of my surroundings when I went for solo runs on the beach (the Spanish girl murdered in August 2018 in Tortuguero was killed while out on a run) or when I stayed in a beach bungalow without a proper gate.

That said: Did I have an amazing vacation? Absolutely. Would I go back to Costa Rica? In a heartbeat!

Remember that nearly 3 million people travel to Costa Rica every year, and the number of tourists affected by crime or accidents is diminutive, considering how many travelers the country welcomes every year.

Tourism is a huge part of Costa Rica’s economy, so the government does as much as possible to keep the country and especially foreign visitors safe. There’s an entire section of the police dedicated to tourists, and after the recent tourist murders, police presence was increased in popular tourist destinations. As I mentioned above – natural hazards or theft or an accident are probably more likely to happen on a trip to Costa Rica than assault or murder, so make sure to research the right travel insurance for you.

Is Costa Rica safe? Further reading:

Here are some great articles and websites I found while I was researching this article:

• Stay Safe in Costa Rica | WikiTravel
• Travel Advisory | U.S. Embassy in Costa Rica
• Costa Rica 2018 Crime & Safety Report
• Tourist’s killing shakes Costa Rica’s reputation as a safe travel destination | CNN

A trip to Costa Rica is about spotting incredible wildlife, surfing perfect waves and soaking up the sun and the capital does not reflect the wonders that the rest of the country has to offer. San Jose lacks the colonial charm of other Central American cities and unfortunately fails to fill the space with a modern, chic vibe. The result is a practical city that most travelers use to transfer in and out of on their way to the beaches, volcanoes and the airport. But sitting up on the roof terrace at Casa 69, watching the lights twinkle out and up into the mountains beyond the city managed to make even San Jose feel pretty magical.Day and night, Casa 69 Bed and Breakfast feels like a refuge from the city and feels more like a home than a hotel.  Entering the yellow walled property through a blue metal door off a side alley puts guests straight on a walkway in what feels like a lush green jungle garden, and leads into a living room with a large L-shaped couch and arm chairs to sink into, a big TV and a computer and a printer as though in someone’s private home. Across the hall there is a dining room with a dark wood table and shelves with maps, pamphlets and guide books. The check-in is in here, at what is the kitchen counter. The breakfast nook is cosy, bright yellow room where from 7-10am, the breakfast of coffee, tea, bread, butter, jam and fruits is served each morning. Heartier breakfast meals are available for around $5 each.

Our room was all the way up at the top on the roof, and we had those great mountain views from our bed. The black and white comforter and sequin pillows felt a little flamboyant (I go for big fluffy pillows and gluttonous amounts of comfort) but the king-size bed felt amazing after a long travel day. While the room extends that feeling of staying at a ‘friends’ house, the en-suite bathroom brings value to the room, with its recently renovated feel, excellent shower, pedestal sink, great use of space and crisp, clean design. The hotel’s Wi-Fi wasn’t great though. It works best nearest the router, which means some rooms get a great signal, others get none. Ours was intermittent at best.

Looking out at the city beyond, watching the thick rain clouds pour over the mountains in the afternoon and clear up by night fall feels great, though at some point the intense coils of sharp metal wire and wrought iron bars bring back the reality of the city beyond the walls of the hotel. San Jose is not a particularly dangerous place, and we felt perfectly safe walking into central San Jose to the Paseo Colon pedestrian area, a 20 minute walk from the hotel passing  the national museum, a tourist market, churches and restaurants along the way. Casa 69 is just across from the Nicaraguan embassy, a minute from an Irish rock pub, and around the corner from a typical Costa Rican ‘soda’ serving up typical Tico food and a Pizza Hut for travelers in need of fast and easy comfort food.

We left at 5am the next morning and the night manager was up and happy to call us a cab, just as had been promised the night before. This was the first gay-owned B&B we had stayed at in Central America, and we were impressed with what a well-oiled machine it is, with friendly owners and staff all around, plus several cats and puppies to warm even the coldest of hearts.

Stand Out Feature: King Size Bed

This isn’t the most original, and honestly, the rooftop views are pretty stellar. But the large bed was unexpected and felt extravagant. It is also comforting to know about a dependable, comfortable place to stay in San Jose for all those times we transfer through this major travel hub.

