Costa Rica
Discovering Costa Rica
After COVID wrecked plans for a celebration cruise for our two sons who were graduating high school, we turned our plans to Costa Rica.
Along with friends, including four friends of our sons who had also graduated high school, we boarded an early morning airplane and flew to San Jose. It was here that we met our guide Arni, who was amazing. Arni helped load up all of our luggage and we began the drive to the west coast of Costa Rica and our resort: Punta Leona.
Punta Leona is an all-inclusive resort that seems to cater to Costa Ricans. It’s not quite what you would expect in a resort marketed at Americans, but we found it to be a relaxing place to spend our first few days in Costa Rica. There is a very nice pool complex on the property as well as access to two beaches. One is just off a stone’s throw from the pools and another that is down the road about 10 minutes.
The accommodations were functional, but more what you would expect in a timeshare and not a tropical resort. The food served at the resort was also good. While billed as an all inclusive resort, drinks outside of the restaurants were not included, but the prices were very modest.
When our time was done at Punta Leona, we made the drive from the west coast of country into the rainforest nearby we would stay at a wonderful place, Finca 360. Along the way we would stop to look at the massive crocodiles that congregate in the river near a bridge and visit the nicest Starbucks we’ve every been to, the Starbucks Hacienda Alsacia.
Enjoying Finca360
Finca360 is amazing. It is nestled up in the hills above the town of Venecia and adjacent to the Juan Castro Blanco National Park. The views from this incredible place are phenomenal and the house is designed to take advantage of them. There isn’t a single place in the house that doesn’t have a great view—and yes, we looked for one.
The staff are incredible from the food to the service to the guided hike into the rain forest. We could not have wished for a better place to stay. We are so grateful for our friends who own this place and helped make all of the arrangements for our Costa Rica vacation. Rosie runs her own travel agency specializing in Costa Rica travel. Find the link here and let her help you plan your own trip to Costa Rica.
Itching for Adventure in Costa Rica
Of course, Costa Rica was not all about relaxing by the sea or taking in the breathtaking views. Costa Rica can also be about flinging yourself over the rainforest of the Arenal Volcano Area on a zipline traveling up to 43 miles an hour. Here we trusted ourselves to the professionals of Sky Adventures. Fodor’s ranked Sky Adventures as one of the “World’s Most Amazing Zip Lines”, and we can understand why.
But then it was time to take a bit of relaxation as we visited Paradise Hot Springs near the city of Fortuna. The geothermal activity of Costa Rica—no small thanks to the 6 active volcanoes in the country—create the perfect place to relax your body before the next adventure.
For us, that next adventure was white water rafting down the Sarapiqui River. We could not have wanted more from the Desafio Adventure Company who ran this adventure for us. Over class 2 and class 3 rapids (although most seem to be class 2), by the time we got to the end of our trip we were all wet, tired, and absolutely thrilled that we had this great opportunity. We could not say enough good things about Desafio’s guides and the way they so expertly ran their operations.
A Few Pictures
