Costa Rica
I believe that Costa Rica is one of a few countries that is a beginner trekker’s dream. The people are helpful toward foreigners, they speak English, and if you need anything, it is easily found. During the middle of the pandemic of 2021, I was fortune to have the opportunity to came back after over a decade. Besides, it is one of a handful of countries that would not require you to be quarantine for 1 week or 2 in a hotel before they let you go about as long as you have tested a negative for Covid-19 within 72 hours prior you enter the country.
There is not bad time to go to Costa Rica. Be aware that there is rarely anything in this country is free anywhere you go. Because everything is priced in US dollar and not cheap and not too expensive, you still need to do your research if the itinerary is worth pays for.
We (me, wife, and daughter) arrived at Liberia International Airport on April 20, 2021 at 9pm. We knew that it was going to be late, so we book a room at Hilton Garden Inn Guanacaste Airport which was across the street of the airport. A decade ago, I remembered that the old airport was just an oversized shed with 2 large fans and there was a grass parking lot next to the airport. At the time, we did not have a nice building with AC and up-to-date ticket counters. I guess that they finally updated 4 years ago.
The hotel provided free airport pickup which was nice because it was late, and we were not in the mood for a half mile walk. Like a majority of the Hilton hotels, the room was very clean, and the environment was very comfortable. The minute our luggage was in the room, we race down to the restaurant and order a steak and a pasta dish which were good eating. Maybe it is because we were hungry. After a quick walk around the hotel, we got back to the room and sleep.
The next day, we hire a taxi (a few days before) to picked us up at the Hilton to Hotel Riu Guanacaste, an all-inclusive resort. This is also my 2nd time I was at this hotel. The thing I like about this hotel is that the beach is quite and there is a bit for everyone. For example, there is a casino for the adults, a water park for the family, two large swimming pools for the kids and warm beach for everyone. As for the food, it was plenty and good, but because of the pandemic it was not as “wow” as it was when I first stay here. For example, there were not too many tropical fruits, vegetables, and variety of meats but it was still plentiful. Like many all-inclusive, there are three a la carte restaurants (Asian, steak house, and Italian) that you must book in advance and not all are open nightly. My opinion is that the best restaurant was Asian, and the worst was steak house. Let me know if want me to add a full review of Hotel Riu Guanacaste by emailing me at [email protected]
There are so many gems at Hotel Riu Guanacaste has to offer to their guests. Beside the basic all-inclusive stuff of a resort, if you open your eyes, look around, and ask around you can be treated with some of the local treats. To begin, if you happen to bring a fishing line and a fishing hook, you can do a bit of beach fishing like the locals. There are plenty of crabs and wash up small fishes that you can use a bait. The local usually do some fishing around 3 and 4 pm at the beach hotel. I’ve heard if you catch the fish and decided to keep it, you can give it to the chief who will prepare if for you as part of your diner. In return, you just tip the cook. Next, at the time we were there, there were a few coconuts that was like low hanging fruits. We were able to crack a few and fill out flask with fresh coconut juice. Talking about local fresh tropical fruits, along the beach, there are plenty of small pods on the florr and later found out they were tamarins which was totally edible. Talking about local creatures, there are so many iguana around the hotel, sometime you will see geckos in your room. Geckos are harmless so don’t freak out, they are natural pest control. We came across a few snakes and raccoons on the way to diner.
After resting up for 3 nights at Hotel Riu Guanacaste, we were schedule to hire a car at Payless Car Rental. I shared a ride with a couple to the airport because they were going home. When I got there, I’ve realized that the rental car company was one mile outside the airport. I did not mind walking in the hot sun, but I want to see my bargaining skill with the taxi drivers. They quoted me for $20 to get to Payless Car Rental. But after talking to a few drivers loudly so other taxi drivers can hear me, a driver was willing to take me there for $10 USD. I assumed that he was going that way anyway.
Once I got the car, I drove back to the resort to pick up the family to Coco Beach for a day trip. Coco beach is a tourist area where the sand is black and the water is calm. If you are planning to do some surfing, you are out of luck. There are some sharp rocks in the water so you got to be careful. Along some of the hotels or shops, there are mango trees that are flood with ripe mangos on the floor. The best thing was that it was free. I took out my pocketknife and tried a piece. They were so sweet, so picked a bag full for our daily fiber. We took our time and strolled along the beach and local street to see how local lives were like. One thing that I like was that there were a lot of street vendors selling local delegacies. We ended our day at Bambu café on the beach and watch the sunset.
