Costa Rica is commonly one of the first countries that people visit when they venture out of the United States... it was something like my forty-third. I can see why people flock to Costa Rica; there’s so many things to do, the food is good, there’s good tourism infrastructure, and it's widely considered “safe" (although I’ve felt just as safe in many places I've visted).

My boyfriend Jason and I visited Costa Rica in January of 2018, with a week to plan as we went along. We flew into San Jose where I had reserved a basic car from Economy Car Rental (we bought full coverage insurance which I highly recommend you get). I accidentally made the reservation for San Jose, California, but an agent at Economy Rent a Car helped us sort that out, and we were soon out the door and driving down the coast.  Several friends and travel forums had recommended that we check out the Manuel Antonio National Park, so that was our first destination. 

MANUEL ANTONIO

Our first day in Manuel Antonio was a monday, and the national park was closed… so we went on a day trip to Nauyaca Waterfall. The road down to the parking lot was rough on the rental car, and the hike was longer and muddier than we had anticipated.  When we reached the waterfall, it was beautiful, but just as crowded as a public swimming pool on a summer day! Regardless of the crowds, we enjoyed our tropical surroundings and a refreshing swim in the rock pool at the lower falls.  A tour guide had strung up a rope to help his group climb up the rocks to jump in the water, so I ascended the falls and jumped the medium-high 20 or so foot jump.  The upper falls were massive and majestic, but there was nowhere safe to swim beneath the falls, so we just snapped a few photos, before making the return hike.

It was only the first day of our trip, but we had already managed to get blisters on our feet, and we came back to a flat tire on the rental car.  A friendly local resident helped us change out our tire, and we were back on the road in no time. Once back in town we phoned Economy Rental Car and our full coverage insurance got us a new tire delivered and changed out. 

On our final day in Manuel Antonio we visited the national park, with hopes of getting up close with wildlife.  We found the park to be populated mostly with humans, although we did get a faraway glimpse of a mother and baby sloth up in a tree, and a nice stretch of beach where there were a whole lot of monkeys.  

To be honest, I was a little disappointed by the national park, and waterfall we visited the day prior. Perhaps because I have been so privileged to have visited places in the world, where I was able to experience nature, without being part of a crowd. It may have been the season that we chose to visit, or maybe this is the drawback of visiting popular places within a touristically popular country.

One place that I found to be well worth visiting was Manuel Antonio Beach.  We went to the beach late in the afternoon, and rented a surfboard, and Jason and I had the best time splashing around in the warm water and crashing waves.  As sunset approached the sky put on a show of vibrant pinks and oranges... it was one of the most memorable sunsets I’ve witnessed in the world.

If you do find yourself in Manuel Antonio, be sure to eat at the M.A. Falafel Bar. They have better falafel than I can find in Los Angeles, and everything else was delicious too, we ate there twice! Emilio's Cafe was quite good too, with delicious seafood and desserts. Overall Costa Rica has very good food with quality comparable to what you'll find in California. 

MONTEVERDE CLOUD FOREST

Monteverde was entirely different from Manuel Antonio, it was a breath of fresh air.  The air in Monteverde is literally SO fresh, being that it is high up in a cloud forest.  We left Manuel Antonio in the afternoon, and by sundown we were driving up a bumpy, winding road, climbing higher and higher up a mountainside.  As night fell, I was starting to feel uneasy about the condition of the completely unlit road, and how very isolated we felt.

Fortunately nothing bad happened, and as we reached 4,660’ elevation, out of nowhere signs of civilization started to appear. We soon arrived at our guesthouse, and checked into our cozy little room perched on the edge of very windy hill. We fell asleep to the sound of the wind howling, and rattling the big picture windows of our room. We woke up to an absolutely stunning view of a lush, green valley, that throughout the day a sprinkling of rain would display a rainbow or double rainbow arching across. 

One of the big attractions to Monteverde and Costa Rica is zipling.  Within Monteverde there are 5 or 6 ziplining adventure parks, and each boasts of having the biggest, fastest, or longest zipline.  We picked the one that claimed to have the longest zipline in South America, and had a complete blast.  Watch my Instagram story highlights (@wrenees) from Costa Rica to watch Jason and me zipline for 1590 meters, and our terrifying (and hilarious) falls from the tarzan swing. 

RIO CELESTE

Rio Celeste is a river with turquoise water in Tenorio Volcano National Park.  When planning my trip to Costa Rica, I came across photos of Rio Celeste, I couldn't believe the color of the water. I wanted to see just how blue the water of Rio Celeste would be in real life, so we drove to Tenorio Park after Monteverde.  We stayed at a secluded jungle resort, which has access to the river on the property, and absolutely loved our relaxing stay there. The large volcanoes of Costa Rica often create their own weather, and where we were perched on the edge of Tenorio Volcano, it would pour rain intermittently throughout the day despite it being the dry season in the rest of Costa Rica.

We went on a horseback ride down to the river, where we ate local fruit picked from the trees, and went for a exhilarating swim in the river.  The cloudy weather and heavy rains made the river more of a blue-gray color instead of the vibrant turquoise we had seen in photographs, but still it was a sight to see.

TAMARINDO & PLAYA CONCHAL

Our last destination within Costa Rica was near the beach in Tamarindo.  Tarmarindo is a popular surfing destination, and I had hopes of catching some more waves before we left.  The ocean did not cooperate, so instead we lazed on the beach at Playa Conchal.  Playa Conchal is said to be one of the most beautiful beaches in Costa Rica, and nice it was, but I would argue that Manuel Antonio Beach was quite a bit nicer because of the surrounding topography and palm trees. Those who love sandy white beaches would appreciate Playa Conchal, as "conchal" translates to shell or conch shell, and the beach is named after the white sand made up of tiny bits of broken shells. 

After Tamarindo we drove to Liberia where we returned our rental car and caught a local bus (for the equivalent to just a few dollars) to the Nicaragua border where we crossed the border on foot.