Costa Rica: Manuel Antonio

Back to reality. There is always a bit of culture shock after coming back from somewhere other than US or Europe. Life couldn’t be any more different overseas. In some ways, that is really good, in some ways that is really bad. However, I am thankful to come home and be able to drive on paved roads and place toilet paper in the toilet again. It’s the little things!

If you follow me on instagram or facebook these pictures will be repetitive, so I apologize! While I’m excited to document our trip, unfortunately this is going to a multiple part post since I don’t have time to do it all at once.

Our first stop was Manuel Antonio which is located on the Pacific Coast, 80 miles south of San Jose. After flying into San Jose and staying the night, it was an easy drive down. Easy as in I wasn’t driving, but Colby managed well!

Our Trip : San Jose & Manuel Antonio : Day 1 – 4

Day 1: Fly to San Jose and stay the night

Flight to Costa Rica!

San Jose!

Day 2: Drive down to Manuel Antonio & Beach

After the two hour drive and stopping a few times along the way for gorgeous lookouts and groceries we checked in at our hotel.  We then spent the afternoon at the local beach. We were thankful it was very quiet with not many people around. The water was luke warm water and we were happy it was warm enough for us to enjoy!

Drive from San Jose to Manuel Antonio

Day 3: Manuel Antonio National Park & Beach

We hiked through the local National Park in the morning. While many people choose to get guides we walked all the trails on our own. The trails weaved in and out through rainforest and the beach. We saw a ton of wildlife including monkeys, sloths, and iguanas. There were lots of gorgeous miradors (lookouts) that overlooked the beach. After 2-3 hours of hiking and completing all the trails we enjoyed an afternoon by the beach. We learned the monkeys and raccoon’s know how to open backpacks and while we were in the water they stole and ate our food!

Day 4: Canyoning Tour & Beach

We spent the morning doing a Canyoning Tour. This was super fun and something I had always wanted to do. It’s similar to zip-lining, except instead you are repelling up and down instead of going side to side. The best part was Colby and I were the only ones on the tour so the guide was more flexible! He took several videos of us and even let us repel upside down! After repelling we were fed a local meal, walked across a very scary suspension bridge, and then headed back to town where we enjoyed the afternoon at the beach.

Our tips:

• We stayed at Jungle Creek and loved it. Hosts were very helpful and are from Canada so know English.
• The monkeys and raccoon’s know how to open you backpacks and take your food. Make sure to have it locked up, if possible
• There is no food/water in the park so make sure to bring your own
• The park is $16 per person.
• There is no fee to use the beaches outside of the park
• There were three options for the canyoning tour, but we ended up using Xtreme tours and really liked it
• You do not need a guide for the park (unless you want to use their telescopes and hear all the history). It’s a 10 minute walk straight to the beach, but we did all the hiking trails first which took a few hours.
• Manuel Antonio is VERY humid. Very. Consider this your warning.
• Everywhere takes US dollars. You will always get change in the local currency.

I didn’t start sharing our traveling adventures on the blog until the end of 2013, but you can see some of our trips below as well as how to travel on a budget here.

• Pacific Northwest
• Western Caribbean Cruise
• Arizona
• Hilton Head
• South America: Argentina
• South America: Torres Del Paine
• South America: Lake Region
• South America: Santiago + Coast

The rest of the trip is to be continued…….