One of the many things that Costa Rica is known for are their waterfalls. They are many spectacular waterfalls and they cost like $25 USD average. If you are looking for something more affordable then check out Catarata Llanos del Cortés (GPF2+QJ Bagaces, Guanacaste Province, Costa Rica) where you just pay $5 per car for entrance. When you get there, there is a short hike down to the waterfall. When you take off your shoes, and put them in the shallow water, you will be greeted with small fishes giving you a foot massage. The people there said that the fishes just looking for dead skin that they nibble on. My daughter freaked out at first, but realize that it they don’t have teeth and they were just tingling her feet. Because we were there during the dry season, the waterfall was not massive, but a local said that the fall can be very strong during the wet season, and the water turned brown because of the sentiment above the fall. If you are bit adventurous, you can do a hike above the fall and someone told me that there is a senote up there. I did not venture there because I had a blast at the fall and did not have time to do the short hike. For sure, next time I will.
The next day we left our beloved Hotel Riu Guanacaste and headed to Monteverde region because it is well known for its magistic forest. When we got there we went to Santa Elena (a small town) to get some groceries at Super Compro and zipline/forest tour company. We were able to get a guided forest tour, with zipline, and self-tour at Selvatura Adventure Park for the following day
That night we stayed at an AirBnb called Green Forest Vacations Homes (859J+4H Monteverde, Puntarenas Province, Costa Rica). It is like a container home and there are 3 units (2 containers per unit) at that compound. Each units have 1 bedroom and 2 queen bed, single story with all of the amenities. A few step away, there is an partial outdoor swimming pool that is heated with a jacuzzi. It was a well though out floor plan and recommend anyone do come to the area and visit. That night it was windy but the pool was shielded from the wind, so it was nice to swim and relax with my daughter there. Because it was a long drive, I was tired and slept when I got back to the room.
. If you happen to be in Costa Rica, you must do the zipline. It does not have to be at Selvatura Adventure Park, but any adventure parks here. It makes you feels like you are flying above the trees. We arrived at Selvatura Adventure Park at 9am because we don’t want to be too late because it can get hot later on the day. We were prepped with safety gears by the staffs and a though talk what to do in any bad cast scenarios. In the beginning, I was a bit worry for my girl that she might be too scared because there is no leverage on you to slow down or stop during ziplining until you get to the end. So, to be safe, she did tandem with a guide. After the first round of ziplining, she was confidence to ride on her own. The feeling of flying above the canopy of trees cannot be explain but have to be experience. After our ziplining, we get a guided tour in the rain forest. I do recommend that you do the tour because the staff really know their plants and creatures that live there. For example, the guide was able to spot a tarantula home and carefully shine a flashlight into a hole, and we spotted the giant spider. His knowledge on the local plants was amazing. He was able to explain how each plants play an important to the ecosystem.
After a great time at Selvatura Adventure Park, we headed to an unusual display of miniature orchid farm, Bello Amanecer Eco-Farm. Here the owner of the farm has some of the most rarest miniature orchid in the world. She arranges it wonderfully as you walked through the orchids display as naturally. She said that because of the drought, she has to hose the plants with water keep it stay alive. Also, at the farm, you can do some petting the animals, like sheep, horse, chicken and etc. Other than the orchid and live stocks, there is a living hollow tree that awe me, because you can step into the middle and look up into it’s hollow middle. Because it structured like a spider web, you are welcome to climb it at your own risk if you like (according to the owner of the property). The owner also told me that he does give personal tour at night for anyone who is interested spotting animals because a lot of the wildlife are nocturnal.
That night on the way home I stopped by a rotisserie chicken place that Raulito’s Pollo Asado (60109, Provincia de Puntarenas, Monteverde, 60109, Costa Rica). I got a full chicken, fried plantain, chicken empanada, and fried rice. As pull out up to the AirBnb, we found out that one of our tire was low in air and tire looks totally worn out. It was so worn out that we felt uncomfortable to drive. This is why you should always inspect the rental thoroughly and have insurance. That night I was on the phone with the rental to have a person deliver a new van to us. After a hour on the phone, the operator will deliver another van to us the next day. They ask if I want it at 7, 8, 9, or 10 am. I told them to have it at 7am. The driver did not deliver the van until 12 pm. I make sure that I took pictures of the car and tire, so I can give it to my rental insurance (RentalCover.com).