Room for Improvement: Security and a suggestion

Our rooftop room had sliding glass doors, which were great for floor to ceiling views, and then a wrought iron gate which closed and locked in front of the doors. But the sliding glass door itself did not lock and could easily be opened. Granted, a thief would have be pretty wiry to get in under the last wrought iron bar and into the room, plus pretty sneaky to make it into the house, through the living room, kitchen, up three flights of stairs and to that door to begin with, but I want my door to lock no matter what.

A second suggestion is regarding the breakfast element of the Bed & Breakfast. The nature of travel to San Jose means that many guests are likely up and on their way to a bus or the airport before the 7am breakfast time. The owners knew we were leaving early and a couple had left the day before at 4:30am. Because breakfast is included in the room rate, I’d like to see Casa 69 (and all B&Bs for that matter) up their game a bit and offer a takeaway breakfast bag with a bit of bread and butter/jam and a coffee to go.

Overall: Casa 69 in San Jose

Casa 69 is a friendly, stable spot to stay in San Jose, perfect for arriving to or leaving from for long flights or bus rides and a stay of a week or so would allow guests a sense of home in the Costa Rican capital.

Location: Casa 69,  69 calle 25 , Barrio California, San Jose (80 meters south of the Embassy of Nicaragua, yellow house, right hand, house # 69)
Price: Starting at $45.00; breakfast included
LGBT Friendly: Definitely (gay-owned)
Digital Nomad Friendly: Iffy – Wi-Fi connection better downstairs
Amenities: Free wi-fi, complimentary breakfast, rooftop terrace with sun chairs, patio and big lounge room on the ground floor
Website: www.casa69.com Casa 69 on Facebook

Montezuma is easily one of Costa Rica’s most beautiful beaches, but our love affair effectively ended after spending three days there in February 2011. This can not be attributed to the ten-month build-up or overly-high expectations, and while I’d like to blame the rose-colored glasses of youth, it’s not that either. Montezuma has changed…and we don’t want the same things out of life anymore.

It all started in 1999, during my Junior year in college, when I studied abroad for a year in Heredia, an hour outside of San Jose, Costa Rica – a decision that would forever change the course of my life. During that inspirational year, a close-knit group of twenty or so friends traveled throughout the country together every weekend, and we particularly fell in love with Montezuma, near the tip of the Nicoya peninsula on the Pacific coast.

Back then, two perpendicular streets and the corner they formed made up the sleepy beach town, which was lovingly nicknamed ‘Montefuma’ by the free-spirited Argentine hippies, Afro-Caribbeans selling jewelry and old drunken British/American tattooed sailor types who had all settled here. For a group made up of fairly privileged middle class American college kids, losing ourselves in conversations with people living such alternative lifestyles made us feel out of our element and very much alive.

A gem itself, the tiny town is really the entry way for a string of stunning, deserted beaches, each one completely different to the next: one might be a small cove filled with colorful pebbles and water crashing violently against giant black rocks, and around the next curve, a stretch of long, wide beach with shallow water and gentle waves provide perfect surfing.

Everyone who ended up here was instantly drawn in to the collective desire to say Damn the Man and live freely on this beach, laying out by day and drinking beer at Chicos, the only bar in town, by night. With the exception of eating at a few cheap sodas (small typical Costa Rican restaurants), we otherwise bought the essentials – bread, beans, bananas and beer – at the only corner store in town. We didn’t need anything else and kept on coming back for more.

Even two years later, when I was then living in Guatemala, a smaller, more international group of friends and I set off on the three-day Tica Bus pilgrimage from Antigua, Guatemala to Montezuma, Costa Rica and enjoyed the same carefree time as I always had before.

Twelve years after my first visit, as Dani and I made our way down through Mexico and Central America, I had gone on and on about my favorite beach in Costa Rica. I felt nervous, almost protective, over my little town, hoping Dani would love it, that she would ‘get it’ the way that we had ‘gotten it’ back then.

However, after a long drive from Samara Beach, as we made the final turn into town, I didn’t even have to get out of the shuttle to know Montezuma had changed forever. The Damn the Man motto was gone – the Man has arrived here, and he is thriving.

