Honeymoon in Costa Rica

Hola! We’re Damon & Britt; a couple who loves photography, exploring nature, and indulging into new cultures. In 2019, after 10 years, together, we decided to get married and we treated ourselves to an incredible Honeymoon in Costa Rica. It was evident to us both that we wanted to share our experience and day to day activities so that others can explore this breathtaking country. As you read through our adventure, you may notice our Mantra’s for each day of our trip. Follow along to see how these were implemented into our days and allowed us to fully enjoy the Pura Vide lifestyle!

During the planning phases, Damon did a ton of research on the most incredible places to see in Costa Rica. He read blogs like My Tan Feet and Two Weeks in Costa Rica which allowed us to adapt our interests to meet others’ recommendations. We rented an SUV from Adobe Car Rentals and drove over 20 hours (map and pins below) within our 11 day span. A must do in our opinion!

Day 1 - “You’re Sleeping in a What?” - December 16th, 2019

Rise and shine, its travel day! Getting the dogs ready for their vacation with Aunt Tori, loading the car without Vinny seeing, and heading out the door before 5:30am! The drive from St. Catharines to Toronto felt like forever due to our excitement… but we made it to the Park n Fly with loads of time to spare. We got through security, had a nap and a bite to eat in the Plaza Premium Lounge, and loaded our flight to Costa Rica!

We arrived at Liberia airport, changed into our warm clothes and made it through customs. The Custom officers were super friendly and they made this portion easy. We made a quick stop at the Duty Free on the way through and hunted down our Rental Car shuttle to pick up our Mitsubishi Outlander (4wd). And we were off to our first destination before 3:00pm! 

After a 1.5 hour easy drive, we arrived at The Pipe House, yes that is right… we slept in pipes! The road was quite bumpy coming in but we found out pretty quickly that time really doesn't matter here. Our host, Felipe met us at the front gate and got us checked into our cozy pipe (Grey Room). All rooms have the same set up but are differentiated by colour. We were even able to choose which cozy pipe to call home for a few days. The location of the hostel was only a 2 minute walk from Playa Grande Beach (a protected beach for Sea Turtles). We ran down to the beach to catch the early sunset and walked to dinner. We had some amazing tacos and made it for happy hour at Cafe Mar Azul (exit 29 off of Playa Grande Beach). It was one of our more expensive meals, but totally worth it!

A word of caution.. Once the sun goes down, no one can access the protected beach due to the possibility of Sea Turtles actively laying eggs or hatching. We found this out the hard way and walked all the way around in the pitch black… in the forest. Rule #1...DO NOT WALK AT NIGHT.

Day 2 - Sun of a Beach - December 17, 2019

We realized quickly that it is a must to wake up with the sun so you have the entire day! We woke up at 5am and walked down to Playa Grande Beach to see if any wildlife was still wandering the sand! We saw a lot of turtle tracks and sea shells from the lowering tide! From the edge of Playa Grande Beach, you can see Tamarindo! It is a short water taxi across the stream due to crocodiles in the water. but can be quite pricey so decided to take the SUV and drive the 40 minutes into Tamarindo for the day.

We arrived in Tamarindo around 8am and found a really cool coffee house called Nordica Coffee House. Damon had the Dripped Honey Brew with a yogurt parfait and Britt had an iced coffee. Every city we stopped in, we bought a bag of coffee to bring home, and this was stop number 1! The Hippie vibes and chill atmosphere was definitely the best way to start off our adventure.

After breakfast, we found parking with the locals where they will watch your car for the day for $4USD. It is recommended to leave nothing in the car in case of break ins but we weren’t worried here as we could see our car from the beach. Tamarindo had a lot of really cool surfer shops and restaurants. After our walk into the town, we had a beer on the beach and then drove back to Playa Grande. On the way back we stopped at Wilmart (superstore) to buy some snacks and food for dinner! Once at the Pipe House, we brought some beer and snacks down to Playa Grande Beach and spent the afternoon enjoying sun, waves, music, the ocean view!

Between 4pm-6pm was the best time to go for cheap drinks at most restaurants in Playa Grande (also one of the only places along our trek that really had happy hour). We walked the beach to a small strip of restaurants and had a Pina Colada, where we met a nice couple finishing their trip from Hamilton! They pretty much did our same trip, just backwards so it was nice comparing plans and telling stories! 

