My main tips for costa rica travel!

May 28

Hey guys!

I’ve had enough people reaching out to me asking me for tips for Costa Rica, so I figured I’d pile them all into a cohesive document for you to explore. Here’s some of my top tips for anyone coming to Costa Rica!:

TIP #1: Don’t try to travel too much

This is a tip I wish somebody else would have told me before my first time to Costa Rica. Although on a map Costa Rica looks pretty small, it takes FOREVER to travel around. If you’re traveling for a vacation and have anything less than 2 weeks, I would recommend just picking one, or two locations (at most) to explore, if you want to really experience the “pura vida” lifestyle that Costa Rica is famous for.

If you try to see the whole country in two weeks, you’ll probably be spending most of your time in the car or bus, feeling jet lagged and bored. NO THANKS.

TIP #2: ARRIVING

FLYING INTO SAN JOSE? If you fly into San Jose, you’re actually flying into a city just outside of San Jose called Alajuela. If you’re looking to just pass through San Jose and need a place to stay for a night, look up Airbnbs or check Booking.com for the Alajuela area, as this is actually where the airport is and San Jose is about 30 minutes away.

WHERE TO STAY ALAJUELA: Like I said, if you want to crash somewhere close to the airport, I recommend using Booking.com or Airbnb. (Booking is typically cheaper). You can type in “san jose airport” and accommodations close by the airport will come up, or you can search for “Alajuela” which is the city the airport resides in.

If you do want to go check out San Jose (just a city, nothing special to be honest), then take an Uber to San Jose.

WHERE TO STAY SAN JOSE: There is a hostel I usually stay at that has nice beds, fast internet, and a social vibe, called “Backpackers Hostel”. It’s right downtown in San Jose, walking distance to good food, and close to the Tracopa bus station (the main bus station for everything).

TIP #3: GETTING AROUND

UBER: First things first, knowing how to get around in the first place is pretty critical. If you’re in the city, UBER is super cheap. Definitely UBER as Taxi’s can get pretty expensive. Your Uber should cost anywhere from $5-$10 to get you around the entire province of San Jose, which is actually pretty big.

BUS:

The “Tracopa Bus Station” is where you want to look for if you are trying to go south. They have busses that will take you to Jaco, Quepos, Dominical, Uvita, all the way as south as Golfito, and different lines running down to the border of Panama. Since I usually spend my time down south, I’ve become very familiar with the Tracopa bus system.
Pro tip: Make sure you look up the schedule before, as some busses only run once or twice a day, sometimes starting as early as 6AM, and you don’t want to miss them. Recommended to purchase your ticket beforehand, but you can also buy the tickets directly at the bus station.

MEPE -- This is a Costa Rican bus company that services San Jose, Bribri, Cahuita, Puerto Viejo, Sixaola and Manzanillo routes. If you’re trying to go to the east side (Limon or Puerto Viejo, most likely), check out MEPE.

OTHER TRANSPORT

If you’re trying to go to the Nicoya peninsula (Santa Teresa, Nosara, Montezuma, Tamarindo), it might be easier for you to fly directly into Liberia instead of San Jose, as it’s a lot closer. If it’s cheaper for you to fly to San Jose, you can still fly into San Jose and take a hopper plane over to the Nicoya peninsula. Check out Sansa for domestic flights: www.flysansa.com
There are also many shuttle services you can take to avoid busses and ubers, if your wallet permits this.
RENTAL CAR: And finally, the obvious option -- renting a car. This is by far the best option because it’s really nice to have a car in Costa Rica. The country is pretty spread out, and depending where you go MOST LIKELY the towns will still be spread out and you’ll want transportation. This can get pretty expensive though, so up to you and your budget!

TIP #4: CHOOSING YOUR DESTINATION

People ask me ALL THE TIME where the “best” place to go in Costa Rica is. My 100% honest answer -- every place is “the best” place. Costa Rica is a beautiful, diverse country, offering all kinds of picturesque destinations and different vibes.

You honestly can do no wrong in Costa Rica. No matter where you go, it will definitely be beautiful, lush, and ‘pura vida’ vibes.

I’ll try to explain the vibe of each place I’ve personally visited, so you can feel out for yourself what you want to do. (Keep in mind, I believe that everyone’s perspective and experience is always unique to them, so don’t take too seriously what I tell you… Experience it for yourself!)

