Costa Rica exceeded all of my expectations. The country is full of beautiful greenery, amazing culture, thrilling adventures, and welcoming locals. This was the 34th country I have visited and by far my favorite experience to date. Costa Rica is known for its tropical, lush rainforests with waterfalls and great hikes, however, when visiting Manuel Antonio, I was blown away by the diverse range of activities beyond the waterfalls and hikes. Keep reading to find out my top 3 reasons to love this breathtaking country!
Travel Dates: January 2022
#1: Adventurous Activities
My favorite aspect that Costa Rica had to offer was the variety of outdoor activities. I am someone who loves to try new adventures and was surprised by how many exciting tours were available in Costa Rica with minimal advanced planning!
Ziplining
In my opinion, zip lining is one activity you must do while visiting Costa Rica. My friends and I went on a Zipline tour with El Santuario Canopy Adventure Tour and it was amazing. The tour lasted around 4 hours and included lunch, transportation, and equipment. The views were so amazing, surrounded by lively greenery and wildlife. There were a total of 11 zip lines, including the longest twin zip lines in Central America (~0.9 miles).
Green – I highly recommend this tour for anyone who is up for an adventure. Luckily, the tour is family-friendly. Keep in mind there will be several areas of hiking and climbing to various zip lines (totaling ~1 mile). The tour provides water and fresh fruit at various stopping points.
Parasailing
A more relaxing option to explore the breathtaking landscape of Costa Rica is parasailing. You will take off from the shore and fly into the sky on a colorful parasail for up to 20-minutes. There are several tour companies at Espadilla South Beach in Manuel Antonio that have same-day Parasailing tours. Grab a group of 2 or 3 and take in stellar views from above!
Green – This activity was very affordable (~$50) and readily available without advance reservations. The tour went by quickly, but all of my friends loved the experience.
Tip – Take off right before sunset to get the best views of the beach and surrounding coasts.
Boat tour of Manuel Antonio
One of my favorite activities to do every time I visit a tropical destination is to take a boat tour. This is a great activity for large groups because you can reserve a private boat. Our tour came with unlimited drinks, amazing food, snorkeling equipment, and friendly guides. To our surprise, we even saw a family of dolphins swim underneath our boat. It was the perfect experience.
Green – This trip was my most enjoyable boat experience to date. The staff was very accommodating, food was top-tier, scenery was beautiful, and ride home during sunset was quintessential. We did not see as many fish while snorkeling, but it was fun to take a dip into the water on a hot day.
#2 Tasty Food
If you know me, you know I am not a huge foodie, which means I do not often prioritize food when visiting countries. My personal preference is to grab food on the go to my next activity versus sitting down at a nice restaurant. To my surprise, Costa Rica blew my expectations away with their cuisine. The food was so simple yet seasoned so well. We hired a private chef that cooked half of our meals and then ventured into the city to explore other varieties of food. I will definitely be back just to eat in this amazing country.
Casado
Casado is the most popular Costa Rican dish and it is essentially a combination of two foods served together (casado means “marriage”). In my experience, it was usually chicken, rice, beans, salad, and plantains. The chicken was typically marinated in a sauce that was delicious. We had casado almost every day and never got tired of it as it was served differently each time. Honestly, the best casado we tried was on the zipline tour!
Gallo Pinto
A typical Costa Rican dish served for breakfast is Gallo Pinto, which is rice and beans. This may sound very simple, we had home-cooked gallo pinto for our first meal and it was delicious. The seasonings were great, making it pair nicely with many dishes!
Plantains
Finally, my absolute favorite dish in Costa Rica was sweet plantains. I typically love plantains and have them when visiting Jamaica and other Caribbean countries. In my opinion, Costa Rican plantains were my favorite plantains to date. They were very ripe, cooked to perfection, and the taste was amazing.
#3 Affordable Prices
Lastly, I love that Costa Rica is a very affordable country to travel to. Flights from New York City were under $300 round-trip and non-stop. When I was there, I found that accommodations, transportation, food, and activities were all very affordable compared to other countries I have traveled to. Additionally, Costa Rica is very friendly for large groups which make costs more affordable to share between members.
See below for a few references for prices as of January 2022:
Food
Casado at a local restaurant – $15 including tax and tip
Alcoholic drinks – $6 (half off during happy hour)
Transportation
Private shuttle transportation within Manuel Antonio – $5 roundtrip
Round-trip private airport shuttle between San Jose Airport and Manuel Antonio – $50
Accommodations
Accommodations for 4 nights in private 15-person villa – $250
Activities
Parasailing – $45-60
Ziplining – $65-75
Other things to note
- Great for groups: My party of 15-people found Costa Rica to be very group friendly due to the abumdance of large accomodations and availabilty for on-the-spot activities
- Very cautious about COVID: Costa Rica has very high adherence to masks in public, frequent sanitation, and overall very catious about COVID safety protocols
- Locals are super nice: Every local we encountered was very friendly and accomodating. It was nice that they were patient when attempting to communicate in Spanish with our group
- Wildlife: We did not have to go to the National Park to see monkeys, birds, and other wildlife. We saw everything right at our villa or while walking around the beach area
- Large and diverse country: I only visited Manuel Antonio while in Costa Rica, but the country is known for its vast landscapes with several activites in each region (e.g. hiking, waterfalls, hot springs, surfing, etc.)
Please leave comments below with your recommendations for Costa Rica!
