Costa Rica

COSTA RICA

Let me start by saying Costa Rica was a trip to remember! It was my first time in Central America and I absolutely loved it and cannot wait to go again in the future.

In October 2019, I traveled with my cousin to Costa Rica for 5 days.

We stayed at 2 Airbnb’s; one in San Jose near the airport (one night) and the other in Manual Antonio (4 nights).

Highlights: First off, Costa Rica is very big therefore it took us a while to decide what area to stay in. We did our research and spoke to friends and opted to go to a new place that was not suggested to us.

We spent 2 half days in the city of San Jose at the beginning and end of our trip. We were able to find an affordable roundtrip with Grayline bus company to Manual Antonio (Quepos) which is 3 hours away. San Jose was definitely interesting to explore; we had a nice lunch, checked out cultural square and other attractions in the city.

Now Manual Antonio was EVERTHING J we were in a real life jungle and I still cannot believe how wonderful it was. Although it was rain season, we took full advantage of our time; enjoyed the property pool, roamed the streets, went to the city multiple times, went to the Manual Antonio National Park and ate delicious food.

The nightlife was not bad and we were quite shocked by the music as we were told that Costa Ricans love reggae/dancehall. We went to two clubs; “Republik” in the city and a nightclub in the “La Selina” Hostel.

For transportation, in San Jose, we used Uber and in Manual Antonio we took the bus (about 1-2$ USD) or walked.

Places to check out: Manual Antonio National Park, the beach, volcanos/hot springs (a few hours away).

What we enjoyed the most were the views and the friendly locals. We always felt safe and got good food recommendations. There is so much to see!!!

Food: I’ll give it a 10/10 as I did not have one meal that I did not enjoy. To save money we ate mostly at the “El Sodas” which are the local family owned restaurants. We were able to get 2 meals and drink (s) for 15$usd or less. We also walked to the nearby grocery store for breakfast items; Super Joseth.

Pros: The views, people and food. THE MONKEYS COME OUT IN THE AFTERNOON!

Cons: Although we did not let the rain stop us during our trip, I would recommend that you bring proper clothing/gear for the season.