Our Experience in Costa Rica January 20-28, 2025

So we just spent a week in Costa Rica. This was our first visit to this lovely central American country.  We had briefly toyed with the idea of going about 5 years ago, but when we discovered, at that time, that tickets to the UK were actually less expensive and less hassle, Costa Rica got put on hold.  My son had an almost 6 week break from school in January of this year, so I brought up a few possibilities for a short vacation.  Given that no  one had any interest in going anywhere cold, the decision was made to head south.

Planning was an extensive process, as there are many beautiful places to go, and given the conditions of the roads (more on that later), it is not so easy to get from place to place.  My lovely goddaughter, who spent several years living in Costa Rica, offered her recommendations and soon it was decided, we would spend four nights each in La Fortuna, near the Arenal Volcano and, following a day trip to the famed Monteverde area enroute, four more nights by the beach in Tamarindo. I'm going to give you a bit of overview of both places, and then share a few observations and surprises!

LA FORTUNA/ARENAL:

At 7:10 am, we arrived at Liberia airport, which proved to be a better location given our itinerary.  From here we drove to La Fortuna via a stop in Parque Nacional Volcan Tenorio to do some light hiking in extremely rainy weather (thank God we brought and accessed the $8 rain ponchos, which saved our lives) before having some lunch and tubing on the rapids of Rio Celeste with Onca Tours.  The roads and navigation thereafter to La Fortuna were frustrating until I finally had to call our hotel and get directions from the very patient English speaking man at the front desk!  We finally arrived at the absolutely lovely Arenal Springs Resort and Spa in La Fortuna as the sun was setting, tired from the overnight flight and bedraggled by rain and humidity.  The staff offered a smile and a complimentary welcome drink, and I nearly burst into tears!

Hanging out at our Hot Springs

La Fortuna is an inland city that lies in the shadow of the majestic Arenal Volcano, which in turn lies under a blanket of clouds.  La Fortuna gets a lot of rain, especially during the night and in the morning, which makes the area very lush, green and humid with daytime temperatures reaching to about 80.  My hair was complete frizz the whole time, with nothing to be done except to try to blow dry it straight!  There is a lot to do using La Fortuna as your base, especially if you have a car at your disposal. Thanks to the volcano, there is an abundance of hot springs in the area.  Many hotels have their own hot springs, and many of these hotels offer a day pass option for non-guests.  After experiencing the beauty and comfort of the hot springs at our own hotel, we opted out of paying $50 for a day pass elsewhere.  The hot springs are fresh water, and gratefully, do not have that sulphur-y smell that I have experienced before.

From La Fortuna you can drive one hour out to Sarapiqui and raft on the river there.  We had a thrilling day with Aguas Bravas over the class 2 and 3 rapids.  Also within 20 minutes are the Mistico Hanging Bridges Park, the breathtaking Catarata Rio Fortuna and more light hiking at the Parque Nacional Volcan Arenal.  We also mountain biked around part of Lake Arenal and braved the rope swing, "El Salto."  Basically, there are all types of adventures offered.  Ziplining (called canopy tours) is omnipresent.  Jet skiing, rapeling, ATV tours, birdwatching, nature tours, cocoa tours, coffee tours, sloth tours--it's all near La Fortuna.  You just have to get out of your hotel.

Rafting on the Sarapiqui River

Mistico Hanging Bridges Park

Catarata Rio Fortuna

Mountain Biking at Lake Arenal

MONTEVERDE:

The Reserva Biologica Bosque Nuboso Monteverde (the Monteverde Cloud Forest) is the single most visited place in Costa Rica.  The area is also replete with adventure operations ready to zip you, Superman style if you like, over the trees and through the clouds.  We started our day in Monteverde at 9am with a 7 line ziplining adventure with TreeTopia Park.  Despite the excitement of flying 300 feet above the ground with only a few harnesses, a carabiner and some rope preventing you from certain death, the howling wind and rain nearly killed us.  Who knows, maybe better to go in the afternoon.  Anyway, after a quick soda lunch in Santa Elena, off we went to the cloud forest where there is light hiking through the wet reserve.

