I don’t even know how to begin this one. We just had the incredible opportunity to spend an entire month in Costa Rica (mid February-mid March) and I’m not ever sure how to describe our time there. It was, in short, amazing. We were able to see a decent amount of the country, though we certainly left a lot unseen and will be back sooner rather than later to see more.

Our itinerary is by no means the only or the best, but it’s the one I’ve got so I’ll share the details with you in the hopes that someday you will also get to experience this incredible country.

Our route went like this….

Flight into San Jose (SJO) and rented a car (from Enterprise and had no problems or surprises….just know that yes, you will need liability insurance)
La Fortuna for a week
Liberia for three days to visit the Vandara Adventure Park
Tamarindo (technically Villareal) for six days
Monte Verde for four days
Playa Hermosa (Puntarenas) for five days (we did our Manuel Antonio visit while at this stop)
Jaco for six days

Our original plans and bookings did not actually look like this. We had to make several adjustments on the second half of our trip but it worked out in our favor! We had plans to be in Quepos for the final week plus but some hiccups with our Airbnbs sent us to Playa Hermosa and Jaco, which we ultimately loved!

La Fortuna

We stayed about 20 minutes outside the actual city/tourist area, in a sweet Costa Rican farmhouse with an absolutely gorgeous pool and outdoor space. We even had fresh coconuts and farm fresh eggs delivered to our literal doorstep from the groundskeeper of the working farm. It was so lovely and Costa Rican. :) We loved the fresh eggs and used every one. The fresh coconut water wasn’t a slam dunk with any of us, but we really enjoyed the sweet gesture!

Funny story…..when we arrived the first night it was after dark. I opened the bathroom door quickly, and A COCKROACH SCURRIED ACROSS MY FOOT. He disappeared into a crack but I was ready to cancel everything and go home. I mean seriously, a cockroach!?!?! Alas I survived, and he ended up being the only one I saw the whole time were were there. (But did I also see a million spiders, one trillion leafcutter ants, take showers with geckos, and greet iquanas on our patio at the beach each morning? Yes, yes I did.) Having never spent time in Central America before, I learned quickly that nature is just a whole lot more present everywhere and you have no choice but to deal. By the end I was totally cool with the geckos and iguanas.

While in Fortuna, we visited the Arenal Volcano area, of course, including the Mistico Hanging Bridges, Kalumbu Hot Springs, and a chocolate farm tour with Rainforest Chocolate Tours. The hanging bridges were incredible. It was a little cloudy so we didn’t get a great view of the volcano that day. But it didn’t matter……it was still beautiful. It took us a while to get through the entire hike with our crew, but we made it and felt very accomplished by the end!

See that tiny little white-ish line in the middle of the photo above? That was one of the bridges we crossed. Does that give you an idea of the vastness of this surreal scene!?!

We got a quick glimpse of the Arenal Volcano at the end before the clouds covered it back up!

More cloudy volcano views….but beautiful nonetheless!

Brendan put together a fun video of our time at Kalmbu with all his GoPro images and videos. We’ll post that to our IG page (hulabalootravel).

Our chocolate tour at Rainforest Chocolate Tours was so perfect. It was super hands on for the kids, and we genuinely learned a ton about how the beans grow and are processed. Our guide gave each kid in the group an opportunity to help process the beans and we literally got to enjoy the fruits of their labor at the end!

All in all, we would definitely return to La Fortuna, but we would go for a shorter time. It was a little bit of a once you’ve seen the things you’ve seen the things kind of place. THAT SAID, they are beautiful things to see and worth the trip! While in town we dined several places, but the ones we would overwhelmingly recommend would be Soda Viquez, for typical Costa Rican food (they were so warm and welcoming and we really enjoyed the food AND our experience there!), Restaurante Nene’s for the best burger I’ve ever had in my life, and Red Frog Coffee Roasters for a latte (we didn’t eat there but heard they had a good breakfast!)

Liberia

After La Fortuna, we headed up to a hotel in Liberia for two nights in order to spend a day at Vandara Adventure Park. A friend from Michigan had been there with her family and recommended it to us and it did not disappoint. Ziplining, horseback riding, hot springs, painting ourselves with volcanic mud, and a 1300 foot long waterslide that was LEGIT TERRIFYING. Like seriously terrifying. The girls enjoyed it but Brendan and I went way too fast ( the heavier you are the faster you go) and both of us feared for our body parts during our trip down. You have to wear like a leather “diaper” type thing to keep you from ripping your suit (although Brendan managed to destroy his anyway), elbow pads to protect from the sides of the slide, and a tube around your mid-section so you don’t topple over and around. I would literally never ride it again…..but you totally should! :) This is another one that Brendan will post GoPro video for on our IG page. Check it out there. I didn’t get any pictures because my phone and camera were locked up for the day!

