There aren’t many places you can watch the sunrise over the Caribbean and the sunset over the Pacific on the same day. Yet what it lacks in size, it makes up for in diversity. Costa Rica, or “rich coast” is one of the most biodiverse countries on the planet, home to over half a million species.
Costa Rica is a one size fits all destination. Rainforests, spewing volcanoes, exotic wildlife, heart-pounding adrenaline activities, and some of the best beaches on the planet.
Costa Rica is an ideal location to spend an extended family vacation since renting a house that can accommodate multiple families is a fraction of the cost of other destinations. For $40 per night per family, we enjoyed a gorgeous house on the Pacific with its own private stretch of beach, a large swimming pool with jacuzzi, and meals prepared by locals who reside on the property grounds.
5 DAY ITINERARY
Day 1
Arrive
Day 2
Beach
Day 3
Rainforest
Jaco
Day 4
Parque Nacional Manuel Antonio
Day 5
Depart
DAY 1
International flights arrive in San José, the capital of Costa Rica. Depending on your final destination, you may have quite a drive ahead of you due to the country’s terrain. I’d spend the night in San José to get a fresh start in the morning since your drive is likely to involve windy, narrow, steep roads through the jungle, and you don’t want to be navigating or overheating your brakes on pitch black mountain roads, speaking from experience.
Book your rental car before your trip. Reservations for rental cars in Costa Rica often don’t include mandatory insurance in the advertised booking rate, so notoriously, visitors often arrive only to learn their reservation doubled or tripled in price. We’ve never made that mistake again since our ordeal arriving in San José, and thankfully we walked away from the counter that day and found something more affordable.
An excellent accommodation option located less than 10 minutes from the airport is the Costa Rica Marriott Hotel Hacienda Belen. We were also able to book a rental car on-site at the resort, and settled in for the evening before our early start the next day.
Day 2
Enjoy breakfast outdoors overlooking the grounds while tropical birds sing. Nothing quite compares to fruit and fruit juices in the tropics. Make sure to try the mangoes, coconut, guava, passion fruit, and star fruit, which are all local to this climate. Fuel up before your long, scenic drive to the coast. We skipped downtown San José since it’s fairly small, congested, and street crime has been a problem for tourists. Other than a few museums, markets and city parks, there wasn’t a long list of sights in San José, so after breakfast we headed off to the central Pacific coast to check-in to our villa.
Although 2010 doesn’t sound like the dark ages, there were no smart phones, so it was. Unbeknownst to us, storm Tomas had recently hit which dumped record rains for the country that closed every major highway due to bridge collapses and mudslides, for most of the month. Since social media didn’t exist, and a 24 hour global news cycle wasn’t a thing for years to come, we set out phone-less, GPS-less, and Google translate-less, with a 2 year old, an 8 week old, one grandmother, and one great-grandmother in tow in a country where detailed maps are hard to come by, signage is rare, and finding a local who knows what street they are standing on is even rarer.
Not surprisingly, with only the below directions to go by and our primitive map, we missed a turn, and what should have been a 2 hour drive turned into 8 since our only option was to stop every few minutes to ask a local walking along the road high in the rainforest how to get to Parrita, follow the direction he pointed in for a few more minutes until we saw the next person walking, and so on. Clearly, our español was rustier than we thought.
The rest of the afternoon we saw only this. Not a store, not a hotel, not a gas station, just this, for hours. Toward early evening we resorted to just driving west, in hopes of meeting up with civilization along the coast.
It worked, and we made our way south down the coast to Parrita, only find ourselves in what looked like a war zone. It was already dark when we approached this washed away flooded road. As we stopped to assess if passage was safe, a small car approached from the opposite direction, and slowly drove through. We were driving in a much larger SUV higher off the ground, so we proceeded. The below photo was taken the next morning after the tide had gone out.
As we continued on searching for the villa in the dark among the downed trees and scattered debris, it wasn’t clear at all if we were driving on a road, or if we were just driving on the beach. We could hear the loud surf, though we couldn’t see it, and could make out from the headlights we were driving on packed sand. The photo below was taken the next morning of this part of the drive.
We drove through so many downed palms that we didn’t realize when we had driven past the road’s end and into someone’s shrubs. Shortly after turning around to make another pass looking for the house, we saw the caretakers waving us in toward the property gate with a flashlight.
Even in daylight, this is barely what I’d call a road. At best, it’s a path.
DAY 2
The next morning we awoke rested, relaxed and ready to enjoy this tropical paradise nestled between the Pacific and an estuary. The rental property is called Villa Mar a Lago, and it surpassed our wildest expectations.
