Pura Vida: A Costa Rican Memoir
Let me just start off and say that Costa Rica was never high on my list of places to visit. I was originally planning on doing Peru with my friend, Alexa, but then last minute changed the destination to CR since it was rainy season in Peru. But wow, I am so happy I ended up visiting this diverse, vibrant country in Central America.
While I’ve been to Central America before (you can read more about my Guatemala trip here), Costa Rica was incredibly different. I also thought the country was mainly well known for its beaches, but there is such a variety of landscape for such a small area, it’s mind boggling. While my trip, I feel, barely scratched the surface of what Costa Rica has to offer, I do think I covered off on some beautiful highlights.
Most importantly, if you go to Costa Rica, you have to embrace the Pura Vida lifestyle. Directly translated, it means “Pure Life.” Think of the simple pleasures of life, being relaxed, good companionship… Costa Ricans try and embody the meaning in everything they do, even saying it as a way of greeting! At first, I laughed every time a tour guide would say “Pura Vida.” But then, I realized that even the locals would say it in their day to day. It reminds me a little bit of the Danish word “Hygge.”
Travel Logistics
Airport: I rendezvoused with my friend in the San Jose airport early in the morning. Note that there are two main airport hubs in Costa Rica - San Jose and Liberia; Liberia is more up north in the Guanacaste region and San Jose is more central. I would choose the airport based off where you want to go. I did hear of many people flying into San Jose and departing from Liberia as they traveled North. Meanwhile, my friend and I did a loop.
Rental Car: Note that you don’t have to rent a car as there are several shuttles that will take you to the main highlights. However, we wanted to have more flexibility with timing, so we opted to rent a car. A few things -
Renting a car is cheap there. We rented through Budget and the customer service was great.
The price of insurance will get you. We ended up doing the basic insurance option (the cheapest), which is the minimum requirement in Costa Rica. We didn’t opt for the CDW insurance given how expensive it was. Also, friendly tip- check with your credit card as most credit card companies provide a basic level of insurance while abroad. So, do your homework!
There will be a shuttle from the Arrivals Hall at the San Jose airport that takes you to the Budget office a few km away. The process was easy and quick!
Many people recommended a 4WD, but we were generally fine with our 2WD. There were some unpaved roads where we had to weave around potholes & drive slow, but we were fine. If you do have a 2WD, be diligent about reading about road conditions so you’re prepared!
Currency: You can pretty much pay with USD cash everywhere, so if you’d prefer to pull out cash in the U.S. to avoid ATM fees in Costa Rica, that’s an option! And when I say everywhere takes USD cash, I’m being serious. Even tolls on highways.
It’s worth pulling out cash to pay for hostels since they often charge you a fee for using a credit card!
Important Tip: If you are flying from South America, you might need to provide proof of Yellow Fever vaccination. The Yellow Fever vaccine is currently experiencing a shortage, so be diligent about finding a clinic that does have the shot. Note that it is also pricey. Mine cost close to $300 USD. While it’s expensive, it’s worth it for peace of mind at customs/health safety.
Recap of itinerary/route below!
Day 1: Land & Chill
I’m not even simplifying it- we pretty much landed, drove to our Airbnb, and chilled. We knew we were heading North to La Fortuna, home to the mighty Arenal Volcano. We decided to find somewhere in the middle to lounge and relax the first day.
I had researched that Volcan Poas was smack dab in the middle, so we picked an Airbnb close by in Grecia, which is about 1 hour from the San Jose airport.
We stayed at Hotel Mango Valley which was a literal dream. The property has several cottages which are spacious, comfortable, and relaxing. And, not to mention, the infinity pool. You can find the listing here. They provide breakfast every morning & can help arrange tours in the area, so just inquire when you get there! The staff there was so helpful and even came in to fix our television late at night.
Day 2: First of Many Volcanoes & Waterfalls
After a full day of relaxation (which was much needed) we had a tour organized by the Airbnb bright n’ early. We decided to pick the Volcan Poas and La Paz Waterfall Gardens tour package. While we did have a car, we wanted to be sit back and let someone else do it for us the first day.
Route: Grecia —> Volcan Poas —> La Paz Waterfall Gardens —> Sarchi
Volcan Poas was about 45 minute drive from Grecia up the mountain. Note that you will need to make a reservation for entry into the park prior to the visit as they control the number of visitors to preserve the area (U.S. - take notes!) You can make the reservation here: www.sinac.go.cr. The website should auto-translate to English and just confirm with the Airbnb host what time to make the entrance for. We did 9am and we reached at ~8:30am and waited.
