16 days in Costa Rica, from a digital camera's perspective

jryoung · Ladies Man Joined: 19 Mar 2004 Posts: 7664 City: Man Jose

Well we're back, 16 days in the tropics, what a spectacular vacation. We travelled the northwestern portion of the country, we checked out Arenal, Santa Rosa, Playa del Coco, Tamarindo, and spent the bulk of our vacation in Maipais. A small surfing village, and they end of a very rought 13km road, it's remote, it's beautiful, and it's one of the best places I have ever been to.

So how can I sum up this vacation, it was like many others, a few bumps, but nothing to overrided the fabulous time that we had. We started out of San Jose (CR) heading north to the volcano Arenal. A perfect cone shaped mountain that is active daily, unfoutunately it was socked in when we were there so we could only enjoy the postcards. From there we headed Northwest to Playa del Coco, while we waited for a bag lost by AA to catch up with us. Aparently San Jose, Costa Rica and the Dominican Republic are synonomous. In Playa del Coco we found a tequila bar that served "Howlers" (notice the empty shot glasses below). A howler is a shot of tequila where the bottle has been stuffed with Jalapenos and Habaneros for 5 years, not spicy at all, infact they are very good; we had our fair share. In Playa we also went Scuba Diving, the water was pretty clear for the Pacific and was highlighted by seeing two spotted eagle rays (about a 4 foot wing span each).

Rob's bag was delivered to us and we headed towards Santa Rosa (a national park in NW CR). Here we hiked in 6 miles to a beach Playa Naranjo. At the beach there is no running water so we had to pack everything in, it was a bitch of a hike, but I got to see a salt water crocodile, and it was our first chance to play in the surf of CR. The water was a welcome site after the hike, there are some pictures of the beach below including "witches rock", a famed surf spot.

From Santa Rose we began our journey south to Mal Pais in a stop in Tamarindo, we spent a night there but were extremely exhausted from the hike.

After Tamarindo we made it to our final destination, and location for the wedding Malpais. A great little village, with good food (although they like to cook their fish too much), great surf, and perfect atmosphere to relax. We rented surf boards a couple of days (they actually had something just short of a pier that I could surf on) and tried our best. I watched a 12-14year old local destroy some of the waves, they kid was a ripper.

One of the days in Malpais we headed out to a biological reserve (private) and tromped through the jungle. We didn't see much (imagine 27 people trying to be quiet), but there was a sketchy bridge we walked over with saltys below. We saw plenty of spiders, and a momma howler monkey with her baby was very curious as to what was in our bags, and we discovered she liked gummie worms.

The wedding was a blast, an amazing sunset (see pics below), and a huge party afterwords. I drank like I was back in college, Jack and Jose were very close companions that evening, and I ended up in the pool fully clothed (as if it should be a suprise).

There is plenty more to tell and lots of more pictures to share but I thought I'd post a few. I'm sure Jolson will pitch in a few photos. If you ever have the chance to visit CR I highly reccomend it.

PS the pics below are in no particular order, the titles should give you an idea of where they are from.

jryoung · Ladies Man Joined: 19 Mar 2004 Posts: 7664 City: Man Jose

jryoung · Ladies Man Joined: 19 Mar 2004 Posts: 7664 City: Man Jose

jryoung · Ladies Man Joined: 19 Mar 2004 Posts: 7664 City: Man Jose

Corporate · Posted: Dec 06, 2004 8:14 am Post subject:

When jryoung says he drank like he was in college he is not exaggerating. I haven't seen him that out of hand since his 21st birthday, which was quite a few years ago. Good times had by all, I will contribute some pictures from my digi when I get home tonight.

Chales · Guest

Despite all of the nice views, animals, and "photojournalism" I think I like the vultures on the cross one the best.

Thanks for sharing, good to see you had a great time Very Happy

marcg · Addict Joined: 16 Jan 2003 Posts: 944 City: Salt Lake City

Damn you did the hike to "Roca Bruja".....I heard that can be brutal.

Since you were there in the dry season I think with a good 4WD you can get pretty close to the beach there?

Withces is 1 spot I have not been too....I would like to surf it during a bigger summer swell...personally I'll take a boat though Cool

Glad the trip was good!

Did you surf Santa Teresa?

jryoung · Ladies Man Joined: 19 Mar 2004 Posts: 7664 City: Man Jose

marcg, The hike was very brutal, we were told the road wasn't passable, and if we got stuck it was $150. We didn't want to chance it. It has dried out a bit, but we were still on the heels of the wet season. When we got to the bottom there were two trucks down there, so we could have made it (if we picked the right lines in the mud pits). Oh well nothing lost but a bunch of sweat. There was a group of guys who did the hike with surfboards, I though it was rough on us.