From our bedroom, we had a view of the mountains.
The front yard led to the ocean.
The backyard led to the pool area, which is also where we enjoyed breakfast outdoors every morning.
We’d go for a swim first thing in the morning while breakfast was being prepared poolside.
There were also changing rooms on the pool deck.
Hot breakfast was prepared every morning by a sweet local couple who reside on the property looking after it.
It was different and delicious every morning, but my favorite was the typical Costa Rican dish called Gallo Pinto, which is fried eggs with rice and black beans mixed together and sweet plantains.
There was always more than enough food for our party of ten.
After a full breakfast, we’d head into town for groceries. Leaving the property, driving along Palo Seco Beach Rd into Parrita, we were surprised by the disparity between the adjacent homes along the road.
This house was a few doors down, where mattresses resting up against the house were drying in the sun.
Parrita sits in the middle of an African oil palm farm, and the community’s economy is almost exclusively dedicated to producing African palm oil, an edible plant oil derived from the trees.
Also a house sharing the same address, just a few doors down on Palo Seco Beach Road.
While Parrita is small and peaceful, the village itself is limited, with a few small shops to pick up the necessities. However, it’s an ideal base with easy access to the busy and vibrant neighboring urban areas of Jaco and Manuel Antonio where many ex-pats flock to.
According to local legend, the town’s name comes from a woman named Rita, who lived here prior to the arrival of the Spaniards. She owned a business and often received packages, and the phrase “Es pa Rita” (It’s for Rita) was heard so many times that the town was named Parrita.
Due to its low elevation, Parrita is able to avoid the wind that the more mountainous regions in the country experience. With Class II & III rapids, the Parrita River is ideal for beginner whitewater rafting. Sport fishing is also popular in Parrita with tuna, marlin, wahoo and snook found in the waters.
While stocking up at the local mart the store lost power. None of the locals missed a beat and kept wandering the aisles in the dark. We had been standing in line at the butcher counter, and as we drove home, we wondered how often this occurs based on the locals’ reaction and how fresh our purchases really were. Time would tell.
The remainder of the day was spent swimming, grilling, and watching the critters.
A trip to Costa Rica is often synonymous with wildlife watching, as neotropical animals can be spotted almost everywhere with ease. Lizards were spotted all over the villa, and thankfully, never bothered us.
Though it would be wise to watch your step, since they’re everywhere and often blend in.
See.
See.
Costa Rica is smaller than the state of Maine, yet has more bird species than all of North America. More than 50 species of hummingbirds have been recorded in Costa Rica, and they were frequent visitors to the yard.
Happy to see an ugly frog on the patio, rather than the colorful poison-dart frog Costa Rica is famous for that causes paralysis and death to mammals.
The striking Green Page Moth has one of the largest migrations of any insect, with hundreds of thousands moving together for up to five months. They are different from other moths in that they make their journeys in the day, and are inactive at night.
The property is massive, with a large field that stretches out to the ocean in the front and to the estuary out back (bottom most photo).
As they grilled…
…some of us swam.
If you’ve been to Costa Rica, then Lizano is now a staple in your home too. Salsa meaning “sauce” in Spanish, Lizano is a Costa Rican condiment developed in 1920 that is tangy, slightly sweet, and slightly spicy. I’m embarrassed to admit the extent to which we used it from marinating everything with it to dousing it on everything.
With full bellies coated in Lizano grilled meats and sides, it was time for siesta before wandering over to the beach.
Where La Parrita River joins the Pacific, you’ll discover the unpopulated beach of Palo Seco, empty as far as the eye can see.
Villa Mar a Lago is located on Palo Seco Beach Road, and this is the stretch of private beach in front of the villa.
We never saw anyone else the entire week in either direction. November is a transition out of rainy season, and therefore, the least predictable month for weather in Costa Rica, but also one of the cheapest. In this Central Pacific region you can expect a mix of sunny mornings and rainy afternoons. When the clouds rolled in, it was the perfect time of day to spend at the beach with a newborn and toddlers.
November 2007 was one of the rainiest months on record in history, but the record didn’t stand for long because in November 2010, shortly before we landed, tropical storm Tomas dumped record rains that closed every major highway (including the PanAmerican) due to bridge collapses and mudslides for most of the month. Entire palm trees scattered along the beach was also a result of the storm.
Lying in hammocks was another favorite afternoon past time.
Early to bed for a long day tomorrow.
DAY 3
You came for the rainforest. A country once entirely carpeted in forests, Costa Rica lost 80% of it during deforestation over the last century. Thanks to reforestation efforts, over 50% of the country is now forested once again.
