Travel Guide To Costa Rica

Costa Rica means “rich coast” + as soon as you’ll visit — you’ll see why! Costa Rica has the most lush, lush, lush rainforest… paired with beautiful beaches + amazing surfing, + so many outdoor activites. + MONKEYS EVERYWHERE! Yoga is plentiful in Costa Rica + you’ll find a lot of yoga + holistic retreats… especially in Nosara + Santa Teresa. It’s an amazing place for nature lovers, adventure seekers, + people who love the ocean.

It’s a very laid back way of life in Costa Rica + you’ll often find people just lounging on the beach, drinking from a coconut, + enjoying the sunset. It’s a tropical paradise! Here are a few of my takeaways from my time in Costa Rica:

#1] My favorite part about Costa Rica: (OTHER THAN HOW BEAUTIFUL THE NATURE WAS?!) The surfing! You can surf at pretty much every costal town in Costa Rica… + there’s waves for every level!

#2] Fun fact about Costa Rica: Costa Rica is the “hummingbird capital of the world” AND it’s one of the most biologically diverse places on earth. It’s home to over half a million animal species. There’s a lot of animal sanctuaries, plenty of opportunity for birding, + spotting wild monkeys everywhere! I absolutely loved the wildlife in Costa Rica. Also, Costa Rica is one of the most conserved places on earth, protecting its jungle + animals. This makes Costa Rica so special!

#3] Something that surprised me about Costa Rica: Overall the food was relatively bland. While we found a lot of cafes we liked, which you’ll see in the guide, I wasn’t BLOWN AWAY by the food — in contrast to Bali which was our favorite food of our lives. It was surprising to me because the fruits + veggies in Costa Rica are plentiful. Granted, we can be “high maintenance” when it comes to food 😉 — but I wanted to call that out! We really liked going to the farmers markets + organic grocery stores, + cooking our own meals.

#4] The driving is NUTS: The roads are bumpy, bumpy, bumpy… + our small car went through multiple rivers. Yes, RIVERS. It’s very slow going + many dirt roads. If possible, I recommend asking a local about the “best route to take” when traveling to different towns — google maps doesn’t necessarily know best in Costa Rica lol. Get an SUV or 4x4 if you can! Drive safe!! Driving gets very DUSTY, so if you are driving at ATV, wear a face mask!

San Jose: This is the airport we flew into! Please learn from our mistake: There is a San Jose, California + a San Jose, Costa Rica… what could have been a 5 hour direct flight turned into 4 flights with 30+ hours of travel. I’ll spare you the details 😉. I don’t recommend staying in San Jose at all — grab your car + go!

• You’ll want to rent a car from the airport (that’s what we did!) + use the car your entire stay. Nosara was the only place we visited where you didn’t *need* a car (it was very small + everything was walkable) — everywhere else it was very nice to have a car!
• The Liberia Airport gives you direct access to Guanacaste Peninsula, which is where we spent most of our time — Santa Teresa, Tamarindo, Nosara. We would have flown into Liberia, had we not gone to Monteverde!

Monteverde is perfect if you… love ADVENTURE, birding/wildlife, + lush lush lush vibes. It’s an extremly small town in the rainforest — very peaceful + serene.

Funny Story: Okay… I have no idea why but I thought the rainforest of Costa Rica was going to look like snakes + tarantulas + monkeys everywhere. Like, I was terrified of the *guided night walk* Isaac had booked on our first night there. Thankfully, the ~scariest~ thing I saw was a scorpion.

Must Eats + Things To Do In Monteverde:

• Stay at Hotel Belmar
• Cafe Monteverde + Cafe Zuccaro — coffee
• Orchid Coffee — best cafe (make sure to get a dessert!)
• Hotel Belmar — best dinner + VIEWS!
• Guided Night Walk (DM me @elisabethsinnott for our guide’s info!)
• Hanging Bridges at Selvatura Adventure Park
• Monteverde Cloud Forest
• Full Wellness Guide To Monteverde

Nosara: Nosara is perfect if you… love YOGA, organic cafes, + surfing. It’s a small, hoslistic community that has a big focus on health-consciousness + sustainability. If you are super into yoga, I’d actually recommend staying at the Bodhi Tree Yoga Resort… + making a yoga retreat out of it!

Must Eats + Things To Do In Nosara:

• Stay at Nomadic Hotel
• Naked Foods — fav cafe
• Coyol Restaurant — BEST restaurant + views, *must make a reso
• La Luna — sunset + drinks
• Yoga class at Bodhi Tree Yoga Resort
• Go surfing!
• Sibu Wildlife Sanctuary
• Get a ride in a Tuk-Tuk — forget Uber, catch a Tuk-Tuk!
• Full Wellness Guide To Nosara

Tamarindo: Tamarindo is perfect if you… want to PARTY, love resort towns, + want to learn how to surf! The town of Tamarindo wasn’t our cup of tea — but we really enjoyed staying in Playa Langosta.

Must Eats + Things To Do In Tamarindo:

• Stay at Zen Gardens Tamarindo (on Airbnb)
• Tamarindo Coffee Roasters — best coffee
• Breaking Bread — fav breakfast spot… the bread is so good!
• La Bodega — fav salads + plantain chips
• The Jungle — best restaurant (shrimp tacos!)
• Surf at Playa Langosta
• Saturday Farmers Market
• Long beach walk during sunset… with a coconut in hand!
• Full Wellness Guide To Tamarindo

Santa Teresa: Santa Teresa is perfect if you… love SURFING, yoga, boho vibes, shopping, + the perfect sunset. Santa Teresa was a mix of a lot of families, + young international travelers. It reminded me a lot of what I imagined Canggu *used* to be like back in the day, or Byron Bay!

Must Eats + Things To Do in Santa Teresa:

• The Bakery — fav cafe
• Katana — fav restaurant
• Go surfing!
• Take a yoga class
• Go shopping!
• Day trip to Montezuma! (see more below)
• Full Wellness Guide To Santa Teresa

Montezuma: Montezuma is perfect if you… love LOCAL + authentic small towns, waterfalls,, + riding around in an ATV. Montezuma is about a 30 minute ATV drive (it’s beautiful!) from Santa Teresa — I recommend going as a day trip.

Must Eats + Things To Do in Montezuma

• Anamaya Resort — fav restaurant + infinity pool + yoga studio
• Montezuma Falls
• See all the wild monkeys!
• Butterfly Brewing Co.
• Hang out at Montezuma Beach
• Drive around in your ATV + explore!

Costa Rica Q+A:

#1] When to vist? The “dry season” is December-April. We were there in January + it was perfect!

#2] How long to visit? It depends on how many places you want to go! We were in Costa Rica for one month. It’s definitely do-able to spend one week in Costa Rica + go to 1–2 places. Or, spend you entire time at a yoga retreat!

#3] To go or not go to Arenal Volcano? Chances are, if you are looking into a trip to Costa Rica, you’re deciding if you should go to Arenal Volcano. We decided to skip it. We’ve heard from friends that it’s really touristy, which we try to avoid. That was our preference though. If you go + love it, let me know!

#4] Traveling by yourself? Check out the Selina Hostels! They are abundant in Costa Rica + very much a “backpackers paradise.” If you are into yoga, I’d definitely recommend staying at a yoga retreat! There are so many!

#5] Any foods I need to try? Casado (most popular traditional lunch plate), plantains/patacones, flan for dessert, + all the seafood (lots of poke + shrimp tacos!).

If you go to Costa Rica, let me know + share with me your favorite spots!

Love,
Elisabeth