San Jose: Sort of a Northern California vibe, minus the beautiful trees. Low - mid business for a city. Food, shops, buy your necessities here. Layover and don’t spend too much time.
Uvita / Dominical: Cute, sleepy little surfer town with good food (you MUST go to “Gelato” -- maybe the best icecream I’ve ever had in my life). This is where they have the big “Envision” festival every year, giving itself a name. Dominical specifically has more of a yogi vibe, with cute healthy cafes, yoga studios, and pretty decent surf.
Jaco: Like the Las Vegas of Costa Rica, but waaaaay less going on. People always complain about Jaco being ‘too busy’, and maybe I’ve just spent too much time in Asia, but Jaco is NOT busy in my opinion. (Like I said, I lived in Bali for years and it’s way busier there). There’s cool bars, restaurants, a beach, and more stuff “to do” -- (if that’s what you’re looking for). There is playa hermosa just south of Jaco, which is a pretty famous surf spot.
Quepos / Manuel Antonio: Cute town in the hills with lots of ‘touristy’ things to do. You can go to the National Park and see lots of monkeys and animals, you can go surfing at the beach, river rafting, and do lots of activities such as this. I like it here! But nowhere I need to go back to and spend lots of time.
Pavones / Punta Banco: For sure my favorite place in Costa Rica, but granted, this is where I’ve spent the most time. If you don’t surf, you don’t want to go here. There’s literally nothing to do except surf the best waves of your life, and be in a sleepy, beautiful little jungle town where there’s sloths, monkeys, parrots, macaws, whales on the horizon… Yeah this place is magical. But like I said, there’s hardly any restaurants, I think there’s one bar, and it’s a pretty difficult spot to get to (2 hour taxi ride on a bumpy dirt road from Golfito). Specifically, I spend my time teaching yoga at The Yoga Farm, so if you’re interested in spending a month learning about permaculture, I recommend checking it out!
Matapalo / Osa Peninsula: This is my second favorite place in Costa Rica. This place is absolutely magical, and is one of the most biodiverse regions on planet earth! They have the Corcovado national park nearby, which I actually have never been to, but heard amazing things. In Matapalo itself, again, is a surfers heaven. There are 3 famous right - hander waves (perfect if you’re regular), and they’re some of the best waves I’ve ever surfed. Matapalo is the biggest, and most advanced wave, then there’s Backwash which is a little less scary than Matapalo, and finally Pan Dulce, which is one of the longest and most fun right-handers I’ve ever surfed in my life. 100% recommended.
TIP: Keep in mind, if you’re staying out here near Matapalo, there is almost nothing but some nice houses. The closest grocery store is a 30 minute drive away, so bring everything you need if you’re renting a spot out here.
Santa Teresa: If you’re looking for a more well-rounded place to meet all of your needs, I recommend you come here. Santa Teresa has a great night-life, lot’s of stuff going on, while at the same time there’s waves, jungle, hiking, you name it. If I were to tell my friends where to go if they only had a week -- I would probably say to just come here.
Nosara: I spent only 10 days here and I was spending most of my time in a yoga retreat at Blue Spirit yoga retreat center, but this place was magical. It’s a gorgeous, sleepy little town with super nice locals, great surfing, and beauty all around. I would say if you come here, make sure you have a car since there’s a lot of hills and it’s not an easy place to just walk around in.
La Fortuna: Gorgeous little mountain town with a stunning volcano, hot springs, gorgeous hikes, one of the most stunning waterfalls I’ve ever seen, and the hanging bridges. This place is beautiful everywhere you look, and if you’re looking for a Costa Rica vibe that’s not the beach, I would highly recommend coming here.

TIP #4: Making the most of your experience

There are some things you shouldn’t leave Costa Rica without trying. Here’s a few:

The fruit: Funny request, but please don’t leave Costa Rica without trying all of the fruit. I’m a huge fruit fan, and I’ve lived in many different tropical locations, from Sri Lanka, to Bali, to Thailand, to Hawaii. Out of everywhere in the world COSTA RICA HAS THE BEST FRUIT EVER. The papaya, the pineapple, the maracuya (passionfruit) are the best in the world. If you want to try some more exotic fruits, you can try Guanabana, starfruit, and mamon chino, to name a few.
Gallo Pinto: Odds are, you’ll be forced into eating this at some point, whether you want to or not. Gallo Pinto is the traditional Costa Rican breakfast, and it’s absolutely addicting. It’s nothing too novel -- just rice and beans, mixed with lazano sauce and some other ingredients. But it’s absolutely delicious. Make sure you don’t leave without trying it.
Surf: Costa Rica has some of the best waves in the world. Whether you’re new to surfing or advanced, I recommend paddling out, at least once!
Learn some Tico slang: If you don’t speak Spanish, at least learn some Tico (what they call native Costa Ricans) slang so you can connect with the locals (and maybe even impress them!).
- Some of my favorite words (I won’t name all of them because some aren’t appropriate):
  - Tuanis: [too - ah - knees] is a general word for ‘cool’, ‘awesome’. (You get the picture).
  - Pura Vida: [poo - rah - vee - dah] This term literally translates to English meaning ‘pure life’, and is used for pretty much everything here in Costa Rica. You could use it as ‘hello’, ‘goodbye’, ‘thank you’, ‘you’re welcome’, (you get the picture). If you
  - Mae: [my] You’ll hear locals using this word all the time. It’s the slang word for ‘dude’, or ‘bro’.
Experience the jungle: Costa Rica is one of the most biodiverse countries in the world -- so you’re bound to experience its jungle and wildlife whether you want to or not. Just walking down the street you’ll probably spot all kinds of birds, monkeys, maybe sloths if you’re lucky! However, I do recommend making an effort to go a little deeper into the jungle. Whether this looks like doing a white-water rafting trip, going on a whale watching tour, or hiring a tour guide to do a night jungle tour. 100% make an effort to experience the dense biodiversity that Costa Rica has to offer.