Around Costa Rica in 12 Days

¡Pura vida!

My best friends and I just returned from an amazing 12-day trip to Costa Rica. After a year of lockdowns, quarantines and finally vaccines, this trip was much needed. It was our third international trip together as a group and it might have been our favorite one yet. From kayaking, to scuba diving, to surfing and more - we had the adventure vacation of our dreams to make up for the lost year of 2020.

Day one: san jose/Jaco

Flying into San Jose is probably the cheapest option to get into Costa Rica. My flight from NYC was only about $245 round trip. However, I do not recommend spending any time in this city, but rather move onto your next destination like we did. My friend Katie and I got in earlier than the rest of our group, so we picked up the rental car from Enterprise and explored the city so you don’t really have to.

Enterprise was a great option for renting a car in Costa Rica. The service was great and for a massive diesel four-wheel drive Toyota Fortuner including insurance, we only paid $500 for 12 days. Quick note on this - a big car is a MUST to get around Costa Rica with. The roads are pretty terrible in some areas and even with our big SUV, we still got stuck once trying to get to our Airbnb. For more tips on what to know before traveling to Costa Rica, read my blog post here.

Katie and I tried to go to the Toucan Rescue Ranch, which would have been a great way to spend our time waiting, but it was closed due to COVID restrictions set for exactly that week in San Jose by the governor. After driving around for a bit, we found a nice vegetarian restaurant for our first typical Costa Rican lunch.

They call their traditional dishes “typical” and is found throughout the country. It pretty much consists of rice, beans, some type of meat or fish, and plantains - and it’s SO GOOD. After driving around in the city wasting time, we both decided we were glad we didn’t choose to spend a night here since even a few hours was more than enough.

After picking up our friends, we drove an hour and a half southwest to Jaco. We checked into Jaco Inn and scheduled surf lessons for the following day. They also have yoga classes, but they were closed due to COVID restrictions. Jaco Inn is great for a cheap, fast stay. It’s a nice hostel and there are cute little dogs running around all over. It is a safe, secure place with a coded gate and gave us everything we needed for a few nights in Jaco. There wasn’t any hot water and we did find a few large bugs, but nothing really phases us after the flying cockroaches from our trip to Bali.

For dinner, we went to Karma Cafe down the street from our hostel. It is an adorable plant-based restaurant with tons of great food options and drinks. If you are interested in seeing more of the food we ate, my friend Carly has a vegan foodie Instagram with highlights and posts of our pretty food.

Dinner at Karma Cafe was one of our favorite meals on this trip, so I highly recommend going. After dinner, we got drinks right off the beach at a place that had a mariachi band playing called KoKo Gastro Bar. Everything closed at 9 pm due to COVID throughout the duration of our trip, so we got some good sleep.

Post surf lesson with Aloha JoSi Surf School

Day two: JaCO

We had booked surfing lessons the previous day through our hostel for 9 am. After getting something quick to eat down the street, we met our surf instructor and his dog and rode with him to the Aloha JoSi Surf School. We learned so much from Joshua and his surf crew and we all did so well because of it. It was easily one of the highlights of the trip for all of us. When in Jaco, definitely learn how to surf and contact Joshua. I had done a surf lesson once before in Australia and did not learn half the amount of information that Joshua taught us. I was so much more confident on the board this time and caught almost every wave, whereas in Australia I caught one single wave and got hit in the head with a surfboard. Also important to note: Joshua’s dog SURFS.

After surfing and drinking some fresh coconut on the beach, we rode back to the hostel and drove out to our cacao ceremony out in the rainforest at Finca DiVina Vida. Read more about my experience with this cacao ceremony here. It was a phenomenal spiritual journey that we are so grateful to have experienced while in Costa Rica.

We had a blissful post-cacao ceremony drive back to Jaco, got ready and had dinner at Green Room Cafe and Bar. Although most people in Costa Rica speak a little bit of English, having our bilingual friend that studied Spanish in college, Amy, with us made ordering at restaurants much easier, especially once we got out to the spots with less American tourists. The fish tacos were great and they had a lot of vegetarian/vegan options. After dinner, we went to some bars in the surrounding area, met some fun locals and celebrated my 26th birthday when the clock hit midnight at a party off the beach.