Tamarindo Beach

After the adventure park, we made our way to the Pacific Coast town of Tamarindo. (Technically we stayed in Villareal, just about 10 minutes from Tamarindo Beach.) It.Was.So.Hot. And SO dry. But we had a really nice time despite the sweat showers every day. We were there over Amelia’s 10th birthday, so it was fun to celebrate her in such a unique and fun place. We found Tamarindo to be quite touristy. We actually don’t mind a little bit of that because it offers some familiar creature comforts, but it almost felt like you weren’t getting a true Costa Rican experience here. (To be fair, it’s SO beautiful everywhere and worth visiting. No wonder there are so many tourists!) All that said, we still really enjoyed our time at the beach (where Brendan was approached MULTIPLE times to buy illicit substances…but me? not even once), had the quintessential beach dinner, sunset and fire show on our last night, visited nearby Playa Avellanas (which is way less developed but incredibly beautiful!) spent a lot of time in the gorgeous resort pool, did a little shopping and overall, really enjoyed that region.

Most importantly, you should know that we loved our meals at Walter’s and Lola’s in Avellanas (SUCH a beautiful setting), if you’re ever in the area. :)

Real life sunset picture….lots of people and one random smoking lady.

There were fire shows up and down the beach at sunset. So fun to see and the girls loved it!

Playa Avellanas….there was a nice sandy part too but anytime the girls can wander through the rocks during low tide, that’s what they love to do!

Our littlest looking like a true Costa Rican beach bum.

Monteverde

Next up was Monteverde. I actually had to fly home to Michigan during this stop to handle some family things, but Brendan went on his own with the girls! He handled it like a rockstar! Their time there in his words is coming soon…….

Playa Hermosa & Manuel Antonio

Playa Hermosa and Jaco…..oh how I loved them both. They are only like five miles (15 mins or so) apart but still, they do offer completely separate vibes. We ended up at the Backyard Hotel in Playa Hermosa. We were right on the beach with a second floor ocean view room and we’d stay there again in a heartbeat. The beaches in that area are dark sand, and are really more for surfing (read: huge waves), but we enjoyed it nonetheless. You just have to be super aware of water safety and rip currents and such. But playing in the waves was a blast for all of us. The area had a wonderful chill vibe, several beachfront restaurants, and just quick drive to Jaco if we wanted to be “in the city.”

We spent several evenings while in this area at Puddle Fish Brewery, which was right down the road from our hotel, on the way into Jaco. BEST FISH TACOS. I could have them every day. Plus bar games, a little mini art gallery, frequent live music….and an awesome St. Patrick’s Day party! We’d be regulars at this place if we could. If for nothing else, the fish tacos, plantain chips, and watermelon beer. It’s owned by two American guys but has just the right blend of American/Costa Rican vibes.

Puddle Fish Brewery did it up for St. Patrick’s Day and it was a blast!

She was cute and happy……despite the fast that it was one million degrees.

If you know nothing else about Costa Rica, you’ve probably heard about Manuel Antonio National Park. And I’m here to tell you, it’s worth all the hype. It’s a nature filled walk through the rain forest and leads to the most beautiful beach I personally have ever been to.

We opted not to hire a guide (but I’ve heard they can totally be worth it) but we ended up being glad we didn’t. We saw all the creatures on our own! Sloths, capuchin monkeys, red land crabs, Jesus Christ lizards, limeated woodpeckers, white nosed coatis and the incredible….white tailed deer. :) (We are from Michigan…these are not a big deal. That said, that my kids took like 20 pictures of them….I think mostly because we were able to get so close to them and in Michigan the only time you get close to them is when they are colliding with your car.) My picture quality on a few are not amazing….BUT STILL.

After leaving the park, we stopped at Restaurante Donde Alex and had an awesome meal. The owner was our server and that dude hustled. And for those of you that know me, you will find it as the shock of the century that my meal came with a whole entire shrimp and I still ate it! (I mean, I removed the head and all, but STILL.)

Playa Hermosa, we will be back. We are already planning our dream life in this community. :)

Jaco

After our time in Playa Hermosa (and Manuel Antonio), we moved down the road to Jaco. We originally had zero plans to visit Jaco; we had heard it was a total party town, rough, everyone mentioned drugs and prostitutes, etc. Oh how glad we are that our travels ultimately led us here! We LOVED it…..the proximity to several different types of beaches (surf beaches, calmer family friendly beaches, etc.), the town filled with wonderful restaurants and shops, and the Airbnb we stayed in with the ultimate resort style pool. We ended our trip on such a high note. Notable restaurants for us were the Green Room Cafe for brunch and Cafe Bohio for coffee and homemade sourdough and homemade jam. SO SO SO good. We went back like three times just for the toast and jam.

Costa Rica….we loved you SO MUCH. You were incredibly good to us. We will be back, asap.

Costa Rican Perfection

NOLA Love