Costa Rica - Pura Vida
- Snow_Bunny
- May 4, 2021
- 8 min read
Woah! I didn't leave the US for 20 months, the first time as an adult I haven't traveled internationally every year. The Global Pandemic and subsequent travel lockdowns has been something incredibly difficult to overcome - not only because of feeling stuck and that time is moving in slow motion, but also because the world was in crisis with millions of people suffering from a devastating illness that hit underserved communities the hardest. To say the least, 2020 was a year that we internationally all faced some of the biggest hardships of our lives, whether it be from losing employment, homes, savings, or from much even harder issues like mental health and loss of loved ones. So, complaining about not being able to travel seems a little privileged, I know!
I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to get away to one of the most beautiful countries with outstanding landscapes where clear blue water meets white shorelines which meets lush jungles and fades into volcanic mountainsides. This escape was made possible thanks to a year's worth of hoarding credit card points. The Delta Amex card afforded us the 48K points we needed for 2 roundtrip flights and the Hyatt Chase Visa card sign up bonus and spend got me $100K points to book for 4 nights at the beautiful Los Altos Resort in Manuel Antonio.
To say this resort was incredible is an understatement. A Hyatt Boutique Hotel with an infinity pool looking out over the Pacific, open air eating facilities and private beach access. The resort is definitely made for family vacations as there are only 36 total "rooms" that each has private elevator access onto your wing with three bedrooms, 2.5 baths, kitchen, living, dining areas and a balcony to sit on to view it all. I can't recommend this resort enough! Also, the pandemic obviously didn't just end, so the resort was very safe with plenty of hand sanitizing stations, masks required in common spaces and worn by all staff, and it was so nice as the first foray back into traveling after more than a year away.
We arrived early in the morning after an overnight flight from Portland into San Jose. The Covid19 protocols are definitely a new hurdle for travel, so plan for plenty of time and make sure to follow all requirements. Costa Rica does not require a negative test to enter, but you do have to sign up on their tourism site prior to arriving and upload travel insurance that shows at least $35K in coverage. You will receive a QR code that they scan upon arrival before you can get in line for regular customs. This all took around an hour before we could get to the rental car agency and be on our way.
Our first stop was to get a tico breakfast at El Blacon del Cafe in Atenas, a beautiful town about 40 minutes from San Jose and up on the hill with views for days. Tico breakfast includes "Gallo Pinto" which is rice, beans, cilantro, green chilies, all slow cooked together, plantains, grilled cheese and eggs with ham. And, if you are exhausted after a 7 hour overnight flight, a Coca-Cola with real sugar isn't a bad option either!
Continuing our drive down to Manuel Antonio we had to stop at the touristy Crocodile bridge and see the sleepy crocs basking in the morning sun. We unfortunately did not save any of our breakfast to offer them, but we did get to capture a few photos of the giant sleeping reptiles.
From here we took one more pit stop to get the first touch of the ocean and enjoy the beauty of Jaco. I can't describe the excitement to be in the sunshine (after a cold, wet Portland winter) and dip toes into warm water.
From here, it was off to the resort to make sure we could make our 1PM pick up with Ocean King Catamaran for our sunset cruise! As I said before, our resort was amazing. Parking was included and even though we were early for check in (3PM) we were able to use the lobby restrooms to refresh, change into swim suits and leave our bags with the concierge. We received welcome drinks and were able to go sit by the pool and get a pina colada before heading back out.
Ocean King picked us up straight from the resort (masks required in the van, windows open for ventilation) and brought us to the docks in Quepos for registration, temperature checks and boarding. The tour includes 6 hours on the catamaran with 4 complimentary cocktails (although beer wasn't included, so more than four drinks for some people), dinner, snorkeling and the most beautiful sunset views from the top deck.
We were dropped back at the resort where the concierge had already put our things in our room and left a welcome night cap for us of lemon water and chocolates. A long day of travel, sunshine and adult beverages made for an early first night!
The next day was pretty relaxed. Breakfast was included every morning and since it was still early on in people getting vaccinations, we were one of the only guests and got to enjoy the wide open breakfast seating to ourselves as well as daily fresh pressed juices. We also got to enjoy monkeys, lizards and agoutis on our walk to breakfast, the pool, or beach which was super fun.
We spent the day at the secluded beach drinking Pina Coladas and trying to avoid too much sun.
