January 2017

We just spent the perfect week in Costa Rica and (almost) stayed in budget. It was adventurous and relaxing…basically the perfect tropical getaway.

Day 1: Arrive at the Liberia Airport (LIR)

The flight was about four and a half hours from LAX to Costa Rica. Not too long but you will want a good book or a couple of movies. The airport is pretty small and very relaxed. Right outside were the Thrifty shuttle attendants who instructed us where to wait. The shuttle ride was very quick. This is where we ran into our first (and only) major obstacle.

After reading a few blogs prior to the trip I found out that Costa Rica rental agencies charge for premium insurance. It is a requirement in Costa Rica. The (very bad) assumption I made was that the major rental agencies would know this and include it in their costs, or at the least mention it when you booked. This is NOT the case. ALL rental agencies WILL charge you. This amounted to roughly $15 a day. Kind of a big deal when you thought your entire cost would be $15 a day. Needless to say, our car rental more than doubled the expected amount. PLAN ON PAYING EXTRA! This is what led to us being over budget on the trip.

But moving on. We did rent a Daihatsu BeGo.

It was 4 wheel drive. This was murky on Thrifty’s website, but yes, at least the model they have is 4 wheel drive. And yes, we needed it. We grabbed dinner in Liberia (small city) and headed to Fortuna, roughly two and a half hours away.

GPS note: We did not opt fo the GPS Thrifty offered. I had heard that they didn’t help much in Costa Rica. Instead, I downloaded the google map of Costa Rica ahead of time and we used my phone. While the directions didn’t always line up (wanted us to turn left while on an overpass, the road to turn onto was about 20 feet below us), the maps were useful and the GPS works without internet access.

We arrived at the La Choza Inn Hostel a bit late. The front desk did not speak a lot of English and therefore answered most of our questions with “ask the morning person”. But he was very friendly and got us our room and everything we needed. The room was clean, the only downside was that towels were not provided.

Day 2: Lost Canyon Tour and Arenal Volcano National Park

Lost Canyon Tour

We woke early and had breakfast at the hostel (basic but good). Then our tour, Desafio Adventure Company, picked us up. I don’t generally do these type of tours but rappelling down waterfalls was too enticing. I highly recommend!

The guides were fun and helpful. After picking up a few other people we all got onto open bed trucks to head up a very bumpy dirt road. Upon arriving at the top, there were lockers provided for our change of clothes and personal items. We were then suited up with harnesses, helmets, and gloves. They happily assisted my sister with her GoPro helmet mount.

The tour itself, Lost Canyon, consisted of basic rappelling, short (but steep) zip lining, hiking down a creek looking for frogs and jumping into shockingly deep creek water. The water is warm (at least to those used to glacier water) and it is all in the shade as we were in a canyon.

The guides took photos that were made available for purchase at the end. While enjoying a delicious lunch we got to see the photos via slideshow. That convinced us to buy them, they were never pushy about it. After lunch, they returned us to our hostel.

Arenal Volcano National Park

From there we headed to the Arenal Volcano National Park. There is a short hike at the base of the volcano. It does not take you up the side of the volcano, but there are a lot of good views of it and the large lake just on the other side. We opted for the shorter hike (there are two routes) as we were in a bit of a time crunch. It was an easy, moderate hike with some uphill stints. Beautiful foliage and lava rock everywhere. There is a $10 entry fee, which I say is a little steep, but it was very well maintained.

From there we headed to our AirBnB rental in Ostional.

Day 3: Ostional and San Juanillo Beach

Our Airbnb rental was breathtaking! It slept all eight of us very comfortably and we had our own pool. The kitchen was fully stocked and the views of the sunset were incredible. The owner used a local company so there was a person waiting for us upon arrival and he met us when we checked out. There are some particulars to expect when staying in Costa Rica.

First, toilet paper is thrown away. Nothing goes into the toilet accepts the obvious. Second, they are very green (and this is coming from a Portlander). There were four trash receptacles and we threw all food scraps into the jungle. I am not sure we got them all right, but I admire their dedication.

After a morning a making breakfast and reading by the pool (a norm after this point) we headed up to San Juanillo Beach for some snorkeling. It was the beach suggested by the owner of the house. It is a great beach! There was plenty of parking along the beach and it was not overly crowded. It is a cove so the soft sand wraps all around. There is some good snorkeling (I am not an expert) and it was very safe. There is also some volcanic rock to explore and a couple of trees for shade.

We headed back to the house to make dinner and be mesmerized by the sunset.

Day 4: Playa Guiones (and my birthday)

After the morning routine of laziness, we headed to Playa Guiones, the closest town with anything in it. It took about thirty minutes. Playa Guiones has several hostels and accommodations along with rental car agencies and restaurants. That being said, it is still pretty small. They have some great little shops (all local) along the drive to the ocean that we wandered around for a while. We snacked on meat on a stick and coconuts, sliced open in front of us.

Here we rented surfboards and body boards. They were $10 for half day (we were there late enough to just get this price) at the closest shop to the beach. We each grabbed one and headed to the water. The beach here was slightly more crowded (not really). There were a couple of locals selling their wares but they were not pushy or in your face (like we found in Mexico).

I did attempt to learn how to surf, with some tips from the others. I did manage to stand up (for a second or two) a couple of times. I will say this seemed like a great beach to learn on, I just needed more time. The waves were big enough you probably wouldn’t want to swim. But the soft sand and the pelicans will keep you happy.

Day 5: Relax

On our last day to explore we went back to San Juanillo and then had dinner in Guiones. By this time we knew where the little shop in Ostional was that had ice cream and fresh pineapple. We had discovered that the locals were extremely nice and helpful even if they spoke very little English.

 Day 6: Return to reality

This was leaving day. We headed out early (7:30 AM!) to get to San Jose to drop off our car and get to the airport (SJO). It was a pretty uneventful day but the drive was nice and our GPS did pretty well (besides initially taking us to the wrong airport, which may have been my fault).

Returning the car was hassle free, even though it was covered in dirt. We got the shuttle to the airport and ended up getting there pretty early. There are a couple of shops and restaurants at the airport.

Additional Information:

Roads.

The roads are as people say. Besides in San Jose, even the paved roads have pot holes everywhere. Near the volcano, the roads were mostly paved. Out on the coast, they were rarely paved. The dirt roads are bumpy, which means driving slower than you might normally. Plan for long transportation times. We had to ford two rivers to get to our vacation rental. Those rivers were about 5 inches deep and 4 foot across while we were there, so not a problem. But we were given directions if the water was higher and un-passable.

Food.

Food costs are roughly what they are here in the states. Going out to eat was mildly expensive, but the little food stands were cheap. We bought groceries for a few of our meals and that helped save on costs.

Gas.

I never did the actual calculation, but it seemed to be roughly $50 a tank. There are attendants to pump your gas for you.

Money.

Everywhere we went took credit card (except the little coconut stand). Most also took US cash, although we got some Costa Rican Colones that we used in the small towns. The exchange rate used by locals is 500 to 1. While we were there, that wasn’t a great exchange rate, but when paying $2 for something, it isn’t a big deal. If you want a good rate, use local currency.

All-in-all this trip was an incredible success. Costa Rica is a beautiful country that is still nice to tourists. Out of Hawaii, Mexico, and even Puerto Rico (my old favorite), I would suggest Costa Rica.