Back in Paradise
 

Almost four years ago to the day, my wife and I stood on Playa Ocotal, outside of Playas del Coco, and said, “ someday we are coming back here for a month.” That day is today. I recently retired, grew my hair long, dyed it gray ( two of those are true), We’ve been here for a week, so I’m not reporting in real time. Flew from Los Angeles to Liberia, easy flight, direct on Alaskan. 5 and 1/2 hours.
Got in at 8PM, kind of late so we stayed at the Best Western El Sitio. Taxi ride was $20, not bad, and check in was a breeze. Recently rained and you can feel that tropical heat.

Day two, got our rental car stopped at Walmart, and stocked up. Every Tico in Liberia was in Walmart. As we left we saw a sign that said “Best prices of the year Sale”

1/2 hour drive to Playas del Coco, left turn in the middle of town and two more KMs to Ocotal. Staying in a Condo up on a hill looking at the Ocean. Time to unwind.

Saturday morning, down to the beach for some snorkling. Fairly good fish, but mostly rocks although nice coloring. Water was very clear. We were happy though, CR is not known for great snorkling.

Sunday, after the Sunday market, drove to some neighboring beaches, Playa Hermosa and Playa Panama. Not a great plan, the locals flock to the beach on Sunday, hard to park, roads packed. Word of advice, find a nice pool and save the beaching for Monday!

Today is Monday, and we are off to Las Catalinas. I had read about this place. It’s a car free development on Playa Danta. It’s beautiful although it’s pretty Disneyland. It feels like you are walking through an Italian village. You better bring plenty of lire because it ain’t cheap, but the beach is free! Best place to snorkel is Playa Dantita, right around the corner. We saw some small coral and a lot of fish. Well worth the hour drive or so from Playa del Coco.

Wednesday night - Bingo at Hotel Puerto del Sol. Bingo is free and the drinks are reasonable, so it’s filled with expat retirees. Kind of crowd that you can say, “ does anyone have a spare hearing aid battery “ and ten people raise their hands. We sat next to a couple who just moved here from Montana. CR has that effect on people, they come for a vacation and end up moving here.

Thursday - Beach cleaning day. About ten of us walk along the beach and pick up trash. All Americans. Actually the beaches are pretty clean here , its mostly an excuse to have coffee afterwards and hear everyone’s story. People here fro 4 months, 6 months, we are the babies only staying one month.

Sunday Market - There is a Sunday market in the Las Palmas area. Las Palmas is about 200 condos, consisting of individual condo developments of about 24 units each. Most have a pool and a small garden. They are nice but get really busy in the season. It’s my understanding that over the years the same people come back and have established roots. So one condo group may be all French Canadians from Quebec, another one all from Toronto! They stay until it’s warm back home. Very similar to Arizona and Palm Springs in the States. Snowbirds.

But I digress. There is a market every Sunday. Last week it was pretty small but this week it was bigger. A guy named Rob makes these incredible breakfast sandwiches, but he runs out so everyone has to get there quick. We run into about 10 people we have met since we got here, so it’s a real Social hour.

Monday - Anyone who’s has ever read one of my Trip Reports know it’s essentially me releasing my inner Hemingway, but this is a true tip. Today we decide to head out to the Papagayo Peninsula. It’s where all of the real upscale resorts are for your Madonnas and Stings etc. However the beach’s can’t be private so there has to be access. When you get to the end of the road you will hit a roundabout, if you take road marked Visitantes a Playas, it will take you to a dirt parking lot with a shuttle bus that runs every 25 minutes or so and will take you to 4 different beaches. We opted for Playa Nacascolo. A fantastic white sand beach that is shaded and the water is super clear and flat so you can sit on the shore in the water and max chill! A mile away, people are paying $1,000 a night at the Four Seasons but you are at one of the best beaches on the Peninsula for free. I’ve never seen anything about this in a tour book. Our neighbor turned us on to it. Pura Vida!
stopped at Matiss at the El Mangrove for dinner at Playa Panama on the way to Ocotal. Good view, great food.

Tuesday - Today we headed toward Rincon de la Viejo., but specifically Hacienda Guachipelin. There is one thing Costa Rican’s excel at and that is tourism. Every adventure tour or guided tour I’ve taken here is run like a professional business, designed for max enjoyment and safety. Guachipelin is no different. First of all getting there. There is a turn off, off Hwy 1 north of Liberia. It is only about 4 KMs past the Roundabout but easy to miss. Look for the sign to Curabande. After that it’s not to hard to follow the signs but the turn off signs are partially hidden by tree branches.

We opted for the Tubing/ lunch / Hot Springs option. I’ve hung up my Tarzan loin clothe a few years ago so I’m not going to repel or canyoning! Tubing was so much fun. Great tubes, sturdy, you will need that because you are going to be “bumper carring” down the river for the next hour. Went down the river with about 25 tourists from England. So much fun. 1 & 2 class rapids but some nice series.

