Girls Trip Road Trippin’ Plus Size Travel Guide Travel Guide Travel Guide
La Paz Waterfall Gardens Sunset Catamaran Tour Manuel Antonio Beach Tamarindo Diria Beach Resort Packing List Tamarindo Beach Massages Pikatas Night Out Volcano Lodge Thermal Spas San Jose TacoBar Xandari Resort Shopping in La Fortuna
Arenal Lake General Information Monteverde Roads Traffic Warnings
Hanging Bridges Tips Poás Volcano La Fortuna Waterfall Sunset Catamaran Tour La Paz Waterfall Gardens Tamarindo Diria Beach Resort Manuel Antonio Walking Tour Tamarindo Beach Massages Mistico Hanging Bridges Xandari Resort Waterfall Hiking Monteverde Hiking & Bridges Ziplining at Monteverde Monteverde Sky Tram
1. City of Tamarindo 2. Walking the hanging bridges 3. La Paz Waterfall Gardens 4. Volcano Lodge Thermal Spas 5. Hotel Diria Tamarindo 6. Monteverde & its remoteness 7. Manuel Antonio beach and guided tour for animals 8. Arenal area (beautiful volcano) 9. Snorkel & Sunset Catamaran Tour with Conchal Fun 10. Xandari Hotel - rooms, breakfast area, and pool
San Jose/ Monteverde Cloud Forest Alajuela Arenal Manuel Antonio & National La Fortuna Park Tamarindo
Rain Jacket Contact Lens You’re getting rained on whether you like it or not. If you wear glasses, I suggest bringing your contact Don’t pay tourist $ for a poncho. A good rain jacket lens for those humid waterfall hikes. When the temps are hot and the falls are splashing on you, it can make will keep you dry, and warm if temps drop. glasses very annoying. Hiking Shoes Big Water Bottle Don’t spend a bunch of money on new shoes for your trip to the rain forests. Bring an old pair that can be You’re going to get thirsty and dehydrated on your left behind if they end up soaked and/or moldy (like hikes so make sure you have plenty of water before setting out for high-mileage treks or long day tours. mine did after being left in the car). Local Currency - Colones Extra Swim Towel The prices will be cheaper throughout the trip in Keep in your car so that if you get caught in a Costa Rican currency rather than the American dollar. rainstorm, you don’t ruin the seats. Sunscreen Waterproof Backpack
If you really want to get a better picture of Costa Rica I suggest renting a car and making sure to explore the many different regions, rather than a tour bus. The roads near the mountains are quite windy and you’ll most likely experience dirt roads, but it was really important to see the non-touristy areas of this amazing country. I was able to see the aluminum roofing common here, see local schools, fruit markets, and more. Tolls were easy to pay (and cheap). Having some coins on you helps. Some of the best photos were on the road. TIP: With your car rental, grab a wifi hotspot so that your cell phone can pick up Waze or GPS while driving It’s a great way to have an authentic experience around the mountains. Enter coordinates before rather than just seeing the beach or volcanoes. hitting the road!
When you rent a car, you can control your own trip! Like stopping on the side of the dirt road to capture the amazing landscape near Monteverde Cloud Forest and the drive to Arenal.
We traveled most of the West end of the country, so many hours were expected in the car. We hit the Walmart up in San Jose for snacks, water, a cooler, and more. However, when we went there were lots of strikes happening due to a new tax and with students who were protesting the current education standards. It was touching, don’t get me wrong. But it greatly affected our trip. This was a screenshot I took the night there were multiple strikes reported and rumors that someone got run over during the protests. We were stuck for over 6 hours with our own thoughts. It was rough. Suggestions: ~make sure you have a full gas tank before taking off on long drives ~make sure you use the restroom when you need to and pass a station ~bring good music with you in case you don’t have reception ~double the suggested Waze times to meet any scheduled tour times
Xandari Resorts Coffee Plantation Tour La Paz Waterfall and Gardens Poás Volcano
Xandari Resort We stayed in the Ultra Villa for about $200 a night. A ROOM WITH A VIEW - There is much to love about the Xandari Resort in Costa Rica, but one of the best parts for me personally was keeping the windows open at this amazing view. Each of the villas faces this view, providing an openness that also feels very private and luxurious. I awoke every morning at sunrise to watch the sky brighten, and each sunset is just as breathtaking.
Xandari Resort Everywhere you walk at Xandari you’ll find bright, lush greenery, plants, and more. Just walking to breakfast, you’ll see these beautiful areas so well maintained.
Xandari Infinity Pool A great place to catch the sunset while cooling off after a long day of travel. The pool was busy at sunset but not crowded. The view is amazing and you can make lots of new travel friends from all over the world. If your room isn’t close, I suggest taking your car as the walk has lots of incline and can be difficult in wet flip-flops or thongs. Also, bring your own towel, they were sparse! Not pictured is a nice hot tub that fits at least 7. It was a nice space to relax after a long day of hiking waterfalls. We also made some new travel friends and got some great advice from a family also road-tripping. Consider bringing a cocktail too!