Rental cars pack the once empty streets, competing for space with the humming 4wds, now the popular way to race up and down the long stretches of still relatively deserted beach. While the very central Hotel Montezuma and some of the smaller cheap hostels were still in tact, there is a whole slew of newer mid-range accommodation and overpriced restaurants charging $12-$15 per meal. The hippies have grown up, gotten jobs and had families. Montezuma, Costa Rica is now filled with organic food restaurants and luxury yoga resorts. The center of town is now filled by a sprawling, well-constructed playground for children.

Not only a family-friendly destination, Montezuma also now caters to higher-end visitors with packaged boat and jungle tours, plus expensive speed boats connect the town to Jaco and Manuel Antonio across the bay – otherwise only reachable by a long six-hour bus-ferry-bus slog  (for a total of $10).

The little corner shop still has cheap cans of Gallo beer and boxed wine, but the brand new supermarket up the road has German chocolate, French cheese, and nearly every American product someone could miss from home. Visitors to Montezuma now range from young European families to retirees from the Deep South and the Far East.

Montezuma packages the memory of itself as a free-spirited, relaxed beach town and sells it to those who fell in love with it  all those years ago.

With those stunning beaches and prime location, Montezuma was bound to become a star and claim its position slap bang on the main tourist path. As far as we could tell the development has done a world of good. There is strong economic and social infrastructure in place with no evidence of increased pollution or damage to the land: the town is kept clean. In fact, no one but us seemed disappointed about the change.

I say ‘us’ because Dani wanted no part of the tourist trinkets, overpriced dinners and pre-packaged tours, either. In spite of the all the beauty, that magical vibe has long since been lost. This is another reason why we beg you not to go to Samara Beach, for fear of the same thing happening to our little treasure on the Pacific Coast.

Have you ever returned somewhere you used to love, only to find it a completely different place? Feel free to commiserate with us over the loss of your favorite hidden spots. Plus, please let us know any places we definitely shouldn’t visit, that have completely sold out to tourism anywhere in the world!

Costa Rica is the gem in Central America’s tourism crown: lush, green jungles, wild animals, breathtaking beaches and a well-developed infrastructure make a trip to Costa Rica as easy as it can be adventurous, suitable for many different types of visitors. The level of development, however, has also raised prices on goods and services, hotel rates and transportation to a level that most budget travelers (falsely) believe to be out of their range. It is certainly easy to plow through some serious cash here, but with a bit of planning ahead, you can visit Costa Rica on a shoestring – in fact: it can be nearly as inexpensive as its neighbors!
Many travelers we met along the way spoke with disdain about Costa Rica being over-priced and too expensive – those who were the most outspoken on the topic had opted to skip the country altogether. Since I had lived here for a year back in the day, there was no question that we would travel through. What we intended to be a two week trip was extended to three. In that time, our Costa Rica travel budget ended up to be less than both our Guatemala and Nicaragua budgets, coming in at just under $27 per person per day (based on two sharing accommodation). Read on for a few simple tips on how to travel through Costa Rica on a shoestring budget.

How to travel Costa Rica on a shoestring

Take the bus

Taking private shuttles or taxis to get around can easily eat through your budget, but this can be easily avoided by taking the bus. The bus system in Costa Rica is organized, and the buses are safe, comfortable and nearly at a North American standard. The chicken buses (old American school buses) seen throughout the rest of Central America are few and far between here. The buses run between all the major towns and on schedule, and while a private shuttle can easily cost from $40 to $75, a local bus charges less than $10 for the same route. MyTanFeet has an excellent guide that covers everything you need to know about taking public transportation in Costa Rica.

Eat at a Soda

Found everywhere throughout Costa Rica, a ‘soda’ is a typical Costa Rican restaurant which serves up ‘comida tipica’ or a menu of typical Costa Rican fare, mainly in various forms of casados: a huge plate of rice, beans, red and white cabbage salad, pasta and meat, or extra vegetables for vegetarians. While a restaurant in a tourist spot often charges between $10 and $15 per person per meal, the price of a ‘casado’ varies between $2 and $7, depending on the casado you choose and the place you are at – sodas in tourist destinations obviously charge much more than in cities like Heredia or Liberia.

