Costa Rica’s Caribbean coast
As the howls of spider monkeys echoed around our forested cabin, I tried to open my eyes – only to find that they were crusted shut. “This is not good,” I called out to Don, who was doing a scorpion check of the bathroom. He came out, his eyes red around the rims. “Great, I have it too,” he groused. “There’s no way we’re going to be able to pass this off.”
We were in Tortuguero- a national park on Costa Rica’s Caribbean coast that gave new meaning to remote. We had taken two buses and a two-hour boat ride down jungle-lined canals to get here, mostly so we could witness the spectacle of giant sea turtles nesting on the beach at night. Returning early to San Jose was not an option.
But there were others in our group to consider. At dinner the night before, a British surfer girl had voiced suspicions about my condition, known as highly contagious to anyone who has spent time around small children.. I deflected her questions, attributing the spreading redness in my eyes to a close encounter with coral. But if she saw our eyes now, the jig was up
I handed Don his sunglasses. “I don’t care if it’s breakfast, you have to wear these,” I hissed. “We’re not leaving.” (We made sure to keep our distance and washed our hands copiously).
We had chosen Costa Rica for our 1st anniversary vacation on a whim. I had originally planned on going to St. Lucia or Belize, but the cheaper airfare to San Jose was hard to pass up.
As I did my research, I became more intrigued by a stretch of the country’s Caribbean coast that extended south of Limon to the Panama border. By going there, we’d still have our beach vacation – with the addition of any number of activities from rafting to ziplining to hiking to kayaking. Dear reader, we did them all – and I even managed to get a story out of it.
Highlights
Rafting on the Pacuare River. To get to Puerto Viejo from San Jose, we took the one-day whitewater rafting trip on the Pacuare River offered by Exploradores Outdoors. The rapids were mostly II and III, with one or two IV. Our guides were friendly and fun yet safety conscious. While the rapids were exhilerating, we had enough time to go swimming and relax. We also had fun with the people in our boat – there’s something about rafting that makes you bond quickly!
Banana Azul, Puerto Viejo: You know how at some places seem to foster an atmosphere where you meet cool fellow travelers who you want to keep in touch with? That was Banana Azul for us. Colin and his partner seem to maintain a vibe where people talk to each other and have fun (and having the bar there doesn’t hurt!) We had a great time on our four nights here, and found the staff extremely helpful.
About the rooms: they all have open air balconies and there’s no air conditioning. We kept our door open and slept under a mosquito netting. So it might not be the best place for a honeymoon, as it’s not all that private. It is right on the mostly empty Playa Negra beach, however, so we spent some time every day swimming in the warm water and picking up the legions of sand dollars that were in the sand.
Ziplining: I had never gone ziplining before, but knew that I had to try it. I’m glad I did – although it was definitely terrifying. I think you should know whether or not you can handle heights before you go – there were some women in our group from Atlanta who ended up having to be carried by a guide through the 14 or so ziplines….once you start, it’s hard to turn back. I felt bad for them.
(FYI, the bravest among the group were two Swedish kids, both under 10. Nothing fazed them!)
Hiking through the Gandoca-Manzanillo Refuge. This was a guided private tour that included about 45 minutes of sea kayaking (which I didn’t enjoy), but we loved hiking through this park not far from the Panama border. As we kayaked up to the shore, we heard the eerie barking of the howler monkeys. We saw a ton of animals, including a sea otter poking its head out at us behind a tree. Also monkeys, sloths, eyelash viper, frogs, spiders, etc.
Cahuita: There’s not much to do in this small town north of Puerto Viejo, other than visit the national park and do some snorkeling (which, quite frankly, was not all that impressive). But the town does have an Afro-Caribbean feel that is decidedly different from other Costa Rican cities – and it felt a bit more laid back and safer than PV.
Tortuguero: We knew it would be a haul to get up here from Cahuita, but we really wanted to see the turtles. Once we made the slog, we were housed in the Anhinga Lodge. We really liked our accomodations here. Each was a bungalow, with screened windows all around so you could hear the jungle.
To view the sea turtles nesting, our group was instructed to dress in dark colors and we headed to the beach without flashlights. There, our guides used infared light to let us watch the turtles lay their eggs and then head into the sea. It was an amazing experience, to say the least. Without lights, the sky and stars were spectacular, and we really felt like we were at the end of the world, witnessing a natural event that was both beautiful and timeless.
Gallo pinto. We fell in love with the simple flavors of Costa Rica’s national dish, rice and beans – so much so that we eat it almost weekly now.
Lowlights:
Pink eye. Number one reason to invest in your own snorkel mask. I caught a vicious strain of pink eye by sharing a mask with one of our guides who we later found out was recovering from disease. It started in one eye, then spread to both – and then Don caught it. Luckily, we only had a few days left on the trip and we didn’t have to miss anything – but the stinging definitely caused some discomfort.
For more photos on Costa Rica, check out Don’s gallery here
What did we leave out? Share your favorite memories from the Costa Rica Caribbean coast here:
Searching for sun? Check out my other beach trip reports: Turks & Caicos, Mexico (Cancun/Playa del Carmen).