Day Three: Manuel Antonio

On day three we got up and drove an hour south for our Damas Island Mangrove Kayak Tour. William is an amazing guide and so passionate about the fauna and flora in the mangroves. He is a marine biologist and has a family-run business giving tours of the mangroves. His wife made us all a magnificent typical Costa Rican lunch after our tour and we appreciated them both so much. This tour is a unique way to explore some of the vast nature in Manuel Antonio.

Finding our Airbnb was a bit of a challenge, but once we arrived at the Moonshine Inn - Pool Level Suite, it was all worth it. Our host greeted us with welcome shots before leaving us to our pool overlooking the jungle. After playing mermaid for a bit, we got an Uber down to the beach for drinks and to watch the gorgeous sunset. Eventually, we made it to Ensō Sushi for my birthday dinner. It was a long wait, but very worth it because the sushi was great.

Titi monkeys in Manuel Antonio National Park

Day four: Manuel Antonio

We finally got to see the famous Manuel Antonio National Park. Parking was $10 but we got to park right outside of the entrance and a nice park ranger greeted us. Note: there are people that dress up as park rangers and try to sell tourists tickets to the park, these are fake. The only ticket to the park is either purchased online in advance or inside the gate of the park. Admission was around $18/person and we were able to pay by card for all of our tickets.

Looking back, I wish we had gotten a tour guide so we could have seen even more wildlife, but we still thoroughly enjoyed the park. We saw two of the three main types of monkeys in the southern part of Costa Rica - titi monkeys and white-faced monkeys. We didn’t see howler monkeys until a few days later, but I am glad we got to see them all. Sloths were nowhere to be found no matter how hard we looked, but the park and its beaches are beautiful and worth the trip.

From there, we drove to Casa Planta for lunch. Casa Planta is a lovely little plant-based restaurant with great ambiance. Our food did take almost an hour to get to us, but we weren’t really in any rush so it didn’t bother us much because it was so good. After changing at our Airbnb, we took a taxi to Espadilla Beach, got drinks from a beach bar and relaxed by the ocean. Eventually, we made our way home and ordered dinner from the Manuel Antonio Falafel Bar.

Day Five: Manuel Antonio

Our much anticipated scuba diving day! Although I am a PADI certified scuba diver, the friends I was with are not, so they had to do a discover scuba course and some pool work before we could get in the ocean. We went diving with the company Ocean’s Unlimited with Nicole and Boris as our instructors. Once we got out into the ocean, we did two dives with a small snack break in between. Lobster Run and Starfish Wall were both lovely locations for diving and we saw so many brightly colored fish, puffer fish, moray eels, starfish and lobsters. For dinner, we went to El Avion to watch the sunset over the jungle. A tiny gecko landed on me while we were eating and the group next to us was having a screaming match, so the dinner was definitely one to remember.

Day six: Monteverde

We drove 3 1/2 hours northwest to Monteverde to spend some time in the rainforest. The weather was a bit cooler due to the jungle climate, but the surrounding nature was astounding. We got lunch at Taco Taco Taqueria, met the restaurant dog Rocky and ate some bomb tacos. Definitely get the avocado taco, it was so good we went back the following day to get more.

Zip lining was up next for our adventure activities, and we booked through Selvatura Park. Zip lining through the jungle was such a fun experience and a must do when in Monteverde. The guides were great and we felt safe the whole time. I recommend this company for all your zip lining needs.

When looking for Airbnb’s, we accidentally booked one for the town over in La Fortuna because options are limited in Monteverde. Luckily, we realized this mistake and our girl Samantha was able to last minute book another one the night before we left for Costa Rica. We stayed at the Green Forest Vacation Home, which was beautiful and had a covered heated pool, which if you don’t know by now is mandatory for us when booking an Airbnb.

After spending some time in our pool, we went to dinner at The Treehouse Restaurant. It was a little pricier than other meals we had in Costa Rica, but it was delicious and the margaritas were strong. We then went to Bar Amigos, which is the only bar in Monteverde and is supposed to be very fun with live music during normal times.