Drink Tap water

Unlike the rest of Central America, drinking the tap water in Costa Rica is perfectly safe. If you have been traveling throughout the region, you might think only a crazy person would fill up bottles with tap water, but the water in nearly every Costa Rican town is drinkable (ask at your hotel/hostel if you’re unsure). With bottled water costing between $1 and $3 a bottle, refilling your own bottles will save you a hefty sum of pocket change.

Buy beer in the shop, not the bar

At $2.50 – $3.50 a bottle in most bars, beer in Costa Rica can quickly eat through your daily budget. Of course in a country with so many relaxing beaches, sometimes a beer is a must. Plan ahead and grab yourself a few cold cans at a local shop for half the price and enjoy your beers on the beach just a few meters past the beach bar itself.

Book a trip for the off-season

Costa Rica is a popular tourist destination for North Americans and Europeans alike, and prices shoot up during Holidays, Christmas and between January and March. Planning a trip to Costa Rica during the low season, May to November, can save you as much as 50 per cent on hotels and flights. The low season is also partially the rainy season, but with the exception of a few rainy weeks, downpours usually only last a couple of hours in the morning and the sun shines for the rest of the day.

Opt for a hostel

If you want to visit Costa Rica on a shoestring budget, hostels are the way to go. The hostel scene has come a long way from the dingy twelve-bed dorm rooms, and not only are hostels cleaner, brighter and more affordable than ever, most also offer private double rooms for a fraction of what a hotel costs. We stayed in countless small hostels, run by people who care about their guests and take pride in offering a cozy, clean place to stay. Some hostels even offer a swimming pool, a bar, a lounge, books, board games, and free breakfast. You are also more likely to meet other travelers at the bar or in the common areas, whereas most hotels have a much more anonymous feeling to them. A private room in a hostel costs between $20 and $30 per couple, whereas a hotel room runs from $50 upwards.

Budget Travel Tip: With such a well-developed tourism industry, National Park tours and adventure activities in Costa Rica are usually very much worth the money, so make sure to budget in $15 – $75 per tour during your time in the country. Putting these budget tips into practice should save you plenty of money to take at least a few top quality tours. In Manuel Antonio National Park for example you’ll be guaranteed wildlife sightings if you invest in a nature guide, and you’ll learn a lot about the local flora and fauna. Recruit a few fellow travelers so that you can split costs – the more people share a guide, the cheaper it gets (and again: hostels are a great place to connect with other travelers).

Have you visited Costa Rica on a shoestring? Feel free to add your money-saving tips for Costa Rica in the comments below!

These thirty three things are just a start –  things we loved about Costa Rica, along with some Costa Rica facts you may not know. There were so many positive aspects of our time in Costa Rica, we could easily list thirty three more! But we’re excited to hear your thoughts on this, too, so please feel free to add your favorite things about Costa Rica in the comments at the end!

1 Samara Beach
We won’t go on about this one, as we as you to please not go to Samara Beach, but the combination of jaw-dropping sunsets spotting, padding along the beautiful stretches of soft, clean sand and numerous places to enjoy champagne while looking out on to the water makes Samara Beach of the best beaches we visited in Central America.

2 Comfortable public transportation
After spending a few months holding on for dear life on chicken buses throughout Central America, Costa Rica’s comfortable, clean and organized public transportation just felt good.

3 Sloths
They might look creepy, but these sleepy creatures sure are cute!
4 Gallo Pinto
This dish is not just rice and beans…the combination of black beans, rice, and magical spices make this Costa Rican (and Nicaraguan) easily our breakfast favorite.

5 Casados
Meaning ‘married’, a Casado is a marriage of rice, beans, veggies (and meat) on one plate. This typical, healthy and filling Costa Rican meal is an economical choice and sold at any ‘soda’ or local restaurant in the country. Casados make finding healthy veggie-friendly food a breeze.

6 A truly gay-friendly country
The theme throughout this post is the relaxed, accepting and peaceful nature of the country, and this also extends to the acceptance of the gay community…relative to the rest of Central America, of course. Although people not looking for it may never notice, Manuel Antonio is known as a kind of a mecca for gay travelers, with hotels and package deals targeted directly at the gay community, and there are plenty of gay bars (for boys and girls) in San Jose. This is one of the Costa Rica facts we’d heard rumors about, but didn’t believe it until we got there.