Technically we were in Sta Terasa, when you come into town, take a right at Franks place and we were about 1km down the beach. We head a pretty good break right it front of our hotel (Tropico Latino).

marcg · Addict Joined: 16 Jan 2003 Posts: 944 City: Salt Lake City

Tropico Latino, that place with the 2 story outdoor bar?...there are some people completely wrecked there on Saturday nights Very Happy

If I recall there is a little estuary that flows out to the beach just to right of that place?

The Santa Teresa surfing spot I was referrring to is actually further north from that, where you start seeing the rocks jutting out....there is a strech of beach that has pretty rocky bottom on the inside that really helps the sand on the outside, I was there this past summer...some huge barrels coming through.

MP is a funny little town, it is so small you start seeing the same people over and over again.

D-GOOSE · Addict Joined: 09 Aug 2004 Posts: 750 City: Antelope

good to hear that you had a great trip. Sounds like a ton of fun.

listen2cky · Posted: Dec 06, 2004 5:01 pm Post subject:

hey i'm going to Montezuma, Costa Rica in 11 days for 2.5 weeks. Did you guys go there? If so, what is the nightlife like? I'm really really amped to go~!

jryoung · Ladies Man Joined: 19 Mar 2004 Posts: 7664 City: Man Jose

listen2cky, I thought about making the jump over to Montezuma, but decided to pass. After reading that it was like a hippie frat party (in Lonely Planet), I decided that Malpais was a better place to hang out. Not only that but the roads in that area are crazy rough, travel is possible but very time consuming.

marcg · Addict Joined: 16 Jan 2003 Posts: 944 City: Salt Lake City

The trek to Montezuma from MP will take you about 45 min-1 hr. depending on how you drive on those roads Twisted Evil

We pretty much go all out Dakar Rally style on those roads, it isn't that bad if you have a somewhat decent SUV after several trips, I recommend you get a RAV-4 we beat those things to hell and they hold up.

Montezuma is pretty chill...its kind of a hippy/bohemian town with quite a few Europeans & Eco-Tourists...there is a pretty cool waterfall near by that you can hike to....I think the scene at night is pretty good.

We made a day trip over there taking a break from the surfing in Mal Pais....it never breaks over in Montezuma.....maybe on a HUGE Summer South...it would have to be at the point of maxing out at MP for it break there.

burt reynolds · Criminal Joined: 07 Jun 2004 Posts: 66 City: cashville

cool pics dude. I've been down there twice. Stayed in Tamarindo for a week the first time and three days the second time. The other 4 days of the second trip we spent down in Hermosa and Jaco, where we had much better luck with waves (both trips were surf trips). On both trips we payed about $300 for a boat to take us to Witch's Rock and Ollie's Point. First time there were ok waves, second time none. My brother saw a croc out past where the waves were braking while we were surfing at Witch's Rock. And I took a dump on the beach at Ollie's Point.

ChrisG · Posted: Jan 10, 2014 12:09 pm Post subject:

jryoung - this is some great information, thank you. The family and I are planning a 10 day vacation to Costa Rica in July. We finally nailed down the dates and we're now finalizing where to stay. There are so many places to choose from using VRBO. Just need to decide whether we want to be on the beach or a little higher up overlooking the water (my wife is leaning towards the latter).

I found a flight from San Fran to San Jose with a stop in Miami for $658 a person. I'm wondering if I should jump on this or wait and hope the price drops. Does this fare sound about right, or is it a little steep?

FlyZone CR · Posted: Jan 10, 2014 7:42 pm Post subject:

I'm not an expert on prices from California to CR but I think that's a fairly good price but not spectacular.
Let me know if you have any questions or if I can be of help somehow. Have been here for more than 8 years and my wife works for a bigger travel agency, so there's some knowledge here Smile

Have fun planning the trip!

ChrisG · Posted: Jan 16, 2014 10:03 am Post subject:

FlyZone CR - thanks for the info. I think our plan is to fly into San Jose, spend a night there, and drive the 3+ hours to a house we found in Dominical. I'll definitely hit you up for any questions or recommendations.

FlyZone CR · Posted: Jan 16, 2014 6:55 pm Post subject:

Nice, Dominical is a good place to be. Not a huge party place or anything, but pretty and laid back. Enjoy!