The Pipe House had everything you needed for your stay; kitchen with pots, pans, spices, a gym, yoga area, surf boards, lessons, etc. For dinner this night, we stayed in and made use of the amenities here. We indulged in our homemade tacos and enjoyed our company from Hawaii and Sudbury! We absolutely loved this place. Felipe has made such a comfortable and amazing spot for all ages.

Day 3 - Be One with the Clouds - December 18, 2019

Last morning in the pipe, we decided to get up early and pack in order to hit the road to our next destination. Chris, our new friend from Hawaii, had some coffee brewed for us and after a quick walk on the beach, we hit the bumpy road. The roads to monteverde were the worst that we saw. Mostly dirt with a lot of potholes, but worth the view driving up 1400m above sea level at 60km/h. It took us 3.5hrs to drive straight to the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve from Playa Grande.

About 1km from the park is a parking lot ($5USD) where you can leave your car in the secured lot and take a shuttle (inclusive) to the main gate. The park cost $25pp but is completely worth it, especially for our first hike! The entire hike was 1.5 hours and we did the entire loop. There wasn't much wildlife to see, but the forestry is amazing! We saw a few birds and a massive caterpillar that fell on Britt’s foot. At one point of the hike you have a choice to walk to the continental divide (Pacfic/Caribbean) which was the coolest thing to see from the clouds.

After our hike, we made the short trip back to our Airbnb; Camino Verde bnb. This bed and breakfast had an incredible view, free coffee, a kitchen to use, and the rooms were spectacular! Once getting settled in, we took a walk into town (5 min) and enjoyed craft beer at the Beer House. We shared a flight of 6 beers for $11. We highly recommend this cute little spot for craft beer lovers!

We found that when we were not hiking or traveling, we were indulging in delicious foods; mostly tacos! So, to keep things consistent, we walked to Taco Taco Taquerias for sea bass and steak tacos, as well as some delicious Margaritas! Hands down, the best margaritas we have ever had! You can assume we didn’t get just one Margarita.. So we went back to our bed and breakfast for some R&R and to book our upcoming adventures. Damon doesn’t sit very well for long periods of time so off we went to town to find a happy hour and music. No luck, but have you ever had a drink in a restaurant, in a real tree, while it was raining, and no Rainforest Cafe doesn’t count. The Tree House Restaurant in Monteverde had “half ass drinks, with a full blown experience” - Damon.

Day 4 - Explore the Unexplored - December 19, 2019

Breakfast at the bnb this morning was delicious and just the right amount. (B. Rice and beans. D. Pancakes and fruit). We found a cool coffee shop at the Monteverde Cafe but they were closed when we came back this morning… This is something we noticed happened often, so if you see something you want, get it right away!

On route to the sunny south! Not even 20 minutes into our drive to Jaco on Route 606 just outside monteverde, we pulled off at the most amazing lookout on the right hand side. You could see green for miles and toucans flying around! After a quick photoshoot, we continued our tour! 

Our drive was just over 2 hours from Monteverde to Jaco. Once we arrive in Jaco, we had a hard time finding parking where we felt safe enough. No word of a lie, a local offered to watch our car for the day, down an ally…. WHILE HE WAS DOING GRAFFITI ON THE SIDE OF A BUILDING. Good sales pitch but poor execution haha! We ended up parking on the main strip just so our car was out in public. We walked down to the beach, which was quiet but super hot (36 degrees). Our experience in Jaco was not as grand as we expected but had some fun hippy gems with a lot of places to eat. You can bet we checked these out! We found a cool spot called Taco Bar.  We highly recommend due to the all you can eat salad bar and yummy tacos (the fish were our fav). Hint: Ask for no plastic Straws and don’t get three tacos, there was so much food. We spent the last of our afternoon here checking out the local shops and grabbing our local Monkey Poop coffee from Jaco.

After being roasted in the sun for a few hours, we made our way to Shade Tree Glamping (check out their website, it was our absolute fav Airbnb in CR). The most secluded Airbnb we have ever been to! It was around 5km into the rainforest, just outside of Carara National Park.  Upon arrival we met our host Andrea and her husband Chris. They were the absolute sweetest humans and Andrea gave us the grand tour. Chris and some friends actually built this amazing place, by hand. Honestly, the craftsmanship and effort that went into this spot cannot go unnoticed. On top of this, Andrea and Damon organized a surprise local meal months in advance. Andrea bought all of the ingredients (pan fried veggies, fresh greens, and mahi mahi with craft beer and cake) and had them delivered in a cooler in the outdoor kitchen. 