Great buffet lunch, many choices.

Then you drive to the hot springs. About 3 KMs from check in. As we walked toward the entrance to the hot springs, a young guard showed us a boa constrictor sleeping in a tree. Hot springs is a accessed by a hanging bridge. About 9 pools, first your open your pores in a pool and then cover yourself with mud. Real nice way to end our adventure day.

Tubing sounds like a lot of fun - thanks for sharing!

Hi volcanogirl! Tubing was the best. When is your next trip to CR?

Today is the start of our third week here in Playa Ocotal. Every morning starts with coffee on the veranda watching the parrots. I know there is a family of howler monkeys about 1/2 a mile away but they never make it over here. Last night we went to the Garden Bar to hear music and have dinner. We are fortunate enough to be able to travel for a month at a time, but usually we are on the road, month in New Zealand, month in Vietnam, but this month is different we are staying in one place which brings me to the joy of Playas del Cocos/ Playa Ocotal.

I’ve mentioned that there is a big expat community here, Americans and Canadians. We’ve met people at various places, the beach cleaning, Bingo etc. and you start to form friendships, short as they may be. Everyone is so happy to be in such a beautiful place. At dinner last night we saw 5 people we know. Including a young couple that have moved here for a year. In fact we have met three young couples with young children who are living here from the States. It is very freeing and hard to describe but I’ve spoken to some people here more than I’ve spoken with neighbors across the street in Los Angeles! It’s the Pura Vida thing. Enough for now, off to snorkeling .

Hi, T- I think we'll go again in the coming year. We just got back from a trip to Banff and Jasper so we got our wildlife fix there. Loved it. I'm enjoying reading your report.

Today may have been our perfect day here. After coffee headed down to Playa Ocotal for a little snorkeling. As Imsaid earlier Costa Rica is not the best for off shore snorkeling, go to Roatan for that. However, we did have a wonderful time today. Good visibility and we saw lots of fish and a turtle! So stayed at the beach for 3 hours, it rained for about a half an hour and we were under a tree watching it. Stayed pretty dry. After a short nap we got ready for dinner. Dinner was our favorite restaurant here, Ginger in Playa Hermosa. Just as good as we remembered it from 4 years ago. If you make it to Playa Hermosa this is the place!

We will be arriving for our first visit to Costa Rica on Dec 3rd. Heading to Arenal - Tamarindo - Manuel Antonio. We have two weeks. Curious as to what the weather has been - in the 10-day forecast it looks like scattered thundershowers. Having traveled extensively throughout central and south America, we know that "scattered" usually means brief, if at all. So what's been your experience?

Great question scdreamer! We are on the Guanacaste coast so I would imagine it’s different in Arenal, however Tamarindo should be similar. Before we left, Oct. 31st, the weather report said rain EVERY day. It has rained a total of two days since we’ve been here. It’s been beautiful. We’ve had some dark clouds but for us it hasn’t turned into rain. I remember being in Arenal a week before Thanksgiving and it rained like crazy. Most of the people I talk to here, in Guanacaste, are of the opinion that the rain is over.
Have a great trip, if this is your first time, you are going to love it.

Sat &/Sunday - couple of great days here in CR! Yesterday had a quiet morning then sailed for a sunset/ snorkel cruise on Kuna Vela. Had a real nice time sailing on a 40 foot boat. Usually are snorkel trips are on a smaller boat so this was a treat. Sailed around the Papagayo Peninsula to the back side of the Four Seasons. Saw at least a hundred manta rays breaching out of the water. Anywhere from 5 to 10 at a time. We asked the captain what was up but he didn’t know so we Googled it. Sex! Apparently they are mating or trying to, not sure. Seems like every crazy behavior ends up being about sex, I’m talking to you Disco music of the 70’s!

After the Sunday market we headed to Playa Penca. This is a beach between Playas del Coco and Playa Herosa. Good luck finding it. As you are taking the main road into Hermosa, Rd 159, on the left, you will see a construction site, it’s an opening between two tarp fences. Turn in there, stop for the guard, and tell him Playa Penca and he will take your name and wave you on. Follow the dirt road to a makeshift parking lot. There are two beaches here, Playa Penca is the second one. There is a guy there who will charge $2 to park, it’s worth it because he watches your car. Then walk down the hill, about 15 minutes. One of the most beautiful beaches I’ve seen in Guanacaste. It’s Sunday so pretty populated with locals but it was grand. The road is gnarly, bigger ruts then me in 8th grade, so plan on having a 4x4, but it is the best. There were rays here but not jumping, probably retired rays!