It’s a pretty controlled environment up there as its still an active volcano. They only give you 20 minutes to view the volcano due to the sulfur coming from the volcano and give you helmets. Either way, it was absolutely beautiful up there and we were lucky we had the visibility we did. Usually, there are clouds covering up a chunk of the volcano, but we were able to see it in its entirety!
La Paz Waterfall Gardens were the next stop and about 45 minutes from Volcan Poas down the mountain. Note that this stop involved way more than just waterfalls. You’re able to get up close with animals and insects which are commonly found in Costa Rica. We were able to see sloths, toucans, red eye frogs, and more! It was a nice change from the subway rats I’m used to in New York City…
Note that the ticket price is $90/person, so not entirely cheap. However, I never feel badly supporting natural/ecological preserves like this.
Covering off Volcan Poas and La Paz Gardens only took half a day since we departed our Airbnb around 7:30am. So, we had the late afternoon/evening to ourselves!
We decided to explore the nearby town called Sarchi, wellknown for being an artistic hub in central Costa Rica, and also home to the largest oxcart in the world. This was ~30 minutes away from Grecia; the drive there was lovely as we drove around hills to get there.
We decided to visit to the Oxcart museum which you can find on Google Maps as: Fabrica de Carretas Eloy Alfaro. We got to actually see painters designing the wheels of oxcarts, and probably the most tempting gift store I’ve ever been to.
We wrapped up the day at dinner at a restaurant up the road from our Airbnb called Villa Cipreses. This night kickstarted our ceviche tour around Costa Rica. If you’re into seafood, friendly tip: get ceviche everywhere you go. You simply can’t get enough
Day 3: Mountain Roads to La Fortuna
This was a transit day but had a stop planned on the drive from Grecia to La Fortuna, where the Arenal Volcano National Park is located. We got tips from our tour guide, Adrian, to take a different route to avoid unpaved roads. We took route 708 which was very scenic anyway and stopped at Catara del Toro, which was about a 1.5 hour drive. You can find more information here.
Note that there are 2 hikes you can choose once you get to the parking lot - Catara del Toro and the Blue Waterfalls. The Blue Waterfalls requires a guide and takes ~3 hours, so we opted for just Catara del Toro. It was a short and easy hike. Just be wary that for all the steps you have to take to go down to the waterfall, you have to climb it right back up… :) But, it was absolutely beautiful and we had the entire place to ourselves!
After this hike, we had another 1.5 hour drive to La Fortuna (roads were all straightforward here). La Fortuna is pretty much a tourist town, filled with many hotsels/hotels, restaurants, bars, cafes, and souvenir stories. So, pretty much something for everyone. We decided to stay at Arenal Backpackers Hostel, and it was one of the most luxurious hostels I’ve ever stayed at!
We ended up opting for the “glamping” tents on the hostel property, which had one of the most comfortable beds. This was $50 total/night, so not too shabby. The dorm rooms looked just fine and the shared bathrooms were all clean! There was a pool on the property and a restaurant/bar. We ended up eating out both days, but know that you have the option to “stay in.” The hostel also has a whole binder of tour options, and don’t worry about reserving a tour until you get there!
After checking in, we needed an iced coffee, so we headed over to My Coffee La Fortuna. The coffee was strong, and the quesadillas cheesy. The perfect fill me up before the last adventure of the day.
We drove 5 minutes to La Fortuna waterfall which was one of the funnest experiences of the trip. Just be mindful that if you’re driving, the parking lot is somewhat small. We got lucky and did find a parking spot when we got there around 3:30pm. Entrance fees are $15/person.
It’s about 600 steps down to the waterfall (which is rough coming back up), and there is the option of swimming in the waterfall swimhole. So, obviously we decided to swim. The water was somewhat cold, but refreshing given the humidity. The waterfall was also so powerful, it was actually difficult to stay afloat, but we still had so much fun.
We were drained after that waterfall swim so showered & headed straight to dinner. We wandered around town aimlessly until we found a restaurant that caught our eye. We picked Restaurante Nanku. Guys - the octopus ceviche. SO GOOD. There was also live music which was a ton of fun.
Day 4: In & Around Arenal Volcano National Park
We woke up to rain, which had us nervous that the hike we picked to Arenal Volcano would be less than ideal. However, little did we know that we would end up getting the best visibility of Arenal Volcano for the first time in 2 months, according to our tour guide! This is one thing to note about the La Fortuna area - very unpredictable weather. So, plan for rainy or dry weather.
