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3 days in Manuel Antonio

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Day 1 – Thursday (22/03/2013)

We left La Fortuna in the morning and hit the road towards Manuel Antonio, one of the most famous beaches in the country, located on the west coast (Pacific). As the Poas volcano It was halfway between La Fortuna and Manuel Antonia, we decided to stop there. We had to speed up considerably because we knew the park would close early and in the end, everything worked out!

Poas Volcano

I found the space to be well organized and well signposted. We took a trail up there that led to a very beautiful lake.

We left there close to the park closing time (I think it was around 3pm) and headed back to the road, heading towards Manuel Antonio. We got lost a few times on the road since we didn't have a GPS and even got stuck in traffic, which we didn't expect. The road is pretty cool, with very different views, but we were impressed by the poorly thought out signage, you know?

We arrived in Manoel Antônio at night, starving. We found a Subway open and that's where we had dinner.

Our hotel in Manuel Antonio

When we arrived at Hotel La ColinaWe were disappointed with the room. It looked much bigger and cleaner on the Booking website, but since it was already late there wasn't much we could do. I even asked the guy at the reception to change rooms, but it wasn't possible because the hotel was full. Patience...

Day 2 – Friday (03/22/2013)

We woke up and went to have breakfast at the hotel restaurant. What a pleasant surprise the hotel's infrastructure was in the morning. It has a really nice pool and the restaurant has a great view, with lots of greenery around. Pure nature, people... We ate rooster for breakfast every day and we loved it!

Manuel Antonio National Park

We talked to the guy at reception to get some tips on the tour and off we went to the Manuel Antonio National Park. We parked the car in a parking lot near the park entrance, although there were parking spaces on the streets, with lots of parking attendants. For a while, we thought we were in Brazil. =P

We bought the tickets at the entrance and we decided to do the tour on our own, without hiring one of the 500 guides that were available. We started the hike and, to our dismay, we saw many tourists walking too. I thought it was bad because the best part of the trail is to observe the wildlife (and there is a lot of it!!!), but with so many people making noise, it got a bit chaotic. We even managed to see sloths, raccoons, monkeys and toucans, but imagine that empty place…it must be wonderful, huh! The trail is very relaxing, it’s just a dirt road and nothing else. All the guides offer telescopes to the tourists who hired them, so they can see animals that are at the top of the trees. I thought the idea was interesting, but I went ahead without it…lol.

We had fun for an hour with lots of curious monkeys that were jumping around us, near the bathroom. They are truly incredible animals.

Finally, we arrived at a beautiful beach! Super virgin, without any street vendors or restaurants. Imagine it without so many tourists… perfection, ow! Even more so with the wonderful temperature of the water.

thieving raccoons

We made the most of everything we could, until one day, in the sea, all the people who were in the sea started running towards the sand. At that moment, I thought of SHARKS and started swimming towards the shallows too, yelling for Celo to get out of the water. The big problem with all those people running towards the sand was a group of RACCOONS!!!! Those beautiful and cute animals take advantage of the fact that people are in the sea and go rummaging through the clothes and bags that are left on the sand looking for food. Cute, right? After I realized this, I laughed a lot!

People really do keep animals away from their belongings, even throwing sand. I thought it was great, hoping a raccoon would come and rummage through my things, but it didn't happen. I just watched the situation with other people (and found it funny...lol). We stopped to rest on the sand and take some photos. We had several pleasant surprises with monkeys, iguanas and raccoons. I felt like I was totally in the jungle there, I loved it!

When it was close to closing time, we continued on the trail, this time with fewer tourists. I highly recommend it!!!

Dining at Espadilla Sur

After the park, we stopped at a restaurant very close by, almost on the sand. I can't remember the name and I couldn't find it on Google, but it's on Espadilla Sur beach, well away from the hustle and bustle. It's close to the park exit. You can't go wrong...the food is great and the price is very fair! The service is also great and the background music is great. I highly recommend it!

We left there late in the afternoon, really wanting to relax by the pool. That's what we did until we went to bed.

Day 3 – Saturday (23/03/2013)

We woke up, had breakfast and went to see a mini beach that the guy at the reception had recommended. We parked the car with a parking attendant and off we went to the beach next to the Parador hotel. I didn't think it was anything special...very boring in fact. We thought we would be able to see fish with our masks, but the water was quite murky, perhaps because of previous rains.

Espadilla Beach

We went to Espadilla beach, the most popular beach, and tried to relax there. It was a bit difficult, because the beach was very crowded, with many events on the sand, in other words, total chaos. We stopped at the same restaurant as the day before and relaxed with cold beers and delicious food. Afterwards, we stopped at a small craft market to buy souvenirs. In fact, there are little shops everywhere there.

Manuel Antonio has a lot to do… there’s zip-lining, kitesurfing, hiking, waterfalls, etc. Since we had already done a bit of everything in the other places on our trip, we were in the mood to relax. We saw a beautiful sunset on the way back to the hotel and to enjoy the atmosphere, we decided to relax by the pool. The day flew by!

Day 4 – Sunday (03/24/2013)

We woke up early, had a quick breakfast and hit the road towards San José. We had to return the car by 12pm, otherwise we would have to pay another daily rate. What a stress on the road, huh… especially when we got lost. Thank God, everything went well and we returned the car promptly at 12pm.

San Jose Airport and Lunch

We took advantage of the car rental company's van and asked for a ride to the airport, to do the check-in on our flight to the Panama. We checked our bags and went to kill time at a casino we saw on the way. We spent the last few. Time flew by and when we looked at the clock, it was time to go back to the airport and board our flight.

Our opinion of Costa Rica

We love Costa Rica! It's “pure life” Really! Nature everywhere, friendly and welcoming people, excellent roads, attractions for all budgets and tastes, delicious food at fair prices, modern facilities, in short, we recommend it and we intend to return one day to see the rest of the country!


To learn more about our 30-day trip through Central America (Jamaica, Costa Rica and Panama), click on the links below:

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4 responses

  1. Hi! I loved your story. I'm going alone to a course in San José and then I have 4 days free. I'm thinking of staying in Manuel Antonio from Saturday to Monday morning and from there going to La Fortuna by Tuesday night/early Wednesday. Do you think it would work? Thank you very much!

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