Andrea showed us the tree houses and explained their background story (English couple, who now reside in CR). Andrea is also a Horse Trainer and is an expert on making people feel welcome and comfortable! There is a small lot for parking about 2 mins from the actual tree house since the path isn’t easily accessible by car. As Andrea was heading out, she called us down to see the most beautiful Scarlet Macaws on the property and assured us that we will be seeing much more wildlife during this leg of our trip! She wasn’t wrong! While we still had a little sunlight left, we went for a walk around this beautiful property where we saw many birds, cows, horses, and MONKEYS. After Damon cooked up our delicious surprise and we ate our amazing chocolate cake (made by Andreas friend btw), we crawled into bed early as it gets quite dark fast in the rain forest (5:20pm).

Day 5 - Dessert First - Decemeber 20, 2019

A well rested night woke us up at 5am. It was still dark but a good time to wake up as it is a little more quiet at Shade Tree. As the sun rose, so did the nature. It was amazing to hear and see monkeys waking up and literally swinging through the trees! We had fresh, locally grown, fruit and coffee (provided by Andrea) and ate some of our leftover cake at the air bnb and headed out around 7am. Dessert First right?!

We took a day trip and drove down to Manuel Antonio (1 hour). Just before the entrance to the National Park, many guards will stand here to guide you where to go. They seemed quite sketchy but one guard led us off the path to a small lot where we ended up parking our car for the day. We are so glad we did this as we spent the day on the locals beach with way less tourists. Just after stepping out of the car, a local called us over to see a sloth no more than 20 feet in a tree. So, with that, we spent the morning at Espadilla beach. The rocks and small bays were a site to see which is where we spent most of our time exploring the beach (as mentioned, Damon really can’t sit still!). Here we also saw a ton of monkey too! For those keeping track, that was 2 sloths and 5 monkeys without going into the National Park. A win for us we thought! 

After a few hours, we decided to get some lunch at El Avion. Food was average but the views were incredible. There are small little monkeys that run along the hydro lines through Manuel Antonio. Costa Rica is known for making overpasses for animals in order to cross roads and highways, they were everywhere. After leaving here we drove back about 30 mins from Manuel Antonio to Rainmaker park. This was a recommendation from Andrea. The park was $20 each but so worth it. There are many small suspension bridges and a fun little waterfall. We spent about an hour in the waterfall and enjoyed our time here. The park felt more adventurous than anything we’ve done to this point.

Dinner that night was at Los Almendros, a small restaurant off the beaten path. We were a little early since the restaurant opens at 4pm, so we decided to drive along the Esterillos beach! This beach is completely secluded and MASSIVE. Los Almendros is known to trip advisor however it wasn’t our favourite (we still loved the local food in Playa Grande). We did enjoy happy hour though ... MORE DELICIOUS MARGARITAS!

We raced back to the Airbnb (30 mins) to be in before dark since the roads in are complete farm fields and it is very secluded (you want to be in no later than 5:30 in Dec as it gets dark quick). We spent the rest of the evening relaxing and truly enjoying the nature out here at Shade Tree!

Day 6 - Glass Half Full - December 21, 2019

Day 6 was the halfway point of our amazing honeymoon, which led Damon to have his 5 minutes of negativity. That negativity was quickly gone as we woke up at 5:30 to the sounds of nature waking around us. From our bed, we saw about 25 monkeys in the trees following each other doing what monkeys do best!

This morning we spent it cleaning up and packing for our long drive to La Fortuna (3.5 hours). on our trek we saw someone get pulled over. Here policia always have their lights on but doesn’t mean you’re in trouble. To pull over, they are parked and will step out to the road to wave you over. We stopped in San Ramon at a small coffee shop on the way to get a yummy latte before making descend down the mountain to La Fortuna.  The roads were very windy but completely paved from Jaco to La Fortuna which was a bonus. 

