Pura Vida - Everything I Did In Costa Rica

Sloth on the side of the road

(Photo by Hannah Schwartz)

Pura Vida

Costa Rica has been on my bucket list for years now. It has mountains and rainforests in the ocean and most importantly, sloths. I couldn’t wait to explore this gorgeous country.

One day, I got an email from Great Value Vacations with a special deal on a trip to Costa Rica, and I had to jump on it. It was finally my chance to explore this paradise.

The best part about booking with Great Value Vacations is that the biggest parts of the trip were planned for me. They booked the hotels, the transportation, and even some fun tours!

We just had to fill in the blanks with whatever other tours we wanted to do.

What to do in Tortuguero

The first stop on my adventure was Tortuguero. Oh, Tortuguero. You are gorgeous and amazing, but getting there, man. That was a journey. The first part of the route was a bus ride from San Jose, the capital of Costa Rica, to a boat that took us to the resort. That part of the trip was really great. It was fun to see the different vistas along the way. We got our first glimpse of the rainforest. We got to see banana plantations and pineapple fields.

Most importantly, we got to see a real, live SLOTH. He was right by the side of the road. He was completely awake and getting himself a little snacky-snack. It was the coolest thing EVER.

After the drive, we got to a rest stop-type thing where a bunch of boats gathered to bring guests to the different resorts in Tortuguero. We visited during the dry season, which meant that this water highway was LOW. In some places, it was probably less than a foot deep. That meant the trip to the resort was very…interesting. The boat scraped along the bottom many times. We even got stuck a time or two. Did I mention that it was hot and sunny? Well, it was. That made the trip pretty terrible.

But, when we got to the resort, we were surprised by how gorgeous it was. Laguna Lodge is a Gaudi-inspired resort with an amazing white sand beach on one side and a lagoon on the other. It’s a paradise for seeing animals and tropical plants.

On the first afternoon, we visited the town of Tortuguero. It’s an interesting place to visit. There are a bunch of shops and restaurants. Some of them are native and local artisans. Some of them are “Made in China” souvenir shops.

The best place I found there was an adorable cafe, Budda Cafe. I had some crepes with bananas and caramel. We got a table next to the lagoon. It was delicious, the scenery was great and I’d highly recommend visiting.

The next morning, we signed up for an extra tour at the resort. It was a sunrise boat ride through the lagoon and the surrounding national park. This was possibly the highlight of the whole trip! Yes, we had to get up early, but we saw TONS of sloths, monkeys, crocodiles, birds, and sunrise coming up over the ocean. We saw toucans, kingfishers, and herons. We saw howler monkeys, spider monkeys, and capuchin monkeys. It was so much fun! The jungle was so peaceful when we first went out. As the sun came up, it came alive. It was amazing to see.

Overall, Tortuguero was an awesome experience. The wildlife was sensational, the food was delicious and the views were spectacular. There were two main drawbacks, however. The first was the journey to and from the resort. That was actually pretty painful. The heat was overwhelming.

Speaking of heat, the other downside was the fact that the resort had NO AC! It was really hot at night. There was a fan, but it was oscillating so it only hit me every 10 seconds. I know, I counted. Other than that, it was a fantastic place to visit.

What to do in La Fortuna and Arenal

The next stop on our little adventure was the Arenal area and the town of La Fortuna. Great value vacations had booked us a van ride to get from Tortuguero to La Fortuna. The whole time I was wondering Which of the mountains I was seeing was Arenal. Finally, I saw a mountain that was clearly a volcano and knew that was what I was looking for.

Arenal is a gorgeous area. The resort I stayed in was Casa Luna. When I first checked in they let me know that there was a special on spa bookings but only for that night. Obviously, as soon as I got to my room I called the spa to make a booking. That night, I got a massage in an open-air room listening to the sounds of the rainforest. It was literally like a soundscape you would hear on a meditation app. It was flipping magical!

The next day, we did one of the quintessential things to do in the area, the hanging bridges. The views were spectacular and we got to see lots of birds and little critters. We even saw two eyelash vipers which were about two too many. Actually, it was pretty cool to see the way they blend into the background.

After hiking around on the hanging bridges we got to eat some local pineapple and got up close and personal with one of Costa Rica’s cutest inhabitants, a coati. Talk about a great morning!

