The flight from Toronto to San Jose was approximately four hours with an additional two hour drive from the airport to the hotel in Jaco.
Beach Break Resort:
The hotel is advertised as a three star hotel which I would agree with. It had everything that I needed: safe, clean, and comfortable room, good food and drinks, pools and beach, walking distance to town, very friendly and helpful staff, and a tour office for booking excursions.
My room was centrally located and only steps from the pool, bar, restaurant, and beach.
This is the view from the bar. My room is behind the pool.
Waves Restaurant - buffet breakfast, lunch, and dinner
Walkway to the Surf lessons and beach
Here are some local friends I met around the hotel.
Do lizards surf?
The nightly view of the most stunning sunsets from the restaurant.
Tourists are warned to avoid this lagoon behind me because it is home to a crocodile and is filthy. Ironically, I saw locals allow their small children to play in it over the Easter weekend.
Beach Break is centrally located in Jaco Beach. From the hotel's beach area, you can walk either way for quite some time checking out other small hotels, eateries, and surf shops. Jaco Beach is a great place for beginner surfers. I wasn't interested in surfing but I did rent a boogie board that was super fun!
After my success with the boogie board I thought I'd try a little fun with my inflatable bed.
As you can see, it's not your typical vacation spot with white sand and beach chairs galore. I'm not one to lay around in the sand so it didn't bother me. I liked its differences from other beaches.
Ironically once again, this is the "forbidden" lagoon beside my hotel where the horses come to get a drink. I guess they aren't afraid of crocodiles.
These guys on horses snuck up on me. I had no idea they were there until this moment.
Excursion 1: Costa Rica Waterfall Tours - Canyoning: Waterfall Rappelling & Zipline Adventure
In lieu of my 45th birthday not long ago, I made a list of things I've always wanted to try but was afraid. One was indoor rock climbing. So, I did a one hour adult beginners class and now I really love it. In search of amazing tours and excursions in Costa Rica, I found some that actually included waterfall climbing and waterfall rappelling. To me, rappelling is the easy part.
I chose a local nearby company called Costa Rica Waterfall Tours. They offer several tours from half day to full day including transportation to and from your hotel, breakfast, ziplining, cliff jumping, natural swimming holes, and rappelling.
The adventure began early in the morning with a drive up the mountain by 4x4 vehicle. If you tend to get carsick, I'd advise against this one. You stop to have breakfast, Costa Rican style, and then it's another drive up the mountain and into the jungle. The Costa Rican landscape is covered in forested mountains with countless beautiful waterfalls.
Breakfast: rice and beans are staple items in the Costa Rican diet
After gearing up, I had two quick ziplines over a river. Ziplining is pretty easy and I've had prior experience. I did a ziplining day tour in the Dominican Republic a number of years ago.
Ziplining
Wheeeeee!
As a literal "dry" run, we started rappelling down a smallish cliffside. Apparently it's much easier to practice rappelling when you're not being sprayed by a raging waterfall. I say this with 100% honesty, indoor rock climbing is NOTHING like doing it outdoors. The rope system is different, your downward movements are very tricky, and you have real rocks waiting to bump, jab, slip, and scare you at every move. I completed the dry training and now it was time to get wet!
After a short hike, we were presented with a picturesque swimming hole that offered two cliff jumping sites, 12 feet and 30 feet. I knew this was coming and I had mentally prepared for it. Conquer the fear, remember? The first jump at 12 feet was scary enough since there's rock all around you and you're hoping that you don't hit it and die. But, the second jump at 30 feet was TERRIFYING! You have all the fears of the first jump plus the fact that you are now instructed to jump outward to the left to avoid the rocks. I made sure I wasn't the first to jump. I figured if the man did it safely then I had good chances. How deep is the water? Twenty feet. I did both jumps successfully and it was awesome! I was very proud of myself.
That's the 12'.
Here's the 30 '. Unfortunately, there was no photo taken of my jump. However, you can see me standing on the platform about to jump next.
Now I was wet and totally psyched for my first waterfall rappel. The thing you don't expect is that the waterfall is not a direct, straight down descent. It's natural so it bends and turns. Water is forcefully flowing over the rocks spraying your entire lower body and often your face. You have to carefully watch each step and move to avoid the more dangerous areas. There's one guide at the top and one at the bottom assisting you as much as they can. This is the type of sport where there is no quitting or giving up halfway. You are literally in the middle of a foreign mountainous jungle hanging by a thread (or rope). You are committed to this thing whether you like it or not. I have to admit that the first waterfall was very difficult, scary as hell, and physically demanding. I wish I could say that the second and third waterfalls were easier, but they really weren't. Although, the fourth and final waterfall was a good one - straight down. Probably everyone in our group had a few bumps, bruises, and scrapes by the end, but it felt wonderful to have completed my first canyoning experience. Now, how do we get back up?
To finish off the amazing adventure, we now had to hike back up the mountain (that's 4 waterfalls and 2 ziplines) in the 33 degree heat. It was a brutal hike with the harness and gear attached, soaking wet, and with water shoes on my feet. Of course we all made it. This tour was one of the most unique, physically demanding, and memorable expeditions that I have ever done. I can take away the fact that I am now a stronger and more fearless version of my former self.
Excursion 2: Manuel Antonio National Park
Who doesn't love animals? Many people believe that you should never trust anyone who dislikes animals. Me? I love them! I was thrilled to discover that Costa Rica has various wild monkeys, sloths, and beautiful birds such as macaws and toucans. I've seen most of these animals in zoos but never in their natural habitat. So, I was on a mission to witness them first hand.