Day seven: Monteverde

Our morning started out with brunch with a view of the rainforest at the gorgeous Celajes Restaurant Monteverde. The food was organic and another of our top favorite meals. Get the avocado toast or huevos rancheros. They even give fresh fruit as an appetizer! Celajes Restaurant Monteverde is definitely a restaurant worth going to while in Monteverde.

We then drove to the famous Monteverde Cloud Forest. It was a $25 entrance fee per person for international visitors and can be paid for at the entrance or online. It was raining the whole time we were in the forest, but it is a rainforest after all, so we weren’t too surprised.

After our second round of avocado tacos at Taco Taco Taqueria, we went to an organic coffee shop and checked out some of the other little stores in town. Eventually, we made our way to Restaurante Sabor Tico for a typical Costa Rican dinner.

That night, we went to the Wildlife Refuge Monteverde for our night tour. It cost around $28/person and started at 8 pm. This was a big highlight of our trip and our guide was phenomenal. We told him we wanted to see a sloth and he looked everywhere and asked other tour guides and found one for us! He also found some frogs, unique spiders and other bugs, two vipers and a few sleeping birds that resembled marshmallows and mangos, and even a sleeping toucan. He clearly loves his job and the wildlife in Monteverde, he even told us he studies up on the 500+ different types of trees in the rainforest on his off season. The Wildlife Refuge is a must do in Monteverde.

Little tree frog we spotted on our night tour

Day Eight: Paquera

On this rough morning, we woke up at 4 am to drive 3 hours southwest to the peninsula of Paquera for our day trip with Bahia Rica Fishing and Kayak Lodge. It started at 9 am and we made it there with time to spare, even after our desperate search for coffee on the drive there. We had booked a package for an Isla Tortuga Day Cruise and Bioluminescence Kayaking at night and it was one of our favorite days.

We got on the boat and cruised through the Gulf of Nicoya, stopping along the way to spot some very active spider monkeys and to snorkel among schools of fish. Upon arrival to the island, we were immediately greeted by the lovely people that worked there and offered Coco Locos, which was rum inside a coconut that we gladly accepted. After playing mermaid in the ocean and walking around the beautiful white sand beach, the Bahia Rica Lodge made us a wonderful typical Costa Rican lunch. Then we decided it was time to take a ride on the banana boat, so we slapped on our helmets and life jackets and took a spin on that dork-mobile, which ended up being one of my favorite memories of the trip.

Eventually, it was time to return back to the mainland. The Bahia Rica Lodge had been booked up for the dates we were there, so they recommended we stay next door at B&B La Casa de Manito. Although we stayed at some gorgeous Airbnb’s, this was my favorite place we stayed at in Costa Rica. It’s a family-owned B&B and the man who runs it, Diego, is so sweet. He showed us around the entire property, introduced us to his mom, his dogs, his brother, Alonso, who cooked for us, and his wife, Carolina. It was only $145 for two rooms for the night and we had two homemade meals.

We made our way back to Bahia Rica Fishing and Kayak Lodge in time for sunset over the ocean and started our bioluminescence kayak tour as soon as it got dark. This tour in conjunction with the Isla Tortuga day trip was only $90/person and well worth it. Our kayaking guide brought us to all the darkest parts of the ocean so we could see the bioluminescence at its brightest. Getting photos of this experience was next to impossible, but it’s something I will remember forever. Bioluminescence kayaking should be at the top of everyone’s bucket list, especially in Costa Rica with the Bahia Rica Lodge.

We returned to the B&B La Casa de Manito to Alonso making us a magnificent dinner. It was by far one of my favorite meals and I only wish we could have stayed even longer at this B&B.

Day nine: La Fortuna

In the morning, Alonso made us breakfast before we started our long journey to La Fortuna. We made it there in about 5 hours, and that was after being stopped by the Costa Rican police twice. They were standing on the side of the road and pulled me over the first time just to check my passport, write down my passport number and then sent us on our way. We assumed they were looking for someone in particular, but thankfully that wasn’t me.

