Costa Rica, a tranquil rugged rainforest in Central America. It is extremely biodiverse with its plethora of different animals, bugs and plants. We visited in May of 2021.
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Transportation
- Alaska Airlines: To get to and from Costa Rica, we flew on Alaska Airlines. Both directions of the trip were very comfortable!
- Alamo Car Rental: Since we wanted to see a few different areas of Costa Rica, we knew that we had to get a rental car. For the 5 days, we paid $264 through Alamo Rent A Car. We highly recommend getting a rental car to get the most out of Costa Rica.
Accommodations
- Arenal Manoa Resort & Hot Springs: Located in La Fortuna, this resort was right in the middle of the rainforest, by the Arenal Volcano. Even though it is only 85 miles from Liberia Airport, it took us about 3 hours since the roads were so curvy and not all that well lit (our flight arrived in the evening).
We had our own villa and for 4 nights we paid $462, which we felt was more than reasonable with our experience.
Our stay included an amazing breakfast, which was a buffet of delicious eggs, meats, and fresh fruit. They had an omelette station as well.
This resort also had a huge pool, with great views of the Arenal Volcano. It was nice to just hang out and relax, which is not something we do often when on vacation since we are always out and about.
In addition to the pool, there was also a hot springs, located in a separate area of the resort.
To-Do
- Mistico Arenal Hanging Bridges Park: About a 25 minute drive from La Fortuna, this beautiful nature preserve has numerous bridges with fantastic views (6 hanging bridges and 10 regular bridges).
While there are tours available with a guide, we chose to do the self-guided tour. The entrance fee was $52 for both of us. We hiked the loop path, which was about 2 miles long. Along this easy hiking path, we crossed all 16 bridges.
While we didn’t really see too much wildlife apart from some bugs and birds, the views were absolutely amazing!
- Bogarin Wildlife Trail: This 1.5 mile long trail through a rainforest was a great opportunity to see some sloths!
In hindsight, we should have opted to pay extra for the guide since it was quite difficult to spot the sloths up in the treetops.
We did end up seeing one sloth way up in the trees. It was just relaxing and sleeping, as most sloths seem to do 99% of the time.
We also spotted a beautiful little hummingbird along the trail. It perched just long enough for us to snap a picture.
Admission was $20 for both of us and we spent about 1.5 hours here.
- Night Tour with Jacamar Naturalist Tours: This tour was one of our favorite things we did in Costa Rica and we definitely recommend it if you want to see some amazing wildlife. Along the drive to get to the area where we started the tour, our guide spotted a sloth and a toucan up in the trees. We stopped to snap some pictures, it was very cool!
This experience lasted about 3 hours and we saw a lot of different kinds of animals along the way, including frogs, snakes, lizards, birds, and insects. Our guide did a fantastic job spotting and explaining each one.
After we were done walking through the rainforest, we enjoyed a light snack of rice and beans in a tortilla. Altogether, the tour was $122 total.
- Llanos de Cortes Waterfall: The next day, we went on a drive towards the coast. We stopped at this waterfall along the way and it was well worth it! Admission to the waterfall was $13 total.
There was a short steep path leading down to the waterfall. Once we made it down there, we set down our things and headed into the water. Not too many people were around the area so it was mostly private. It was a warm day so the swim in the large pool of water was refreshing.
- Diamante Eco Adventure Park: Our next stop after the waterfall, was to this wildlife sanctuary. Tickets were $89 for both of us.
This sanctuary is home to a large variety of animals in need of care. They either were born in other wildlife management programs for educational or scientific reasons or were illegal pets that have been rescued by the Costa Rican authorities. They are unfit to survive in their natural environment on their own and are cared for by this sanctuary.
We saw many of these bright green iguanas wandering all throughout the sanctuary. They do not have an enclosure since they have found their way into the park on their own.
One of our favorite experiences was the toucan house. We saw both of the Costa Rican species of toucans, the Keel-billed toucan and the Chestnut-mandibled toucan. The employee told us that most of these birds were previously pets so they were not afraid of humans and they came right up to us!
Another awesome area of the sanctuary was the sloths! They were feeling a little shy though so we only got a really good look at one of them, the two-toed sloth. This was cool though since we had only seen the three-toed sloth. The difference between the two kinds as it was explained to us is that the two-toed sloths have two toes with claws on the front feet and three toes on the back feet whereas the three-toed sloths have three toes on their front AND back feet.
We also saw this curious little white face monkey, one of the most intelligent monkeys.
Our final stop of the sanctuary was the huge butterfly pavilion that housed hundreds of gorgeous butterflies. We love butterflies and seeing all of the different species was very cool. We mostly saw the blue monarch butterfly.
