The Ultimate Traveler’s Guide: Pacific Side of Costa Rica

It’s been about a 2 weeks since I’ve been back from Costa Rica and it’s bittersweet as vacation endings usually are. In usual NAB fashion I’ve rounded up the best (and worst) things in my ultimate traveler’s guide to the pacific side of Costa Rica. Please comment below with any questions! 

What to do:

The great thing about Hermosa Beach, Costa Rica was that there was almost nothing to do. You weren’t tempted by a raging nightlife or tourist attractions. You just… chilled. And that was my goal for the trip, to relax, unplug, and chill.

Hermosa Beach is a surfer’s paradise, literally, you can’t go in the water or else you’ll drown. Ok, I’m exaggerating slightly but unless you’re very familiar with the ocean and confident in your swimming, you don’t want to go in above your knees because the current and waves are so strong.

I don’t surf and I don’t have an interest in learning so you would think Hermosa beach would bore me but the beauty of the black sand and rainforest backdrop had me in awe the whole time.

Ultimately, all there is to do in Hermosa is surf and tan.

Where to eat:

Shakas – “The Tico Breakfast” is amazing and reasonably priced ($5-6).

Hotel Fuego del Sol – the nachos are outstanding and completely homemade.

Where to stay:

Marea Brava – bougie beware. Hermosa Beach is a super laid back, surfer beach so you’re not going to get luxury, which was totally fine with us. We didn’t need the bells and the whistles because we spent most of our time outside of the room.

The people at Marea Brava were SO nice and there are the most adorable cats roaming around. If you visit, be extra sweet to “Socks”, he’s had a rough life. He has a skin disease, was attacked by a dog, and is the weakest of the cats so he gets little food because the other cats bully him. He was my favorite little baby (pictured below).

Where to eat:

The Green Room – the atmosphere, the food, the service, it was all outstanding. We got the guac as a starter which was out of this world. The guac was huge for $6 and came in an edible tortilla bowl which was made in-house.

I got the tuna steak platter which came with real farm to table vegetables, rice and beans (go figure), and the most perfectly cooked tuna. This was by far my favorite meal of the trip.

Cafe Namaste – be prepared to sweat. It’s a smaller space and it’s HOT. If you followed along on Snapchat, I Snapped the make-up melting off my face when we ate there because it was so hot and humid.

Cafe Namaste is owned by an Israeli and his recipes are based on his home country’s traditional food and the recipes he learned while he traveled in India – pretty cool.

Taco Bar – sooo much bang for your buck! I got the shrimp burrito which was huge and amazing for $9. There is a buffet style bar for toppings and sides where you can get seconds, thirds, or fourths (if you’re my boyfriend!).

What to do:

Manuel Antonio Park – it’s $14 per person which goes to the upkeep and preservation of the park and animals. If you go with a guide, (which you should or else you won’t be able to see anything because it’s so far away and they use telescopes), you’ll do a 60-minute “hike” and get dropped off at the prettiest beach on the Pacific side of Costa Rica, “Playa Manuel Antonio”.

I say “hike” because it’s just a rocky dirt road you’re walking on, there’s no challenge and you can most definitely go in sandals. Do bring bug spray because the mosquitos are ridiculously aggressive.

Horseback riding on the beach – I didn’t do this because I thought it was too hot for horses. They were actually dripping sweat. It was very sad.

Where to eat:

Costa Linda – you get authentic quality Costa Rican food for the right price ($5-8). The majority of Costa Rican food is rice and beans so to pay and arm and a leg seemed outrageous to me and this was the only place that was true to price in such a touristy area.

We ate at 3 other places but this was the only place worth mentioning.

Where to stay:

El Faro – views for days!

Like I mentioned in my Snapchat (un: notanothrblonde), we booked this trip on a budget and I really wanted to get the most bang for my buck. El Faro met those needs and then some. Not only did we have a huge complimentary breakfast, but the view was spectacular for the price.

The rooms are simple and clean, not glamorous at all, but they serve their purpose. The cleaning crew came in every morning and gave us new towels and made the bed, (no this is not sponsored, but it should be).

Other Ultimate Traveler’s Guides:

SOHO, NYC

Disney

Jersey Shore

Hawaii

Holy Hannah! I don’t even know where to start. The hike? Ok fine.

The hike was the most excruciatingly hard things I’ve had to do in my entire life (even harder than the hiking in Hawaii).

I work out 4-5 times a week and I barely made it. Pat felt the same and he “goes hard” in the gym. For 4 miles you are straight vertical, if you’re not going straight up, you’re going straight down. I couldn’t walk for 2 days because of how sore my calves and quads were.

Once we finally reached the waterfall it was spectacular. The amount of force the water pumps out blew Pat’s hat right off his head. It was wild.

There are essentially 2 waterfalls – one is 66 feet and the other is 148 feet high!

Beware of the fish! They will suck/bite your feet which can startle you and cause you to slip, fall, and get swept away by the current (cough cough, hey Pat).

Also, please don’t jump off the waterfall. We watched a couple jump and I’m pretty sure the woman broke a rib and punctured her lung. She couldn’t breathe and was throwing up once 3 guys pulled her out of the water. Scary stuff.

Other than that, it was worth the 4-mile agony but be sure to bring a lunch and lots of water, at least a gallon for 2 people.

We had plans to go to the Caribbean side of Costa Rica but with limited time (8 days), it wasn’t possible since where we wanted to go was a 6-hour drive from the Pacific. I recommend at least 10 days in Costa Rica so you’re able to experience different regions for 1-2 days at a time.

A lot of the locals told us the Caribbean side of Costa Rica isn’t the safest either. Not sure how true this is (feel free to comment otherwise)? That was another reason we opted out.

Have you been to Costa Rica? What was your favorite part?

xx

P.s. All my outfits from the trip can be found here and here.