One wonderful thing about Costa Rica is that the beach is all considered public so resorts can't "own" any length of it. This means that our resort would have to bring chairs down for visitors and bring them back up afterwards, keeping the beach feeling untouched and pristine. Even though there were a couple resorts located nearby, we felt completely alone and able to enjoy this serenity for most of our time. There were tons of pelicans making use of the cove for meal time as well!
For lunch we continued our tourist duties and headed to the famous El Avion. This is a restaurant and bar with amazing sunset views of the ocean atop one of highest points in Manuel Antonio, but the history of it is that the restaurant is built around a cargo plane that was used during the Reagan administration to illegal deal arms to Nicaraguan guerilla fighters. The CIA used San Jose and a private US air strip to transport these weapons in and out until they were eventually shot down and the conspiracy discovered. The plane was one of two, the other having been shot down and this one abandoned in Costa Rica in the late 1980s. In 2000, the owners of El Avion transported the plane up the mountain and turned it into a bar and built a two story restaurant around it, providing history and cocktails as a two for one. The views were amazing, the food was pretty good, but the mango margarita was amazing. They also make sure to give an extra floating shot on top of their frozen daiquiris so be prepared for an extra punch!
After a super relaxing beach day and sunsets in the resort hot tub, we planned for a more eventful next day. Of course, due to Covid protocols, we started our morning with the resort sending up a lab technician to administer our Covid tests for entry back into the States. Love a little nose swab in the morning!
We decided on an adventure day and to kick it off with a parasail tour with Aguas Azules, which translates to blue water and was incredibly fitting. The couple that owns it was actually a guy that was from Costa Rica and had moved to NYC briefly and met his now wife who was a lawyer in NYC and they moved back to CR to enjoy the pure life of sunshine and sandy beaches. It definitely put the idea out there of moving to a tropical location and starting up a small business to live off of!
From there we drove into Quepos for lunch and some shopping. Alex ordered a red snapper dish that was the size of his face and unfortunately I didn't find any cute tropical dresses to purchase.
From here we went on a sunset jet ski tour with Manuel Antonio jet ski, another company started by someone from the states (he actually had lived in Marietta, GA, so SMALL world). We chose to do a double jet ski and just take turns driving. It wasn't half the cost but about 60% of what it would be if we had done two separate singles. Plus, you can talk to someone the whole time and hear little squeals when you take turns a little quickly. I got her up to 72 mph in a straight away and our guide let me know I'm a little loco! We did have a guide that talked us through different beaches in Manuel Antonio park and there were three guys that were on our tour as well. They were from Italy and there was a little bit of a language barrier since our guide spoke Spanish and English and they spoke Italian and some English, but it was fun to have other people along and still keep it small. They also provided us with waters and fresh pineapple after we took a stop to snorkel. Super fun, and my desired way to get around!
We did get back to the marina in Quepos in time for a sunset happy hour... which we thought we could order 2 drinks for since it was buy one get one, but they brought us each two drinks! Sunset was perfect, especially after such a thrilling day and a little buzz.
The next day was our last full day in Costa Rica so we woke up early and did a guided tour through Manuel Antonio park, in hopes of finding a sloth! And boy did we! We were able to see 6 sloths that day, as well as a howler monkey, Jesus lizards, demon spiders and a few species of bats. Plus take a swim in a national park. I wish I could better articulate how great our guide was, pointing out animals, trees, ferns, insects, reptiles and explaining how everything ended up in Costa Rica and how the environment is so special. He had a scope and could just point things out all over the place and it was so cool to learn history and current events. One big thing we learned was that 50% of the work force in CR works in tourism of some kind, so the Covid shut downs saved lives from illness but were devastating to some families that were out of work for a year. With that said, he did mention that animals that were used to large masses of people coming through the park daily had taken some of the land back over and were more visible than previously which was cool to think about. Ok, enough babbling, I will just share all of the awesome photos we ere able to take.
Such an incredible day! I think the only monkey species native to the area that we didn't get to see was the Golden Tailed one, but we saw two and three toed sloths so I would call it a really successful tour.
After that was more beach and pool time and enjoying sushi as our last dinner in CR. I think that next time I would really like to do a full day dive tour and it would be cool to visit the volcanoes in more central CR., but I think I fell in love with this tiny tropical nation!
Until next time!
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