Xandari Breakfast & Dining Area Don’t miss the breakfast at Xandari! It’s a great way to start the day. Food items include eggs, cheeses, sausage, gallos y pintos (rice and beans), fresh fruits, fresh juices, breads, pastries, fresh Costa Rican coffee, and sweets. The food is great but the VIEW is even greater. So energizing!
Xandari Waterfall Hiking The property includes four waterfalls that you can hike down into. I would give a word of caution as they aren’t supervised, are quite muddy, and do take a bit of ability to climb back out of them. Xandari is very steep in areas of the property, but this was quite a haul. The sounds of the waterfalls were magical, but it could be dark, wet, and sketchy at times. Don’t go at night!
You’re easily climbing 10-15 flights of stairs after seeing the waterfalls. When the mud is wet, it can be a bit troublesome. There are really no rails for your hands, either.
Costa Rica Guides - Day Tour In Costa Rica (and while at home planning) there is no shortage of organized tours to take you to the most visited sites. We used Costa Rica Guides for our time in Alajuela with the day tour linked in the title. We visited a coffee plantation, active volcano, and a waterfall and animal sanctuary. We paid for the entire day, which included a full breakfast and full lunch.
Doka Coffee Plantation Costa Rican coffee is some of the best I’ve ever had (and I’m a coffee drinker). Luckily on our trip we found a tour with Costa Rica Guides at one of the most popular coffee plantations in the area. Before touring we had a wonderful Costa Rican breakfast. Then our guide led us throughout the plantation. At the end, we hit the gift shop (crowded and way overpriced). Great tour nonetheless!
Breakfast at Doka If traveling with Costa Rica Guides you’ll arrive at Doka and go straight to the outdoor breakfast area. You’ll go through a serving line and pick up some great scrambled eggs, sausage, sweet plantains, gallos y pintos and some fresh fruit. Then, you’ll get your choice of the local coffees! YUM! It’s a great time to meet other travelers, take some peaks of the amazing landscape, and prep your cameras for the tour.
Poás Volcano Visiting Poás ended up being really incredible but started a bit shaky. As we exited the bus it was raining quite a bit (cold rain) but luckily we were able to put on our raincoats, though my shoes weren’t water proof. The gift shop and restaurant were closed but we got our hard hats and ascended the mountain (slight incline, very accessible). We were worried we wouldn’t be able to see anything but as we stood there a few moments the clouds parted! We could see the whole VALLEY! Yes, I eventually learned how to adjust my hat! #tourfriends
Standing at the viewing point watching the volcano’s steam and smoke rise from the sulfuric water is a really neat experience. The wind is quite strong, so be prepared for pictures if you have long hair! Also, loved these giant plants along the entire trail! I wouldn’t expect to be here more than an hour tops.
La Paz Waterfall Gardens La Paz Waterfall Gardens was one of the most incredible parts of our entire Costa Rican adventure. Why? Because it starts with an amazing visit to many native animals including hummingbirds, toucans, macaws, felines, insects, reptiles, and more. We enjoyed a tasty lunch with something for everyone. Then we explored historical recreations before descending onto well-designed, accessible trails to majestic waterfalls. Even the gift shop was top-notch!
Tacobar Just to be clear, on my first official day in Costa Rica, we hiked down to the Xandari Resort waterfall, toured a coffee plantation, hiked to the crater of a volcano, toured an animal sanctuary, hiked another waterfall, and swam in the Xandari infinity pool. To say that we had an appetite for dinner is a huge understatement. We used our cell phones to find Tacobar, a place in a popular San Jose/Alajuela shopping area. They had a huge variety of alcoholic drinks and smoothies. They had tons of taco options and other traditional Latin food. I had a chicken fajita taco and two fish tacos. The tortillas were overcooked but the meat was GREAT! They also had some swings we enjoyed before eating. Tip: Make sure you know basic Spanish to order your food and that you have the local currency to pay.
Animal Guided Walking Tour Beach Time
Scope!Manuel Antonio Animal Walking Tour Amazing experience! Manuel Antonio is extremely well cared for. You won’t see any trash anywhere and the staff is super friendly. All guides must be certified, so you are assured that not just any company or person who wants to take advantage of tourists is going to be leading you around. Yes, you can forego the guide and just walk around the easy paths, but it’s difficult to really spot things and the guides help each other with animal sightings. They each have one of these scopes that allows you get a really nice view of the birds, insects, and other animals. The guide will use your cell phone to snap photos of animals found on your 1-1.5 mile trek too so you can savor your memories and show off to your friends on The Gram!