We arrived around 12pm and decided to check out the Selina La Fortuna when we got in. Our teepee wasn’t ready (check in at 3pm) however they allowed us to use all of the amenities. This hostel felt the most “resorty” of all our stays. It had a pool, bar, lounge area, kitchen, bonfire pit etc. There were also activities to do daily and an app you can download to get discounts on activities and adventures in the area (we didn’t used it but checked it out.. Selinas are cool)! 

After we got settled, we decided to make a trip around the town to check out the bars and local restaurants. La Fortuna is much more of a city than any of the places we’ve been. It was quite rainy so we decided to go for one drink and head back to Selina to enjoy a few beers that we purchased for the local Super Christian. Be aware of the rain in December as it is the end of their wet season. It will rain hard for about 5 minutes and then stop for a couple hours. To end off the night, we went for dinner at Lava Lounge. D had fajitas (they didnt have Tacos) and I had a Wrap, the food was good and the company of the stray dogs was even better!

Day 7 - Let Nature Take Its Course - December 22, 2019

Waking up in a teepee was pretty cool. We enjoyed breakfast at Selina then packed up for our day full of adventures. We planned to go zip lining in the afternoon and decided to stop by Sky Adventure Park (Arenal) to see if we could get an earlier time. Even though it was all sold out online, they allowed us to change our zipline booking to earlier. After solidifying our timeslot, we headed for Arenal National Park.

The hike at Arenal Volcano national park is $15pp and about a 2ish hour hike. It is relatively easy with level terrain (very muddy) and a few areas to climb the lava rocks to the lava fields. At the end of the hike, there is a short road from the parking lot where you can drive to a lookout point to see the Arenal volcano. Often times you can’t see the tip of the volcano due to the clouds and rain.

We drove from here back to sky adventures (10 mins) and prepared for our zipline adventure. We didn’t think it would sell out and glad we looked online when we did!  We recommend booking this earlier to make sure you get in or risk it and go there to ask if there are openings (we believe only so many spots may be reserved online). After all the prep and suiting up with equipment, the group takes a short ride on the tram up the mountain to a ”practice run”. Britt was utterly terrified after this short run but went for it anyway! There are about 7 runs and 1 over 600m in length (the Big Daddy). This run is also the fastest of them all (up to 40km/hr). Zip lining was a total of 2 hours due to the large group you go do with, but totally worth it. It rained during our last run, but you can’t let that phase you  as you are Zipping through the Rainforest with the Arenal Volcano in the background! 

Once we finished, it was a perfect time to check in at Tifikara (8 mins outside La Fortuna). Pulling up to Tifikara was slightly confusing as we weren’t sure which place their sign was pointing towards. When we finally parked and walked in, it immediately met our expectations. We settled in, had coffee, unpacked, and walked the plaza. Dinner was at the Soda Viquez in La Fortuna, a super local dish which was pretty decent ($20 for 2 Casado and a smoothie drink each). We ended this night with a homemade margarita and some rest after an adventure packed day!

Day 8 - Don’t go Chasing Waterfalls - December 23, 2019

Tifikara was a pretty cool spot to stay! When breakfast is included, we ate more than we needed so we could skip out on lunch. We drove to La Fortuna Waterfall (2 minutes down the road). You could really walk this with how close it is but having the car was nice because of the rain. We hiked the waterfall ($18pp) down 500 steps to the lookout and swim area. We could not swim in the main pool due to the high pressure of the waterfall and all the rain but sometimes it opens during the dry season but during our stay there was a lot of rain. Instead, we hung out in the lower pool for a few hours. There were a lot of people but it was not too crowded. We recommend going right in the morning (opens at 9) because by 12pm, a huge flood of people blocked the stairs coming down. Make sure to drink lots of water/bring water as the stairs are quite steep but nothing unmanageable.

After the exhausting hike, we came back and hung out at the hotel for a bit and enjoyed the complimentary juice and coffee on our patio wherewe saw 4 toucans hanging out in the trees around us. These last few days we did not plan for because we knew we would be getting tired after all of the adventure, but surprisingly we were ready to keep going! We drove around Arenal to check out a few more places. During our drive we pulled over a few times and saw 3 sloths and a family of Coatis. 