About 45 minutes down the road, more police were standing on the side of the road, took one look at me and pulled me over. This time they wanted my drivers license, wrote that number down and then came up to our car. He told us they don’t have any guns on them, but they do have a drug dog that was going to search our car. He said drugs may be legal back in the US, but they are illegal here. He kept looking in the back of our car and asked us numerous times if we had drugs on us or if we had ever done drugs. We all said no and after asking us the same questions a few more times and telling us he would get his drug dog out, he simply told us to have a good day and let us drive on. It was kind of a bizarre experience, but we gladly continued on our way to La Fortuna.

In La Fortuna, we got our COVID tests exactly 72 hours prior to our flight to the US and then checked into our Airbnb, the Hummingbird Arenal Villa. We had made other plans for that day, but after seeing our beautiful pool in real life, we decided to stay in, order dinner from Spectacolar Cantina and have our own pool party with just the 5 of us.

Day ten: La Fortuna

On this morning, we drove into town to get some coffee and then got picked up from our Airbnb for whitewater rafting with Desafio Costa Rica. We did a class 2-3 and it lasted a good majority of our day. It was so much fun and another one of my favorite activities that we did in Costa Rica. It only cost around $75/person, they provided lunch and the guides were awesome. We also got to see another sloth and she was holding her baby in a tree. It was such an extraordinary thing to see from the river.

After changing, we went to Baldi Hot Springs. It is the largest hot springs in the world and has 25 thermal hot pools heated by the Arenal Volcano. It cost $36/person to get in plus $7 for locker rental. There is also a $10 deposit per towel that is given back when the towels are returned upon exiting. We spent a few hours here and then got dinner at Organico Fortuna. They have a ton of vegetarian and gluten free options and the food is amazing. We enjoyed it so much that we decided to go back for brunch the following day.

My best friends and travel partners - Samantha, Carly, Amy, and Katie

Day Eleven: La Fortuna

Since it was our last full day in Costa Rica, we woke up early to get our day started. Originally, we had wanted to go to the La Fortuna Waterfall. It costs $15/person and is supposedly very beautiful. However, we learned of a free one called El Sapo (Rope Swing) and opted for that instead. It is entirely free and just a short walk down to the falls. We saw some red frogs on the way which made the walk worth it in itself. The falls were lovely and the rope swing looked like a lot of fun, but we had other places to be so we opted to not get in the water.

Next we drove to Arenal Volcano National Park to hike the 1968 Lava Flow Trail. It’s a $17/person entrance fee and has very well kept hiking paths. The terrain changes quite a bit throughout the 2.4 mile hike and features some marvelous views of the volcano if you manage to catch it on a clear day. We were able to see a good amount of the volcano but the top never cleared up much during our stay in La Fortuna.

When Organico Fortuna opened at 10 am for brunch, we said hello to our waitress from the previous night and sat at the same table we had been in 12 hours earlier. The food was once again outstanding and we shopped around in the little boutique inside the restaurant. There are not many other cute shops around La Fortuna, it’s mostly souvenir places, so Organico Fortuna is the perfect place to stop in town.

Then it was time for another round of hot springs! We attempted to go to the famous Springs Resort that was featured on The Bachelor and KUWTK, but it cost $88/person to get in and we did not deem it worthy of that price. Instead, we drove back down the road to the lesser-known Titoku Springs. It is right by Baldi Springs and although it’s much smaller in size, we all agreed we enjoyed it more than Baldi. The man at the front desk gave us a pretty girl discount and we all got in for $50 total plus a free locker and free towel rental. We spent a few hours at Titoku Springs and got free shots from the bartender before heading off to our Last Supper at Kappa Sushi. It is basically the only sushi spot in town and was a great choice for our last vacation meal.

Day Twelve: La Fortuna/home

The San Jose airport is only about 2 1/2 hours from La Fortuna. We left early and drove through the rolling hillsides, pineapple plantations and rice fields on the way to San Jose. Dropping off the rental car was seamless and the shuttle back to the airport was waiting for us when we arrived. We said our goodbyes and each flew to our respective cities as our trip came to a close. We already planned out our next girls trip for 2022, but Costa Rica will be very hard to beat.

Us in our road tripping vehicle - a Toyota Fortuner