7 So many surfers
There’s nothing better than the relaxed vibe that the massive surfer population brings to the country, plus watching them sprint along the beach and ride the waves in some places is like a surfing championship every day of the week!

8 The beaches of Manuel Antonio
Palm trees, coconuts, monkeys, and sparkling blue water…how can we not love Manuel Antonio. Just watch out for the mega-strong waves at high tide!

9 Licuados
With the variety of these refreshing, healthy fresh juice mixes in either water, milk or yogurt, we never had a sip of soda while in Costa Rica.

10 Pura Vida

Different to the international laid-back surfer vibe, Pura Vida is an entirely Tico feeling. This expression, which means ‘Pure Life’ is used as a greeting, a farewell, an excuse and a reason, and incorporates Costa Rica’s positive feelings about living life healthily, slowly, and peacefully (this country has no army and focuses on eco-friendly policies).

11 Guaro
Oh…how Guaro burns…this Costa Rican grain alcohol can’t possibly compare to Nicaragua’s award-winning Flor de Cana rum, but it’s available everywhere, it’s cheap, and after a couple of shots, who remembers anyway 🙂

12 Cycling along the Caribbean coast
We absolutely loved this day out – we go on and on about it here.

13 The wildlife
From the Pacific to the Caribbean, no matter where you look you spot exotic wildlife in Costa Rica!

14 Panaderias
The Ticos love their bread and after a lack of yummy baked goods in Honduras and Nicaragua, we were happy to see a panaderia or pasteleria (bakeries) on almost every corner in Costa Rica.

15 Punta Uva Beach
Okay, yes another beach – but Costa Rica has got the most gorgeous beaches! This beach just 4km from Puerto Viejo is simply breathtaking.

16 Both coasts are beautiful
No matter what side of the country you are on, you’re set for a quick trip to the beach. Nearly all Central American countries have access to both the Pacific and the Caribbean, but that’s not necessarily something to boast about. Nicaragua’s eastern coast is made up primarily of the infamous Mosquito Coast, while Guatemala’s Pacific beaches are not really even worth the trip. Costa Rica, on the other hand, is blessed with miles and miles of beautiful beaches, from the Northwestern tip of the Nicoya Peninsula down to the Puerto Viejo in the southeastern Caribbean region.

17 Drinking Tap water
Stick your glass under the faucet and let the water pour in! Drinking tap water here is as risk free as at home, and although it took us a few days to trust that drinking the water wouldn’t make us ill as in neighboring countries, it felt amazing to stop buying water everywhere we went. One of the Costa Rica facts we could not believe until we got there (from Nicaragua, where drinking water from a tab is a big NO!)

18 The cloud forest of Monteverde
Monteverde is one of the highest places in all of Costa Rica, nestled between green mountains and like the name indicates, often covered by clouds. The rains cause Monteverde to be one of the greenest places we’ve seen on our travels.

19 Sodas
Sitting somewhere between a food stand and a restaurant, sodas are like local Costa Rican diners. Located on every corner (next to the bakeries), they serve up typical dishes and a licuado for $3-$5, making it possible to travel Costa Rica on a shoestring.  Sodas are as great for your health as for your wallet, as the meal usually contains vegetables, rice, beans, meat (or extra veggies for us herbivores), plus the fruit in the licuado.

20 Flowers everywhere!
Costa Rica is certainly wild in terms of its population of various exotic animals, but the flowers in the country are equally as exotic and found everywhere. We don’t know the names of most the flowers we see, but they certainly put an extra bounce in our step.

21 Butterflies
Costa Rica is home to 1,251 species, over 90% of all Central American butterflies. The Blue Morpho maybe the most remarkable one, but at times we were walking on paths being both followed and led by groups of fluttering butterflies.

22 The Caribbean village of Manzanillo
Manzanillo is a little village on the southern Caribbean coast and it still feels truly Caribbean and unspoilt by tourists.

23 People watching at Parque Central in Heredia
Heredia is a typical Costa Rican city, unspoilt by tourists, and even though only 11 kilometers from the capital, worlds apart from San Jose! Unlike the capital which has unfortunately begun to feel a bit shady in certain areas, Heredia is safe and relaxed, with a good variety of restaurants, excellent shopping, interesting architecture and a Central Park which is great for watching the Ticos in their day-to-day lives.