After we got our van, we took off our next location, Tabacon region, to soak in the hot spring. It was a long drive there from Monteverde, but because the ride was scenic, it was all worth it. On the way, we stopped by Tom’s Pan German Bakery (300 Mt Al Sur De La Gasolinea, Nuevo Arenal, 50807, Costa Rica). The food here is phenomenal, the scenery of Arenal Lake was breath taking, and the natural juices and smoothie are all natural.
The resort that we stay was Tabacon Thermal Resort & Spa, and it was not a cheap stay. It was like $379 per night and we stay there for 2 nights. It was something that my wife want to slur on. When we got there, we were greeted with champagne and fruits as we check-in. On top of that we had a golf cart drive us to our room. The place was amazing and it makes me wonder if this is how rich people vacation everytime. By the time we go there, was already dark, so we just got some food at the hotel restaurant and explore the resort.
The next day, first thing in the morning, we had breakfast and then we race down to the hot spring. The way Tabacon Thermal Resort & Spa did the layout of the hot spring give you a varities of different pools and temperature of each hot springs pool It is great for people who just are into van life. I was really impressed, and one of the staff told me that the resort would cost more per night if it wasn’t for Covid-19. If you want to access the hot spring for free, you can go to the side of the Tabacon Resort. There you walk a few yard and you can soak in the warm water.
By noon, we drove to a small local downtown, La Fortuna. There were a lot of restaurants there but many were close during noon. We walked around and got some souvenir and snacks. By 3:30pm, we were hungry and ate at at Soda Víquez (F9C4+75P, San José, Pérez Zeledón, Costa Rica) and the food was so good and very affordable. We got some take-out for later. There are many restaurant like this around La Fortuna.
We got back to the resort and did another round of soaking in the hotspring until it close at 7 pm. Because the resort is in the middle of nowhere, there were not much to do but eat, watch TV and sleep. The next morning, we had a hotel sent us someone to give use a Covid test to re-enter the US in 3 days. To my surprise, they charge $150 per person per test. If we were to go to town, we could have it for $45 within 24 hours.
After the Covid testing, we went to Los Lagos Hotel, Spa & Resort (6 km oeste del Parque Central, Alajuela Province, La Fortuna, 21007, Costa Rica) just a few miles down the road. This place is like hot spring water park and not as upscale as Tabacon Thermal Resort & Spa but fun for kids. The perk is that we get a breakfast buffet included with our room. Stay there for 1 night but because we immediately have our room, before noon, we were able to explore this huge estate.
The thing that I like about this place is that it is a great place to explore and look for wildlife but at your own risk. I see so many different lizards, ant lairs, coati (tropical raccoon), birds, and a monkey. For the last night in the Costa Rica forest, I wanted to explore at night with a flashlight but I did not venture far because it was hard to find anything if you don’t know what you are looking for and the mosquitos are vicious.
The following day we had brunch in La Fortuna at Pollo Fortuneño (F9C3+C3 La Fortuna, Alajuela Province, Costa Rica). We saw some of the entrée on Yelp, and order the tacos, half chicken (pollo) with fried plantain, some special drink, burger with more fried plantain. The food was so good, and it was a great way to end our adventures as we headed to San Jose.
We go to San Jose at 3pm and decided to drive to downtown San Jose. Because there was so much people there, we did not get out of the car, so we just drove around and observer. We arrived to our hotel, Hampton by Hilton San Jose Airport (2R23+VV Alajuela, Alajuela Province, Costa Rica) and check in. Afterward, we returned the car, which as half a mile away. That night we ate at Denny’s (a popular American restaurant chain). There was not much to wrote about Denny’s.
Notes:
- Local fresh fruits (drinks and smoothis)
- Natural juices
- Zipline
- Free hotspring next to the Tabacon Resort
- To be safe, do try to explore for local animals and do stay at a safe distance
- Do pace some food from you trip at hotel buffet
- Rent room with AC