Manuel Antonio Beaches
Included with the price of admission is a chance to spend time on some of the most beautiful beaches in Costa Rica! When we traveled to Manuel Antonio we arrived in the afternoon and had no problems with crowds. Some visitors come just for the beach, it’s that nice! If you take the animal tour they will complete the walk at the Playa Espadilla Sur (pictures on previous page). However, many guests go to the Playa Manuel Antonio beach because of views like THIS! If you’re big into Instagram photos, this is definitely the beach you want to visit. We visited right before the park closed and found we had it all to ourselves! ¡Qué bueno!
Cerro Lodge Cerro Lodge is about halfway between Manuel Antonio and Monteverde. Since we were driving, we thought it’d be a good stop. Because of the rain and the 6 hours of traffic due to protests, we didn’t arrive at Cerro Lodge til around 10PM. The gates were closed and there were no lights. Luckily when we honked a Spanish-speaking gentlemen let us in and we were able to get into our room. The bugs were quite unsettling and the outdoor sink, toilet and shower were unnerving. Looking back, we were just tired and frazzled. I wished we had embraced the journey better. Our room w/ 3 beds costs about $85.
Luckily, in the morning, everything felt better (and safer) when we could see. The noises of the birds was SO LOUD! (In a lovely way.) I was able to see two beautiful macaws fly over in the AM. They have lovely grounds here to wander around and see more. I was able to use the facilities outdoors, which was an adventure, except when some beast ran right through the area and scared me to death, with only a tarp holding up our restroom privacy. Lastly, though the breakfast was inedible, stale, or ravaged by insects, the service was very friendly.
SkyAdventures Hanging Bridges & Sky Tram
The dirt roads that get you to the Monteverde Cloud Forest are just a necessary part of the trip. It’s easier just to look on the bright side: you’re in Costa Rica, in a part of the world that is more natural and clean. Looking back, the drive wasn’t too bad, except there’s a severe lack of restrooms, so bumping all around, yes, I did have to go on the side of the road once. It wasn’t horrible. And check out the amazing views you get going up the mountains! Plan to stop as you climb and take a few photos of the amazing valleys & scenery. It’s absolutely beautiful!
Sky Adventures There are different companies in Monteverde Cloud Forest and an entire town you can stay in, comparable to a ski town in Colorado. We chose SkyAdventures because of the website and various activities we found online before our trip. We enjoyed the staff, restrooms, guides, and all of the activities immensely. However, you do have a choice when you go! We had the best of intentions every day but driving Costa Rica took us twice as long as every map told us - Google, iPhone Maps, Waze, etc. We missed our scheduled guided tour but it was no problem for SkyAdventures, we merely waited for the next time. That was a great benefit. It did rain the majority of our time hiking but it didn’t really slow us down. The trails were slick but manageable. Our guide spoke average English, but we enjoyed our time with him. I was afraid of the accessibility of the climbs but the hard inclines were taken very leisurely and I had no trouble staying up with the group. I was unable to zipline, though, because of the size restrictions of the harnesses - weight isn’t the issue for these ziplines, but the harnesses can be very uncomfortable for plus-size people.
The Trail The trail is darker because of The guide will point out lots of fun the leave coverage and you’ll things to see like this creepy mostly walk on slick dirt or crawler! mud. There is some incline but you go at a pretty slow pace with the guided tour.
● They move, so be ● Have your camera(s) prepared! It’s not ready (around your neck, tremendous but that first etc). You don’t want to be one is a doozy. digging in your backpack for your GoPro while ● Only so many people can everyone is moving be on at one time, so the around on the bridge. guides will make sure it’s not too crowded. ● Secure your sunglasses & hat so they don’t fall away ● There ends up being a when you look down. rhythm of the people towards the front of the ● Make sure to take a pause path, so keeping on that and enjoy your pace helps. surroundings. You don’t have to look DOWN, look ● Hold the railings for OUT and capture the balance! beauty around you. ● Pack hand sanitizer for ● It’ll be over in just a after the bridges. couple of minutes, and you’ll be looking for the next one!
Sky Tram Booking separately, the Sky Tram is $48, but you can book the Sky Walk & Tram for $70. Another fun option while at Sky Adventures is the Sky Tram. I don’t zip line because of my size but I definitely love heights and gondolas. The Sky Tram is included with the zip line so I rode up there with my friends who were ziplining. While they got suited up to zip down the mountain, I went to the small cafe at the top and got a hot coffee with some Bailey’s for about $10. While there I made some new friends, expats living in Costa Rica. They were a wealth of information and good stories! After we had our drinks, we went back down the mountain in the tram with the friendly SkyAdventures guide. A fun experience, especially for those not ziplining.
Volcano Lodge & Thermal Spas Mistico Hanging Bridges La Fortuna Waterfall
Driving Into Arenal If you’re driving into Arenal, or have time to explore, I highly suggest visiting Lake Arenal, especially at sunset!
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