First some ziplining into the clouds

then some hiking in the Bosque Nuboso
de Monteverde

These experiences in Monteverde are remarkable, but here is the rub my friends, getting  there is just awful.  The distance from La Fortuna to Treetopia Park in Santa Elena is a mere 105 miles, but it took us 3 hours and 15 minutes to get there, meaning we travelled at an average of about 32 miles per hour.  We left La Fortuna at 5:30 am to arrive by 8:30am.  Though only two lanes and windy, the road out of La Fortuna starts nicely enough.  The last half, however, is a painful slog of dust, potholes and gravel.  After leaving Monteverde, we drove nearly 4 hours to Tamarindo, a distance of only 102 miles.  Grueling.  Had we not taken the side trip to Monteverde, we could have taken the main road the whole way and likely saved a lot of time and agony.  Worth it?  Not sure.  You better have a driver you trust.

TAMARINDO:

Pretty much every evening
in Guanacaste

Tamarindo is a totally different ball of gallo pinto.  Tamarindo is a city in the Guanacaste Province that fronts the Pacific Ocean.  We were told that first timers going to the beach in Costa Rica needed to come to Tamarindo, ok, so we came.  On the coast it is very warm, bordering on 90 degrees daily, and dry.  Henceforth, the area is much less green overall AND my frizzy hair went away immediately.  We actually were not in Tamarindo but rather just south in Playa Langosta, which is about a 20 minute walk from anything you would want to do in Tamarindo. Tamarindo is caustically nicknamed "Tamagringo," and while we did see more North Americans here and hear more English spoken, we did not find it to be a commercialized town full of chain restaurants and high end stores, like, let's say, Waikiki.  As it is a 20 minute walk, and it can be quite hot, you can drive to town and park in a lot all day for $10.  Good deal and safe.

But really, in three days we spent very little actual time in the city of Tamarindo.  We mostly drove through with our car on our way to beaches, activities, and restaurants out of town.

There are a lot of great beaches within driving distance of the city, but you have to be cautious, as the oceanside does seem to be teeming with dangerous rip currents and almost none of the beaches have lifeguards, so you really have to do your research, and never go out alone or without someone watching you from the shore.  The coast near Tamarindo is also famous for surfing, and many beaches lend themselves far more to this activity rather than actual swimming.  Two great beaches we found to be at least reasonably swimmer friendly were Playa Conchal and Playa Flamingo. Both have a sandy bottom, some shade on the beach, and the water is refreshing but not too cold. 

Playa Conchal

Playa Flamingo

The beach experience in Costa Rica is different than what we have experienced in other places.  Lots of families go to the beach on the weekends.  They bring the whole business with barbeques and coolers and music and all the things.  There are a LOT of vendors on the beach.  We were particularly grateful to the guy that sold us the use of a pop up tent for the day for $20.  People wander up and down the beach selling jewelry, massages, fruit, snacks, cocktails, and dessert.  One guy even sold us three of the best empanadas we had ever had.  The sell in general is not a hard one.  If you are not interested, the vendors usually move on.  

20$ for all day use of the EZ-up tent

on Playa Flamingo

In Playa Conchal, you actually have to park in Brasilito and walk along the beach about 15 minutes south, hauling all your gear, to get to the much more desirable area.  Everyone, is doing this and it's actually funny to watch the steady stream of beachgoers seeking more favorable waters.  It is very obvious when you get there.

There are a few beach bars in the area where you can go, rent an umbrella and a chair, and have use of their facilities all day long.  Lola's in Playa Avellana rents two beach chairs and one umbrella all day for 54$.  It seems that most of the drinking holes up and down the beach in Tamarindo offer some kind of similar arrangement, probably for a little less.  If you don't want to rent equipment, it is no problem to plop your beach towel or your foldable chair down anywhere and enjoy the beach, which is public.  You likely can also walk into any bar and buy drinks to take out onto the sand with you.  Stay for sunset.  The Tamarindo sunsets are unmatched.