24 Hummingbirds
Costa Rica must have hundreds of thousands of hummingbirds – we saw these tiny little birds along both coasts, in the rain forest, the cloud forest and in the towns. We could watch them forever flying around with their record-breaking wing flapping!

25 The fantastic Costa Rican coffee
The coffee here is known to be one of the best coffees in the world, and drinking it in Monteverde, surrounded by coffee plants, fresh from the farm, made it taste even better.

26 Stella’s Bakery in Monteverde
Far away from the most populated area of Santa Elena, Stella’s bakery & restaurant is set along the road to Monteverde and it is more than worth stopping by. Stella’s Dulce de leche strudel really is to die for, and there are so many other goodies (both savory and sweet) to choose from, you will probably end up taking something home for later or returning the next day.

27 Waterfalls
Waterfalls here are practically a dime a dozen, except they are some of the most amazing we have seen.  You pass them just driving down the road or hiking along the beaches and it never gets old!

28 Cabinas el Pueblo Hostel in Monteverde
$10 per person for a clean room and breakfast included, plus a staff that provides priceless info about Monteverde, we can certainly recommend staying at the family-run, centrally-located Cabinas el Pueblo Hostel in Santa Elena, Monteverde, Costa Rica.

29 The cheeky monkey families in Cahuita
The little village of Cahuita has a National Park which can be visited free of charge. Much emptier than Costa Rica’s more famous Manuel Antonio National Park, you can sit down anywhere and watch the monkey families with the baby monkeys swinging through the tree tops.

30 Miles of deserted beach near Montezuma
We might have been disappointed by Montezuma’s development but we were happy as clams about the endless stretches of sandy beaches along the coast. You can walk for miles and miles without meeting another soul.

31 Taco Bell
Yes. We went to Taco Bell. Twice. And yes, the Americanization of the country is a shameless train wreck, but after months and months of rice & beans, we couldn’t pass up a cheesy Gordita crunch!

32 The bronze statues in San Jose
Costa Rica’s capital didn’t do much for us, but we found some fantastic bronze statues by several well known artists (such as Botero) throughout the downtown.

33 The friendly Ticos
Costa Ricans are super friendly and welcoming. Proud of their beautiful country, they are always happy to chat with travelers or tell you which places you should check out during your visit. These great people are affectionately known as ticos, for their endearing and unique use of the Spanish diminutive – from momento, instead of adding ‘ito’ – momentito, Costa Ricans add ‘ico’ – momentico.

You may go about your day never once thinking about a three-toed sloth, or a two-toed sloth, for that matter. The minute you arrive in Monteverde, Costa Rica, however, talk of sloths is everywhere, and while it is possible to take tours which involve spotting these slow moving creatures, the truth is this is not necessary. Sloths are present here, so much so, in fact, that right in front of our hostel in Monteverde, which was next to the appropriately named ‘Sloth’ hotel, all us guests poured out onto the street to see a sloth doing a bit of a very slow tight rope act along the electricity wires leading across and along the street.

The next day, after deciding to walk back the seven kilometers from the Monteverde Cloud Forest to the village of Santa Elena, a brand-new building marked ‘Sloth Sanctuary’ caught our eye. After our first sloth encounter we were fascinated by these funny-looking creatures and decided to pop in for a visit.
The Monteverde Sloth Sanctuary is the actually the second sloth sanctuary in Costa Rica, the first having been founded in the Caribbean town of Cahuita by animal-lover and American Judy Aroyos, who, many years ago, adopted one baby sloth whose mother had been killed. Taking in more and more injured sloths, Aroyos and her husband founded Aviarios del Caribe, to cope with sloths who had been bit by cars, bit by dogs or hurt by climbing electric cables. The more the country’s infrastructure developed, the more the sloth’s natural environment has been endangered. Not surprisingingly, these animals have been slow to adapt to the change.

