The heat, the beauty, the beach, and the food; just a few of the wonderful things about Costa Rica! 

We headed to Costa Rica for the beginning of February (2023). It seemed to be a wonderful time to go, as the temperature is hot, and there is no rain at that time of the year on the Pacific coast. Occasionally you see a small fluffy cloud in the sky. You certainly don’t have to look at the weather when planning your activities!  Thankfully there was always a breeze (often a wind) to keep things a bit cooler, but it was hot! 

We spent most of our time in Tamarindo, which is a cool surfing town. Did we surf? Not a chance! It was lots of fun watching the skilled and not-so-skilled surfers tackle the waves. We even saw one surfer doing a headstand on his board! 

We stayed with our friends in a beautiful condo (La Perla). It was a block up from the beach, but it was a great location. Just a short walk to the beach, but some of the accommodations in Tararindo are high on the hill and would be quite a walk at the end of the day. 

The condo was well equipped and you could easily cook all your meals there if you were so inclined, but the great selection of restaurants beaconed us! There was also a beautiful outdoor cooking area at the pool and an exercise area for common use. The pool area was so beautiful and often we were the only ones there!

We had breakfasts at the condo and usually just snacked at lunchtime. Most of the evenings we had a lovely supper out. It was hard to find a poor meal. Our favourite meal was the dinner we had at the hotel above the condo. Our favourite location for a meal was the Agua Salada which was just below the condo, right on the beach. We timed the meal perfectly for the sunset. Lights were hanging in the trees, and the glowing “wall” of the sunset gave a surreal feeling to the setting. 

The meals were not cheap and paid in American funds, so that conversion made it worse, but we could have made more meals at the condo to save money. That being said, there were so many little restaurants that I wanted to try that we didn’t get to! There was a 10% gratuity added on to the bill, so you didn’t feel the requirement or any pressure to tip in addition, but we did some of the time. 

We went on a beautiful catamaran sunset tour that started at noon and included a lovely lunch on the boat. We were able to get off the boat in a sheltered cove and swam to shore. Another beautiful beach! There were mixed reviews on this part of the day because the waves made it more difficult to return to the boat than expected, but I enjoyed it!  We saw whales and seabirds and an incredible sunset. No shortage of drinks and lots of fun people on the boat made it an enjoyable day! 

Our other water adventure was a cruise up the river with Enrica. He took us into every little stream, and noticed EVERYTHING! Little crabs, crocodiles, every kind of seabird, monkeys and he knew so much about the trees and environment. He served us some fresh pineapple, which he chopped up like a chef and served on a quarter of the skin. It was a peaceful two-hour adventure. We headed out at low tide because they said that was the best time to find the crocs…and we saw 4! 

One of my favourite things was the monkeys. Howler monkeys live in the trees throughout the town and where you saw one, if you were still and quiet, you would often find several. I watched them several mornings on my walks. They would lay on the branches, swing from branch to branch, grab at the leaves to eat and I even saw a couple cross the power lines to get to trees across the street. The cutest thing I saw was the baby monkey climbing up to his mama and right onto her back. He held on while she climbed around the tree. 

The town of Tamarindo is anything but accessible. I wouldn’t want to go there if I had mobility issues. In some places there are sidewalks, but even the sidewalks are rough and uneven. There are trenches in some places, I’m assuming to direct some of the water during the rainy season, that you had to jump over or walk out into the road to get around.  

Every morning I got up early to go for a walk, mostly on the beach but a couple of times throughout the town. There wasn’t a moment that I felt unsafe. The beach was never empty, and lots of other people had the same idea as me in the mornings. There were even surfers in the water at sunrise every day. 

One day we visited another beach and ate at Lola’s famous for the huge pig, but they “told us” that Lolita was in her quarters and we weren’t allowed to see her. Not quite sure she exists now…

We also went to Rincon de la Vieja, which is one of the areas where there is a volcano. We were not able to go to the volcano because it was closed due to volcanic activity. We did visit a waterfall there and went to the hot springs. We did the full experience, mud bath included; that was a challenge for me, but I’m glad we did it. The other challenge of the day was the suspension bridges (2 of them) and the suspension stairs (also 2 sets). Tackling my fears around every corner! 

The adventures were exciting, but I was very content just to walk on the beach, and swim in the beautiful pool. The little shops in Tamarindo were fun too.

All in all, an amazing adventure. Would I recommend it? Absolutely!