The Sunset view from Lola's

Activities in Guanacaste are the same as the ones available inland, though I would venture to guess that the inland activities are a little more beautiful.  We road horses through some rather meh terrain with Black Stallion Ranch and went on a fabulous catamaran cruise (billed as a snorkeling cruise, but we are thinking the snorkeling was pretty mediocre and we didn't go) with Marlin del Rey.  The latter I highly recommend, as you could drink all day long and finish your excursion up with a great meal and a breathtaking sunset.

Aboard the Marlin del Rey

and the sunset from the boat

We thoroughly enjoyed two meals we had, the previously mentioned Lola's on Playa Avellana and at Fish and Cheeses, only a four minute walk from our condominium.

DRIVING:

Now this could be an entire blog post in and of itself.  THE COSTA RICAN ROADS HANDS DOWN ARE THE WORST ON THE PLANET AND TICO DRIVERS MAY ALSO BE THE WORST ON THE PLANET.  In 2018, 1 in every 1000 Ticos was involved in a fatal or serious traffic accident.  That same year one in every 25 was involved in a traffic accident requiring the involvement of police.

If you are lucky you are driving on a two lane road.  At no time in the eight days we were there do I remember driving on anything but a two lane road.  You will share this road, which is the highway mind you, with slow trucks, parked cars, pedestrians, horses, bicycles, and lot of motorcycles.  Passing is rampant, basically anytime you think someone is going too slow, because there is no way that slow truck is going to pull over to let people pass.  The roads are pocked with potholes, some of them literally the size of VW busses, and if it has been raining, you can't see how deep they are. If you don't have potholes to slow you down, the speedbumps will. They are everywhere...

Believe me this is nothing..
I have videos with bicycles towing horses!

Another big problem is the regular appearance of the gravel road.  We drove miles and miles on gravel roads to get to Monteverde, to get to activities, and to get to dinner--it's just the price you pay.  Driving on a dirt road is a slow and dusty business, oh, and the gravel roads have potholes too.  Waze is an effective tool while in Costa Rica, but do keep in mind that it is going to take you the way it thinks is fastest, even if it's not really the best choice.  It is also hard to orient yourself on Waze, relative to the other roads around you, so Waze may be taking you on a yucky steep gravelly short cut, when it might have been less painful to just stay on the road you were on.  TWICE we were directed onto closed roads and other times we were just directed to the center of town rather than to the actual destination.  We got so lost on our way from raft tubing to our hotel in Arenal that I had to pull over an call the hotel.  I can't believe we ever made it.

A 4WD is essential.  There's no way around it.  No timid drivers either.  Avoid driving at night.  Pray.  Bring a real live map-the kind you hold in your hand.

FOOD:

The food in Costa Rica is AMAZING!  Super fresh and healthy. The smoothie is a staple, and when you try the fresh fruit, you will know why.  Lots of vegetables, beans, and rice. 

A little outdoor cafe serving typical Costa Rican food is called a "soda."  The typical Costa Rican plate lunch is called a "casado," which means married man.  It is so named as it represents what a wife might feed her hungry man at the end of a hard work day--salad, beans and rice, meat, and vegetables.  We had these whenever we could, with chicken, fish, or beef.

PEOPLE:

The people in Costa Rica are kind and helpful and hospitable.  They are welcoming to tourists.  Most speak some English and like to try to practice as much as they can.  We felt very safe at all times, including when we parked our rental car full of luggage.  No stink eye in Costa Rica.  We could not say the same the last time we went to Hawaii...

Anyway, quite sadly I will not be travelling for quite some time!  My fun run has come to a pause.  Sit tight!  I am hoping in a few months to be back out on the road again

Once again, do not forget to follow me on Instagram!