Our rainforest tour kicked off on the forest floor, as the guide explained the rich diversity of flora and fauna, for which no other country on the planet has such a variety. Measured in number of species per 10,000 sq. km, Costa Rica tops the list at over 600 as compared to the USA at just over 100.
More than half of the 200 reptile species are snakes, though they’re rarely seen unlike the lizards which can be spotted everywhere. We had a chance to examine the snakes here.
When Costa Rica rose from the sea 3 million years ago forming a bridge between North and South America, the species here doubled due to the now mingling of 2 continents.
Close to 12,000 species of plants have been identified in Costa Rica, with more being recorded everyday.
Despite the gorgeous colorful plants, the forest floor only receives about 5% of the rainforest’s sunlight.
Next we boarded an aerial tram to ascend through the rainforest.
Rainforests consist of 4 primary vertical layers starting with the forest floor, then the understory, canopy, and the emergent layer.
Moving up from the forest floor, the understory contains many vines and dense vegetation, but still not much light, and is home to butterflies, snakes, and some birds.
The canopy layer is the height most of the trees to grow to and much of the rain is stopped by this thick foliage. The canopy is home to birds, monkeys, sloths, and many insects.
An estimated 50-90% of the rainforest life exists in the trees above the forest floor and understorey.
Above the canopy is the sunny emergent layer where only the tallest trees reach. Birds live here with bats, snakes and some bugs.
Some of us exited the tram to descend back to the forest floor via a series of ziplines soaring over the treetops between 15 platforms.
On the way back to the Villa we explored Jaco, a town on the Pacific coast whose secret got out in the 1990s. It’s known for its surf beaches and serves as the gateway to Costa Rica’s national parks. It’s popular with American ex-pats so there’s plenty of chain establishments, such as Subway, and other local restaurants, bars, and shops.
We dined at an open air restaurant that served traditional Costan Rican dishes and had live music.
Thankfully it was only as we were leaving that we noticed a couple of companions in the tree behind our table.
A long day ended with a walk on the beach before an early start tomorrow.
DAY 4
After another filling home cooked Costa Rican breakfast, pack up the car for the drive to Manuel Antonio National Park.
The drive took much longer than expected since the roads had been washed away prior to our arrival due to the recent storm.
We must have sat here stopped for almost 30 minutes while they performed road repairs, which felt like 30 hours with kids in the car.
Once we reached Quepos, some exploration on foot indicated more road repairs.
Which meant more delays and now we were approaching afternoon and we hadn’t yet arrived.
Quepos is a sleepy town that’s rapidly expanding due to its location as the gateway for Manuel Antonio National Park.
The road to the park passes over hills and eventually to sweeping views to the coast.
El Avión has one of the best views, which is an airplane bar constructed from the body of a 1954 C-123 Fairchild cargo plane that was purchased by the US government in the 80’s for the Nicoraguan Contras. However, it never made it out of the hangar in San José because of the Iran-Contra scandal. In 2000, it was purchased for $3,000 from the owners of El Avión, where it’s perched today.
Declared a national park in 1972, minutes before it was to be bulldozed for development, Manual Antonio National Park is the country’s second smallest national park.
While it may be small, it’s considered one of the most beautiful and contains 4 beaches within the park.
After coming all this way, some of us opted not to enter the park. Depending on the season, not only do you have to leave your car in the lot “near” the entrance, but to reach the entrance, you’ll have to wade through the Camaronera estuary, which can be anywhere from ankle high to thigh deep, depending on the tides. While there are “boaters” here to transport you, it didn’t look like the safest of vessels for our newborn and grandmothers. The most adventurous of us foraged on, and loved every minute.
There’s tons of wild life to be spotted such as Capuchin monkeys, also called white-faced monkeys.
The abundant Ameiva lizard with the white stripe running down its back and birds were plentiful.
While they explored the park, we stopped for some Cubans on the ride home to celebrate our last night.
We enjoyed one last meal together before parting our ways at the airport the next morning for various flights back to our respective homes.
DAY 5
Saying goodbye to a place you enjoyed is never easy, but it comes with the territory.
As we packed up and soaked up our last views of what had been home for the past week, we were thankful for the memories.
You always hope to return to a place someday, but you also know the world is big and life is short, which is why departures can sometimes be difficult.
To make a long story short, we got lost on the way to the airport, ended up in downtown San José amidst gridlock, and almost missed our flights. Never, ever a dull moment.
In loving memory of our beloved grandmother and great grandmother, who we were blessed to have spent this special time with.