Later that afternoon we went for a hike near the volcano. How crazy is it that the people in the area didn’t know it was a live volcano until it started spewing out molten boulders? They realized the river turned from cold to hot, but just assumed it was the gates of Hell opening. I guess they weren’t that far off.

Speaking of hot water, we visited Tabacon Resort for a ridiculously relaxing dip in the hot springs. It was incredible. We got there around twilight, so we visited the springs in the dark. It is lit beautifully. There are waterfalls you can sit under. There are also comfy lounge chairs around to sit in after you’ve soaked your cares away.

The resort was super luxurious. I’ve heard from friends who visited the public part of the springs and said they were great. It just comes down to whether you want that spa feel or you are looking for something cheap to do.

Either way, a trip to the hot springs is a MUST in the Arenal area.

What to do in Monte Verde

After we left Arenal, we took a boat across Lake Arenal to start the most insane drive up to Monteverde. Luckily, we were just riding in a fairly comfortable van, but the roads were ridiculous. My Apple Watch recorded over 30 minutes of exercise just from me bumping around in the van.

The views along the way were pretty amazing though. It was so great to see how the land went from lush rainforests to pretty arid desert conditions and back to the rainforest. Seeing Arenal from across the lake was pretty great too.

The lodge we stayed at was the Trapp Family Lodge, which is the closest to the Cloud Forest. That was pretty convenient because we were able to just hike about ½ a mile up to visit the park and one of the most magical places I’ve ever been, Cafe Colibri.

Cafe Colibri is a cute little restaurant and store right outside the Cloud Forest. The main attraction is the hummingbirds that swarm the feeders. I’ve never seen so many at once! Where I live, we only have one kind of hummingbird, but there, they have so many! There were five or six different kinds on each of the feeders. It was such a neat experience.

The first night we were in Monteverde, we did a guided night walk through the rainforest. This is a MUST DO. We saw all kinds of creepy-crawly little critters like snakes, scorpions, and spiders. We also saw a few different mammals. This is also where I learned that when birds go to sleep, they just choose a branch in the middle of the forest and perch on it for the night. It was pretty awesome seeing a sleeping toucan. Well, awesome for me. He was a little annoyed, I think.

Early the second morning, we did the big highlight of the area, which was a hike through the Cloud Forest. It was everything you dream a jungle should be. There were so many different types of birds flying around and singing. We heard howler monkeys in the distance. The strangler figs (my new favorite tree, by the way) looked like they were about to just get up and walk away. It was pretty magical.

Towards the end of the tour, we were pretty upset about missing the main attraction of the area, which is the Resplendent Quetzal. As we were walking out, our tour guide got a call on his walkie-talkie and started running. I don’t know about you, but when I’m on a tour and my guide starts running, I go too.

We weren’t really sure where he was going, but he finally stopped in front of a large group of other tourists, and I saw the most magnificent bird I’d ever seen. The Resplendent Quetzal definitely lives up to its name.

After the Cloud Forest, we took a cab to the little downtown area. It’s super cute, with cafes, stores, restaurants, and coffee shops. Several coffee growers have shops there. We ended up eating dinner at a really cute restaurant, Tree House Restaurante, in the downtown area. I was afraid it would be super touristy, but the food was good and the service was great.

Monteverde was a highlight of the trip. Besides the wildlife, the cooler air was a welcome relief. Watching the clouds come up the mountain towards the lodge was something I’ll never forget.

San Jose and Wrapping Up

After we left Monteverde, we set off for our last adventure – a bus tour through San Jose, the capital of Costa Rica. This is something I don’t really recommend. It was neat to learn some of the history, but the town itself isn’t very big, and there are a bunch of parts that just aren’t very nice.

We went through the city market, which I was excited about, but in reality, it wasn’t a great experience. The tour guide told us to take off any jewelry we had on before going in which really didn’t give me the warm fuzzies. It didn’t seem that bad inside, but it wasn’t something I’d want to do again.

The next morning, we got up to head to the airport and fly home. Our hearts were full of Pura Vida and I’m dreaming of the day I can go back.

If you are considering going to Costa Rica, do it! And I highly recommend the trip through Great Value Vacations. It took care of the stuff we needed but left plenty of room to customize the trip.