Both Avarios del Caribe and the Monteverde Sloth Sanctuary are run by Aroyos, treat injured sloths and returning them back to the wild once they’ve recovered, although some have been raised here since birth and can never adapt to living in the jungle. While Avarios is home to more 100 sloths, we spent about an hour goggling over a dozen three and toe-fingered sloths (first learning that the correct term is three-fingered not three-toed sloth).
The creatures are unlike any other we’ve seen, and while they can actually appear quite human like at times, the sloth biologically resembles marsupials more than humans. While sloths seem to be quite large as these eternal loungers lie up in the limbs of trees, they are actually light as a feather relatively at only 12lbs or 6kg for a grown male.

We fell in love with these little creatures and are certain that if everyone had the chance, they would, too! Both Costa Rican sloth sanctuaries are privately managed rescue and research centers and rely entirely on donations. Volunteers are always welcome as well, to take care of the baby sloths, feeding them, cleaning the cages, providing medical treatment and spreading the world about the importance of these creepy but cute Costa Rican creatures. Have a look for yourself by watching this clip on the as the owners of the sanctuary discuss the animals and the importance of helping to save the sloth population.

Have you visited a sloth sanctuary in Costa Rica? Share in the comments below.

Primarily known for its eco-friendly tourism, Costa Rica aims to preserve as many different regions as possible and has over 26 national parks. From mountainous cloud forests to volcanoes, coastline, wetlands and rain forests, the country is bursting with these parks. So when choosing the best, in Costa Rica it isn’t too much to ask for a trifecta – lush, green jungle, wild animals and sandy beaches to lay the afternoon away. Costa Rica has two such national parks: both Manuel Antonio on the Pacific coast and and Cahuita on the Caribbean coast.
While both can boast jungle, wildlife and beach, these are two very different experiences. Despite a US$16 entrance fee, Manuel Antonio is one of Costa Rica’s most popular destinations. Cahuita, on the other hand, costs next to nothing to get in (US$5), and remains a more off-the-beaten path National Park in comparison. Most travelers don’t have time to hop from coast to coast during a trip to Costa Rica, so read on for a closer look at both to find which might be the right fit for you.

The Smackdown: Manuel Antonio vs Cahuita

Manuel Antonio National Park

At 4,014 acres (16.24 km²), Manuel Antonio National Park is Costa Rica’s smallest, but certainly most famous national parks in the country. This family-friendly park is located 30 kilometers south of Quepos on the Pacific.

The animals are the main draw at this park and there are plenty of them: four kinds of monkeys, both the three-fingered and the two-fingered sloth, raccoons, pacas, coatis, hundreds of exotic birds, snakes, spiders, iguanas and crabs.
With wildlife sightings at Manuel Antonio essentially guaranteed, tourists come in flocks to spot them. Young, old, agile and those moving very slowly all crowd the main paths early in the day, but sneak off to some of the more secluded hiking trails and  you’ll have the forest to yourself. Head back to the beautiful blue beaches, however, and there is no way to escape the crowds, who line the sand, soaking up the sun.

There are smaller paths in the park that allow you to get away from the crowds, who tend to stay on the main trails. My favorite one is one leading high up to the top of a cliff with expansive views out over the ocean and some of the park’s picture perfect beaches – every time I hiked up there, I ran only into a couple of people. Plan in a few hours to explore the jungle and spot animals as you go. The monkeys are alarmingly accustomed to the presence of tourists here and have no qualms about coming right up to people to get their hands on some chips or cookies. Regardless of the number of people around, families of raccoons are known to walk right up to bags and coolers to snatch food, another good reason to head away from the madness and catch the animals in their natural behavior.

Advantages of Manuel Antonio National Park

• • Animal sightings 100% guaranteed
  • Pristine beaches

How to get to Manuel Antonio: From San Jose’s Coca Cola bus terminal (Calle 16 between avenidas 1 and 3) there are three daily buses. The ride takes 3.5 hours. $5.50

Park Admission: US$16 (free for children under 12)

What to bring: Camera, money (cash only – and if you want to hire a guide, extra cash to pay him & tip him), bathing suit & beach towel, binoculars

Tip No 1: Rent a guide. While we saw plenty of wildlife, guides who work in the park park know the best spots to see wildlife and carry high-tech binoculars to spot monkeys and sloths hiding high up in the trees.
Tip No 2: Visit early in the morning. If you stay directly in Manuel Antonio, you can get up early and be at the park entrance right at 7am to arrive before the tour buses arrive around 9 or 10.