Our tour picked us up around 9am and took us to the base of the volcano, to a fresh water lake at the bottom where we had lunch, through trails around the volcano, and ending at a thermal river. All in all, busy day filled with a lot of facts about the nature in Costa Rica, epic views, and new friendships (our tour guide even joined us for dinner/drinks at the end of the night at a place called Lava Lounge!)
Day 5: Journey to Monteverde
Today was another travel day and we were heading to Monteverde. We picked up breakfast at a Soda (the Costa Rican equivalent of a Wawa) and were off. We initially had plans to stop at Rio Celeste, a bright blue river/waterfall, but the weather was not in our favor. We did drive to the parking lot, but the rain was coming down hard, so we decided to bypass and keep on driving.
The weather did clear up just in time for 45 minutes of mountain road switchbacks/potholes. We were okay with our 2WD, but we definitely had to go at 10mph and weave around potholes the entire time. Alexa rocked the front seat driving, and the views were absolutely incredible.
Monteverde is essentially a mountain town area closed to the famous cloud forests. Note that you can either find lodging in Monteverde or Santa Elena. We stayed in Santa Elena at a hostel called Cabinas Vista al Golfo and we LOVED it. Comes with free breakfast, a restaurant, unlimited coffee, and several hammocks overlooking the mountains.
Friendly note about weather: it’s wild here. There is pretty much constant mist and sun (which makes for several rainbows) and the wind was INSANE. So loud that the door to our hostel room was banging all night (you learn to get used to it and sleep right through it). In the first picture below, you can see how windy it was from the trees.
Once settled in, we spent the rest of the day wandering through town, eating tacos, and relaxing. There are so many local artist shops around town, so we highly recommending setting aside time to check out. Below are some of the restaurants/bars we checked out -
Taco Taco Tacqueria
Tap House
Bar Amigos
Day 6: Cloud 9
Today was dedicated to exploring the Monteverde Cloud Forest and adrenaline rushes.
A little bit about the Monteverde Cloud Forest: Just imagine the sky descending down to cover the tree canopies in a forest. That’s the cloud forest in Costa Rica. Because of the clouds hanging so low, the sun has little change of permeating the ecosystem, ultimately promoting a huge amount of biodiversity found elsewhere due to the large levels of moisture that is trapped in. I’m not kidding, the amount of GREEN I saw was breathtaking.
There are 2 cloud forests: Monteverde and Santa Elena. We went to Monteverde just because that’s the larger one, but I’ve heard both are equally as beautiful. You can also take guided tours, but we decided to do the trails on our own. I will say if you take a tour, you’ll probably learn way more about the types of plants, birds, and other critters out there. I saw a lot of tour guides carry telescopes with them so I’m sure you’d be able to see some epic animals in the forest!
There are 3 main trail routes: 1 hour, 2 hours, or 3 hours. We picked the 2 hour route and got to see a good chunk of the cloud forest.
The rest of the day was spent zip lining and a tarzan swing at the Selvatura Adventure Park. We also added in the Suspension Bridge Canopy section, so it was $80/total. The suspension bridge piece was self guided, but the ziplining part was obviously with a group. It was so much fun, and I braved the Tarzan swing. Overall, I highly recommend spending half a day pumping your adrenaline.
The Selvatura Adventure Tour took about 4 hours total, so it will take up your entire afternoon. There are several different tour operators and packages in the area, so definitely take time to research and find one that suits your adventure level!
Day 7-9: Costa Rican Coast
We wrapped up our Costa Rican adventure driving along the Pacific coast. We headed down to Manuel Antonio National Park which is ~3 hours from Monteverde. We used Quepos as our base, but below are the other beach towns we hopped around to:
Jaco
Dominical
Uvita
We stayed at Casa Elsa in Quepos which felt like luxury. There was an infinite pool right by the kitchen and the hostess, Sally, would make you breakfast every morning. You can find the listing here on Airbnb.
That brings us to the end of this Costa Rican memoir. Hopefully this post convinced you that the Pura Vida lifestyle is just what you need next. It was the perfect way to start off 2020 and I can’t recommend visiting this country more. Talk about being blown away by a country I really knew nothing about.
This is why I love to travel. Picking somewhere I know little about, and diving into the culture while I’m there, connecting with new people, and bringing home an appreciation for a new place and its people.
May the rest of 2020 be filled with equally as exciting adventures.