- Matapalo Beach: Our final stop of the day was Matapalo Beach. We arrived at the beach pretty much right before sunset and enjoyed some breathtaking views. Since this is a public beach, there was no cost involved.
There was hardly anyone else on the beach with us and we enjoyed a very peaceful walk. It was the perfect way to end our long day of adventure.
- Original Arenal ATV: On our final day, we went on our biggest adventure of the trip! It cost us $224 total.
Once we were familiar with our ATVs, we began the 2 hour-long guided tour, which took us around the Arenal Volcano and through a rainforest. We stopped periodically to take pictures and revel in the Costa Rican beauty.
One of our stops was for a mud mask break. The tour guide provided us with some volcanic mud to put on our faces. Our skin felt very soft afterwards!
On our journey back, it started pouring rain and we got absolutely soaked (definitely should have brought rain jackets). During our ride, our guide stopped and had us listen to the howling of some howler monkeys. They were quite loud, probably because of the rain. This was only our 2nd time on ATVs and it was a crazy fun experience!
Here are some more fun things to do in Costa Rica, courtesy of our favorite tour booking website, Viator:
Food
- La Saca Restaurant: Once we arrived, we were starving since we came straight from the airport without any stops. Thankfully, there were a few on-site restaurants at our resort, one of which was still open.
Jonah had the baked chicken (pollo al horno) which had rosemary potatoes, pico de Gallo and traditional Costa Rican chilera. The chicken was tender and the meal as a whole, very flavorful with the different add-ons.
Sierra had the garlic mahi mahi (dorado al ajillo) which was served with seed potatoes, spinach and tomatoes. Everything tasted very fresh and it was a delicious dish.
- Rainforest Cafe & Restaurant: Located in the town of La Fortuna, this restaurant was very close to our resort.
We got some refreshing fruit smoothies for our drinks.
Sierra got a chicken empanada, which was crispy and delicious. It was served with a side of pico de Gallo.
Jonah got a steak tenderloin in shrimp sauce. The steak was tender and it reminded us of surf and turf.
- Chicharronera Tio Leo: Located about 10 minutes away from Liberia International Airport, we passed this on the way to the coast and stopped for lunch.
Jonah had an Imperial beer, which is a Costa Rican lager.
Sierra had the chicken nachos, which was a huge portion of chips topped with chicken, avocado, melted cheese, beans and pico de Gallo. It was pretty tasty.
Jonah had the chicharrones (pork rinds) sampler. He wanted to try their speciality dish, even though chicharrones are not typically his favorite. It was alright, but his favorite part of the meal was the fried yuca that it came with.
- Restaurant Garra Pata: This restaurant is located just north of the town of La Fortuna and from the outside doesn’t seem like much, but we read good reviews so we knew we had to give it a shot.
For our drinks, we ordered some refreshing fruit juices. Jonah got the watermelon and Sierra got the papaya. Both juices were amazing and very fresh-tasting.
Sierra had the bacon wrapped filet mignon with mushroom sauce, served with vegetables, fried yuca and plantain.
Jonah had the cowboy jalapeño and shrimp, which was a huge steak topped with mushrooms, jalapeños and shrimp all mixed in with gravy, served with a side of vegetables, fried yuca, and plantain. Both of our meals were very large portions and so delicious.
Although we were so full from our meals, we couldn’t resist getting dessert (mainly Sierra) and we got the coconut flan. It was deliciously creamy.
- Don Rufino: This fine dining restaurant is located in downtown La Fortuna and helped us celebrate our last night in Costa Rica with some incredible food.
For our drinks, we both got the Margarita Don Rufino. It was delicious and we wished that they were bigger!
Sierra got the shrimp and scallops tagliatelle which included scallions, lemon cream, cumin, home-dried tomatoes and grana padano cheese. It was creamy and flavorful, with the shrimp and scallops cooked to perfection.
Jonah got the buffalo loin which was served with caramelized tomato paste with oregano, grilled greens, roasted potato and onion Boulanger, jus with mustard seeds, fresh herbs and green sauce. It was nice to have a more elegant steak meal that still lived up to the hype.
For dessert, Jonah got the Don Rufino’s Naranja Holandesa, which is a Costa Rican ice cream made with orange and pineapple, served with grilled pineapple, orange peel confit, orange condensed milk with chocolate mousse. It was the perfect balance of sweet from the chocolate and tangy from the orange.
For her dessert, Sierra got the cheesecake with home-made sour cream, served with sugared berries with balsamic, peanut butter and peanut praline, blackberry sauce and lavender. All of the flavors worked well together to provide a delicious dessert.
Country #25 was one for the books! We really enjoyed the beautiful lush lands of Costa Rica and the friendly locals who made us feel so welcome.