On the way back we stopped by El Salto which is a small swimming area right by the bridge for Rio Fortuna on via 702. This place has an active rope swing and was decently busy.  We saw a few people swing off this into the moving water and float down. Of course it isn’t a day in CR without tacos, so we decided to check out Spectacolar. This was a small restaurant that just opened 6 months prior in La Fortuna. These were by far the best tacos we had on our trip! They has a special of 12 tacos for $24USD, which we thought we could save for lunch the next day. They were SO good, we ended up finishing them all in one sitting! Check out trip advisor for amazing reviews and well priced tacos. They ended up giving us free shots because Britt is a photographer and took a pic for them. 

Back at Tifikara, we enjoyed the hot tub for the remainder of the night. We met a family from Colorado just beginning their trip and we talked a lot about CR and recommendations of things to do (so much fun when you can relive these moments and ask where others are going) - latest night we stayed up our whole trip!

Day 9 - We’re Not Lazy, We’re Relaxed - December 24, 2019

Christmas Eve is Britt’s favourite day of the year, but this year it was spent a little different…

We woke up for breakfast at the hotel (our fav was the sandwhich). We headed to Baldi Hot Springs (20 minutes from Tifikara) for a 9am start to beat the rush of people. There are over 25 pools of all different temperatures at Baldi. We started at the top pool as they flow into each and it was what was recommended in a YouTube video. We hung out in the relaxing oasis until 1pm and made a short trip back into town. We walked around the town to check out a few places, and decided to go to The Corner for lunch. We decided to change it up from tacos and had the buffalo pizza (highly recommended). For a large pizza and 2 cokes it was $21.00usd. For dessert we stopped at Pops Ice cream (a chain in CR). It was yummy but average price (2 cones for $8usd). 

We wanted to get a few more bags of coffee and chocolate so we visited the Choco Museo in La Fortuna! They do a small sample tour for free for you to try 100%, 70%, and 50% chocolate. We tested spreads, liqueurs, and cocoa beans, but the best thing was the tea at the end! We came home with a few bags of it because it was so good. After we finished in town, we headed back to Baldi to enjoy a few more hours in the pools. To get your money's worth, we recommend spending the whole day if you can!! We planned our dinner here ($22 each). It was a buffet style and nothing special. We agreed that it is smarter to save your money and enjoy a local dinner in La Fortuna instead. Cheaper and yummier!  The pools at night are really neat with the lights and such but after dinner we were too tired to stay so we came back to our hotel. We had coffee and came to our room to relax. The power ended up going out on us for a long while which sent us to bed before Santa came that night!

Day 10 - Just Discover the Extraordinary - December 25, 2019

Second last day, or Christmas… whichever you prefer. Of course we started off our day with a traditional Christmas morning dance party and enjoyed a coffee in our room ( Coffee is complimentary in many hotels here).

We made a last minute decision to sneak in one more hike and drive to Rio Celeste (1.5 hrs). Rio Celeste 1.5km hike in Tenorio National Park and 253 stairs down. It was a spectacular view and the water was a very unique colour. No swimming here due to the natural chemicals in the water but definitely a sight to see. There is a hike down to view the falls and then another trail to the rivers. The one river is a PH7 (drinking water) and the other river is a PH3 (very acidic).. When the two PH’s mix, the formation of the crystals and the reflection of the sun create the vibrant blue colour of the Celeste River. The hike was about 2.5 hours total and a lot of stairs. It is a moderate hike but nothing too difficult. We saw a massive spider at the end and believe it may have been a banana spider 

We took our long drive back to Tifakara and had a few hours to unwind. It was rainy and a good time to pack and clean up. We made one final trip into town to enjoy Christmas evening and started off with happy hour at Lava Rocks. Happy hour was from 4-6pm but they didn’t seem to happy about it and even took down the sign around 5pm! Damon ordered us 4 mojitos and patacones (plantain with refrained beans guacamole and pico de Gallo) as our appetizer before our fancy dinner at Don Ruffino!  Damon got a steak and I got the risotto. Street churros to finish off the night and a great vacation! We recommend you make a reservation around holidays!

Day 11 - Until Next Time - December 26, 2019

And just like that, our trip came to an end. We woke up super early to pack up and make our 4 hour trip to the Daniel Oduber Quirós international airport in Liberia (smoothest of all drives). We dropped off our car back to Adobe Car Rentals. The process was very easy and they provide a shuttle back to the airport. From here we said our Goodbye’s to this small slice of paradise but brought with us the Pura Vida Vibes.

Follow us at @alifecurrieated and see what we get up to next!