Costa Rica Overview & Where to Stay

Compared to our 5+ weeks (39 days) in Nicaragua, Mac and I spent very little time in Costa Rica. Our 17 days were filled with lots of sun, heat & beaches! Due to the geography of Costa Rica, some days were unfortunately also filled with lots and lots of buses. We had 2 travel days lasting over 11 hours with 5 legs of buses/ferries each. Part of the reason for our quick pace through Costa Rica is because we’re starting to feel the time crunch of our Peru deadline in May. Having pre-booked our spots on the Inca Trail means that we now have a little less than 3 months to go through Panama, Columbia & Ecuador. As nice as Costa Rica is, Mac & I decided we’d rather speed through this country and take our time in the other three (where it’s not as expensive or touristy).

We spent a total of $1393.24 in 17 days. (I’ll be posting a full month #2 recap of our spendings soon). Over 17 days, this works out to almost $41/person/day. Comparatively, Nicaragua came to about $36/person/day. Mac & I were both initially very shocked at how expensive things are in Costa Rica. For some things like groceries, we were paying almost equivalent to what we’d pay in Canada. That being said, we’re very pleased with our $41/p/d spending. We also didn’t DO a whole lot in terms of tours or activities. But I almost prefer the free hikes to secluded beaches and making our own meals to paying an arm and a leg for some of the organized tours that are offered in the country.

We visited a total of 7 cities and slept in 8 beds & 1 hammock (!)

Below is a list of places we stayed. I’ve also included a gallery of some of my favourite photos from Costa Rica below.

Playa del Coco

We received a recommendation from a guy that stopped us after we got off the bus in Playa del Coco. Villa Smerelda is owned by an Italian woman named Luciana. It’s located down Calle Crangrejo (Crab Street) which is east of the main street downtown. A little less than $30/night – private room, shared bathroom and a fan. The bathroom was located downstairs while all of the rooms are located upstairs. This Villa is also home to 3-4 semi-domesticated raccoons (mapaches)!!! Luciana loved them and would often feed them food scraps. I even saw them scale a palm tree in 5 seconds flat!!

Tamarindo

We stayed at Pura Vida Hostel which was a lot of fun. Equipped with 2 kitchens and a huge common area, this hostel was very chill & relaxed. We paid ~ $30/night for 2 beds in a 5 bed room with a private bathroom & air conditioning.

Also recommended is Coral Reef Surf Hostel.

Related Post: Our First Taste of Costa Rica

Manuel Antonio

Backpackers Manuel Antonio was our place of residence for 2 nights in the city. It’s located at the very top of the hill leading down to the beach. But a shuttle runs every 10 minutes and is a flat 315 colon fee). We paid $35 for a private room with a fan & shared bathroom. Breakfast was included from the neighbouring restaurant (pancakes & fruit). This hostel also had one of the best kitchens we’ve seen so far!

Related Post: Manuel Antonio National Park

Santa Teresa

Another hostel which came at the recommendation of someone on the street: Casa Club. Not really a hostel, but more of an apartment-style building, this place was probably at the low end of the list of places we stayed in CR. The first room we stayed in didn’t have a window or a door that locked properly (not to mention that it didn’t even close), while the second room we stayed in had a window AND a private bath, but the door didn’t lock. There were lockers that we used to store our valuables, but it was still a bit of an inconvenience.

We tried staying at Tranquilo Backpackers, but it was closed. It looked really cool though.

Montezuma

In Montezuma, we stayed right downtown (and above a bar no less) at Hotel Moctezuma. We stayed in another 5 bed room (with a private bath) and paid around $24. The room was kind of dingy, but it was right on the water and had a decent balcony. It also had a really nice kitchen (which was located across the street).

We also looked at Luna Llena and Luz en Cielo.

Related Post:Nicoya Navigations

La Fortuna

In La Fortuna we slept in yet another dorm room. Hostel Backpackers La Fortuna was really clean & organized and very welcoming (they even give you a welcome cocktail upon arrival!). We paid $14/person for a bed in a 6 person dorm equipped with a bathroom air conditioning (no windows though). You can also go to their sister location, the Resort Hostel which has a swimming pool with a swim up bar.

Related Posts: Hiking Cerro Chato, The Hot & Cold Springs of La Fortuna

Puerto Viejo

For our 4 nights in PV, we stayed at 3 separate places. Dolce Vita was a decent place owned by an Italian couple ($30/room with a shared bathroom).

Our next stay was done more out of curiosity than anything: we slept in hammocks for the first time at Rocking J’s Hostel. For $7/hammock, you get a sleeping sheet and a huge locker at the end of your hammock. Rocking J’s is definitely THE party hostel and it’s also HUGE. In addition to the huge rooms full of hammocks, they also have many dorm rooms and platforms for pitching tents.

The third place we stayed (yes, one night in a hammock was more than enough) was at Green Woods. It’s quite off the beaten path, but very worth it. Rooms go for $20/night with a shared bathroom. It’s owned by a Canadian couple and with only 6 rooms, we made fast friends with our hostel-mates. We even had a big communal dinner together on our last night!

Related Posts:Visiting the Jaguar Rescue Center, The Beauty of Puerto Viejo

__________________________________

Below is a gallery of some of my favourite pictures from Costa Rica. I hope you enjoy!

[fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”]

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

[/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]