According to Google, "Manuel Antonio National Park, on Costa Rica’s central Pacific coast, encompasses rugged rainforest, white-sand beaches and coral reefs. It’s renowned for its vast diversity of tropical plants and wildlife, from three-toed sloths and endangered white-faced capuchin monkeys to hundreds of bird species. The park’s roughly 680 hectares are crossed with hiking trails, which meander from the coast up into the mountains."
My day began with an early hotel pick up and 2 hour drive to the park. My tour guide was great. He was very informative and took good care of everyone in the group. The hike from the park entrance to the beach was about 1.5 hours because we stopped many times along the way to view the often hidden wonders. Some sights included two- and three-toed sloths, bats, lizards, frogs, and monkeys! The monkeys stole the show. At the end of the hike you reach a series of beaches. That's where the white-faced capuchin monkeys like to hang out. They were so adorable! There were too many to count all doing their thing, playing, eating, socializing with one another, and pretty much ignoring all the people snapping tons of photos around them. After the monkeys, we were given some free time at the beach. I unfortunately decided on the wrong beach because I was taken out by a giant rogue wave in knee-deep water that flipped me off my feet and engulfed my body in watery sand. I tried to get up and was struck by another giant wave that scraped my knees on the sandy bottom. When I finally escaped I had sand EVERYWHERE! It was not good. After beach time we hiked back to the parking lot and made our way to a nearby restaurant with a beautiful view for lunch. During the drive we luckily saw several spider monkeys making their way across the road through the jungle. The included lunch was quite good, but we had to wait over an hour for the meal to be served. I think I would've enjoyed eating cardboard at that point since I was extremely hungry. After lunch it was time to return to our hotels.
This was a brief photo stop at the JACO sign with a great view of Jaco Beach.
Two-toed and three-toed sloths
Mommy with baby
Spider monkeys
Lizards
White-faced capuchin monkeys
So cute!
These are beach photos from the park. Don't let that calm water facade fool you.
This is the view from the restaurant. It begins to look like food if you stare at it long enough.
To be perfectly honest, I thought that this excursion was going to be an easy one. You have a relaxing drive there and back, hike to the beach capturing photos of monkeys and sloths, play around at the beach, and go for lunch. It really does sound quite effortless, compared to canyoning and paragliding. However, this day tour pretty much kicked my behind. First of all, it was incredibly hot and busy. I had heard that there were thousands of people at the park that day. Secondly, for some reason I had a problem with swollen feet and ankles throughout this trip. It made walking difficult and sometimes painful. Thirdly, my knees were scraped and I had sand in places I never thought were possible. And lastly, there is no view more beautiful than the food you're about to eat when you are famished from an exhaustingly hot and long day. The restaurant knew we were coming because it was included in the tour package. My guess is that they hope you'll spend money on drinks while you're admiring the landscape. It didn't work on me.
All complaints aside, I'm glad I visited Manuel Antonio National Park. It was another great learning experience that I will cherish along with many others for years to come.
Excursion 3: Bex Tandem Paragliding
Paragliding is another one of those interesting things that I've never done but wanted to. I've tried parasailing in Florida many years ago and it was fine yet scary. There are several companies in Jaco that offer tandem paragliding. I found them as well as the canyoning excursion on viator.com. It was a good thing that I brought some U.S. cash in addition to the Costa Rican colon with my credit cards. There were times when I used all of them. Most tour companies accept credit cards, however Bex only accepts cash. The price is $120 U.S. per person for an approximate 20 minute flight.
This is how it works. You are picked up from your hotel and driven up a nearby mountain by 4x4 vehicle. It is a very rough and bumpy ride; if you get carsick, this is not for you. Once at the top, the 3 Bex operators prepare the paraglider with its wing and lines, and ensure you and the pilot are harnessed into your gear safely. The pilot is seated behind you and he will steer the paraglider. Your harness becomes your seat once airborne. Now you wait. Just as the perfect wind brushes by, you are told to run, run, run never stopping until the pilot instructs you to. In a few seconds you are now floating in the air off the mountain top over the valley with a beautiful view of Jaco Beach in the foreground. Below you can see empty dry farmland and the nearby forest. If you're lucky, which I was, you might witness a flock of macaws fly by establishing clear boundaries between you and their nests. The pilot steers you both around in several large circles taking in the 360 degree views of the countryside until you make your slow descent to a farmer's field. He then detaches you both from the paraglider and awaits the truck to drive you back up the mountain to watch the next person take flight.
Run, run run!
This is how filthy I was from landing in the extremely dry dirt in the field. Yuck!
Now I'll tell you what I was thinking during the entire process. While I stood awaiting the perfect wind for us to begin, I was pretty frightened. I kept praying for a safe flight. Once in the air and flying around for several minutes enjoying the amazing views and excited for what I was accomplishing, I noticed I was beginning to feel nauseous. Now I was praying to keep myself from vomiting for the remainder of the flight. Thanks to yoga I did some deep breathing and it seemed to help. I made it safely and healthily to the bottom without incident! Yay for yoga!
Would I recommend this activity? Sure I would. Just know yourself. If you have a weak stomach perhaps think twice. Other than that, live adventurously and love life. I constantly strive to do new things and learn from living. They can't all be winners but that's a part of the process. Never stop exploring. That's my motto.
All in all, I loved my experience in Costa Rica. It is an adventurer's wonderland. From the people and their culture to the breathtaking landscape, I enjoyed it immensely. Now, bring on imperial Europe!