Cahuita National Park

Cahuita is a sleepy beach town on Costa Rica’s Caribbean coast, just half an hour from popular Puerto Viejo. The small village has several budget hotels but is practically undeveloped in comparison to Manuel Antonio. The national park at the end of town, which runs parallel to the beach, is not only known the wealth of wildlife on land, but also for its reef which is perfect for snorkeling and scuba diving. Cahuita National Park is also perfect to pop into for a day out on the nearly empty beaches, surfing and sunning. Entry is technically free, but donations are welcome.
Enjoy the sounds of the jungle during a walk along the two-mile tourist-free path on the beach. The animals here live in a much more undisturbed environment, which makes them much more shy and harder to spot, so keep an eye or two out for the rich variety of wildlife: howler monkeys, Capuchin monkeys, sloths, toucans, pacas, coatis, raccoons, snakes, various kinds of colorful crabs and hundreds of different kinds of fish and coral for divers. Hire a guide for optimal animal spotting.

Because the National Park and the town are less developed than Manuel Antonio, exploring is less organized. The start of the park is an easy walk on a wide sandy path, but you will shortly come to a river crossing, which either requires a silly 20-second boat ride across the river, or wading through chest-high water to get to the other side. Get across that, and you will feel like you have the place to yourself.

Advantages of Cahuita National Park:

• No crowds
• Great for diving & snorkeling
• Ideal for surfing
• Cheap (US$5 for foreigners)

How to get to Cahuita: From San Jose’s Terminal Atlantico Norte (avenida 9, calle 12) buses leave every 2 hours between 6am and 6pm with Autotransportes Mepe. The ride takes about 4 hours; US$9

From the Gran Terminal del Caribe bus terminal, (Calle Central, 1 block north of Avenida 11) there are five buses daily.

There is also a private shuttle company that offers daily rides from San Jose to Cahuita for US$55. If you don’t feel comfortable using public transportation, or are worried about the language barrier, you might want to check out these minibuses. The journey isn’t much faster, but you can communicate with them and book your tickets in English, via email or Whatsapp. Check out Caribe Shuttles here for all of their routes.

Tip: Don’t pay for the boat to cross the river. If you walk on the beach where the river hits the ocean, the river is narrow and shallow enough to be crossed on foot. Just make sure to carry your camera & valuables high up.

Admission: Admission is by donation at the main entrance in Cahuita, but if you arrive by car from Puerto Viejo and take a secondary entrance (sign posted on the main street), they charge foreigners US$5.

What to bring: A drybag to keep your valuables dry, especially if you’re visiting during rainy season (downpours are to be expected), bathing suit, camera, binoculars

Manuel Antonio or Cahuita: Our verdict

There is no clear winner here as both parks are definitely worth a visit. Manuel Antonio has much prettier beaches and more visible wildlife, whereas Cahuita offers more tranquility and allows you to take your time without other tourists. Manuel Antonio feels like a resort and is as much about a day at the beach as about a national park, while Cahuita is heavy on the park, with a beach on the side.

Sitting on the bus from Quepos to our hostel near Manuel Antonio National Park, we knew that, at $10 per night per person, the Art Hostel Costa Linda would not actually be paradise. And on arrival, it was clear we were right. But even though we can provide a list of imperfections with the place, we still highly recommend this budget hotel in Manuel Antonio, an obligatory stop on any Costa Rica vacation.

Stand Out Feature: Location

Stand Out Feature: Breakfast

Room for improvement: Disorganization and apathy

Overall: Art Hostel Costa Linda

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One of the things we were most excited about for Costa Rica was the wildlife. Of all the countries in Central America, Costa Rica is where you can see the most mammals, birds and reptiles roaming freely through the forests.

So far, Manuel Antonio has been the best for monkey spotting! We spotted  this little guy on a quiet hike through a fairly deserted area of the national park. He had been involved in a playful ‘fight’ among five spider monkeys and was resting here (perhaps calculating his next move?)

There were plenty of other monkeys on the more populated paths – wowing the hordes of international tourists while joining raccoons in stealing food. Even outside the park, however, we managed to see monkeys, including one that hopped right down on the roof of our hostel, swinging on a chain right by where we were working.