Nov. 18 - 20 - We’ve been having such a busy time in Coco, that we needed a vacation from our vacation! Two weeks ago, when visiting Las Catalinas, we stumbled onto a beautiful hotel called the Sugar Beach Hotel on Playa Azucar, hence the name Sugar Beach. Walked around a bit and it looked beautiful. Back in Coco we looked it up on Booking.com and I booked three nights. Very uncharacteristic of me since we’ve paid for a month in Coco, but we had to do it. Boy are we glad. I don’t know if many people know of these hotel but it is a gem. Right on the beach, great food, nice pool and very reasonable around $100 per night. It’s off the beaten Brasílita, Flamingo, Tamarindo path, but it is so peaceful.

Last night we took a splurge and went to Sentido Norte at Casa Chameleon for late lunch and sunset. Also a surprising good value for what you get. Ending up spending $75 for drinks, essentially dinner and valet. CNN calls this one of the top 25 romantic restaurants and I can see why.

Heading to Playa Conchal today to see the white shell beach. The Dream continues...

I need to go here.

Come on down fly girl! We’ll keep the coffee on!

Coffee on the beach before heading out to explore this side of the Peninsula. Three places we want to check out, Brasilito, Flamingo and Playa Conchal. Then lunch at the Surf Box.

We hit Flamingo first, lot’s of tall resort buildings all tightly packed around the road, reminds me of Simpson Bay in St. Maarten. We don’t stop, I doubt Jimmy Buffet is presently at the large Margaritaville resort that we just passed. On to Brasilito, poor cousin to Playa Conchal. Playa Conchal is flanked by the Westin and Reserva Conchal, two huge resorts that have blocked access to one of the prettiest beaches in CR, Playa Conchal. Can I ever get tired of saying “one of the prettiest beaches in CR”, in a word no! You can’t Stop running into these amazing beaches here.

You used to be able to drive on the beach from Brasilito to Playa Conchal, exit before high tide! That has changed now, you have to park in Brasilito and walk to Conchal. However, we got a great tip from Mytanfeet, there is a parking lot, south of Brasilito, it’s free, there are showers and bathrooms and a shuttle will take you to Brasilito to walk to Conchal. You can park in Brasilito, but there will be the ever present, “parking attendant” who wants you to pay $2, and how safe is your car really in that situation? The parking lot is a much better option.

Now, Playa Conchal, the beach is all broken shell. I know you’ve read about it in the tour books, but it’s really beautiful, and as an added bonus, there is really nice snorkeling right off the so put this beach on your list.

Stopped at the Surf Box for lunch on the way back to Sugar Beach. Great food, kind of healthy, although my Ricota pancakes are not going to lose me any weight anytime soon.

Not a lot going on in the last few days since our return from Sugar Beach. Beach cleaning, beers with new friends. Tagged along on a diving trip with a local dive company, Friday and Monday. I’ve arrived at the decision that it’s not worth paying someone for a boat snorkel trip. It really isn’t that much better than snorkeling off the shore. If you like to be out on the water, which is very nice than spring for a ride but not for the snorkeling. We ended up being too deep and in water that was too rough.

We did take a much more relaxing trip that I would recommend for anyone. Guanacaste is home to a number of volcanos. The most UNDER visited is Miravalles because there is not a lot infrastructure in the park, actually none that I found. However coming out of Liberia, heading south, you can make a wonderful day trip, stopping first at the Llanos Del Cortez waterfall. Great waterfall right off Hwy 1. $4000 C to get in for two seniors. Concrete steps to the waterfall and a nice sandy beach to lay on. Well worth it. Take it easy down and you got great shots for all of your friends back home that you saw a CR Catarata.

Continue to Bagaces and take the road to Fortuna. Not LA Fortuna, a different one. From here you can take a real nice loop that goes through the countryside on a brand new paved road. The whole trip might take an hour but oh what country you are going to see. If you have time stop at Colinas del Miravalles and for $7 US, sit in the 7 hot tubs around the property. Carlos and his family also have a great restaurant there with a tasty chicken Casado.

Last few days in Playa Ocotal. Wednesday snorkeling, absolutely no visibility. Thursday, we have a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner with our friends Steve and Lynne. I have a feeling we are going to see them again. Dinner was at the Garden Bar. They had a musician playing Beatle songs, really, really well. I went up to tell him how much we enjoyed it and he didn’t speak English!
A little but not much, so it was kind of funny because his lyrics were spot on.

Friday was our last day here. We’ve spent a month. We feel so blessed, we took one “excursion” per week, Rincon, Miravalles, Playa Conchal and Sugar Beach. We played Bingo, heard music, met lot’s of great new people. The reason I feel blessed is that we have TIME! I read these chats and so many people come down here, as did we, four years ago, and try to stuff as much into a day as they possibly can, because generally as Americans we get two weeks. If you ever have the luxury of taking a month and staying one place, anywhere, you pick it, it’s a wonderful experience.

Tomorrow Sámara, sounds like camera!