To get from one side of Costa Rica (Caribbean) to the other (Pacific) involved a boat, two automobiles and a plane. We broke up the trip with a 2-night stop in San José, but getting to San José itself made for a long travel day.
Table of Contents
Leaving Tortuguero
The morning began with one final nature walk around the front part of the lodge near the reception area and villas. We didn’t have to go far to see lots of birds, monkeys and amphibians.
At 9:00 a.m. we left Tortuga Lodge and Gardens for the main dock in Pavona, an hour’s boat ride away. On our way we saw more dolphins, which was quite the treat, and lots of iguanas. When we arrived in Pavona, we waited until 11:00 a.m. for a couple that was on their way to the lodge. Their van was going to be our ride back to San José. I was stressed about getting to our hotel in San José in time for my afternoon meetings but we somehow made it before 2:00 p.m. Even our driver was surprised that we arrived when we did.
San José
The Hotel Grano de Oro used to be a private residence. In the 90s the mansion was converted into a hotel, and today the beautiful historic property exudes charm and luxury. Our room was on the small side overlooking the courtyard but it suited our needs and we spent the rest of the afternoon punching away at our laptops, going from one zoom meeting to the next. In the evening we walked across the street to a Spanish tapas restaurant for dinner and finished with a nightcap in the lounge area of the restaurant.
The next day we had breakfast and lunch at Momo Café and sat outside and worked a little before heading back to the hotel. In the afternoon we walked along Avenida Central. I wasn’t terribly impressed with the main business district, not my type of retail. To cap off our stay in San José we had a lovely dinner that evening in the hotel’s restaurant.
Peninsula Papagayo
For the next leg of our journey we were meeting up with my friend at the Four Seasons Resort Costa Rica at Peninsula Papagayo. The legendary hospitality of the hotel began with our pick up at the Liberia airport. Even though the driver didn’t work for the hotel, he offered us beer, water and snacks! Until we arrived at the gates of the peninsula itself, I hadn’t realized that the entire peninsula was a private club and resort community with two high-end hotels (the Four Seasons and the Andaz, with a Ritz-Carlton under construction).
We stayed in a 2-bedroom private residence with ocean views. It was like having our own house, with a small kitchen, stocked with pre-ordered fruit, snacks and beverages, separate living and dining rooms, a screened in terrace and laundry facilities.
From our arrival on Friday morning to our departure on Monday around noon, we packed in as much as we could— lots of walks, a bike ride followed by drinks at the Palapita Tap House, some paddle boarding (first time!), laps in the ocean and the 700-step challenge. The resort also organized a number of activities every day from active pursuits to more leisurely pastimes, like rum tasting, which we took part in one afternoon. When we weren’t out and about, we enjoyed the comforts of our accommodations, lounging on the terrace with a book or watching monkeys cross down to the beach (to snatch unattended guest items, I later learned).
In addition to enjoying the activities offered by the resort, we also got to sample the various dining options on the peninsula. All of our meals were delicious. Breakfasts were at Bahia, located next to the resort’s main pool. Dinner the first night was at Italian restaurant Pesce, also on the premise. On Saturday we shuttled to Nemare located in the golf clubhouse. We sat outside overlooking the green down to the gulf in the distance. Since it’s a steakhouse, it was only befitting that one of us (Chris) got steak. It was a leisurely dinner and as the sky darkened, we could see the stars twinkling above us. For our last night, we went to the Prieta Beach Club. We arrived early to have cocktails on the beach and watch the sunset before heading up to Manglar for dinner.
Nicoya Peninsula
On Monday we managed to pack all our stuff and ourselves into my friend’s rental SUV, and made the roughly 3-hour drive down to Tierra Magnifica in Nosara. For two-thirds of the trip we were on a paved road and made pretty good time, but soon it turned into a gravelly, pot-holed road that had us bumping along until we reached the hotel.
While I had enjoyed the Four Seasons —the attentive staff, the beautiful grounds and picture-perfect setting, the endless amenities and little luxuries —there was still an air of pretension, probably due more to the clientele that chose to stay here more than anything else. It had made for interesting people watching, but it wasn’t really my crowd.
Tierra Magnifica, on the other hand, could not have been more different from the Four Seasons. Nestled up in the hills with views that stretched from the jungle to the Pacific Ocean, the intimate boutique hotel didn’t have a plethora of onsite amenities, which encouraged you to either truly unplug and detach or get out and explore or perhaps both. It had a lobby that opened onto its bar/lounge area and restaurant, and there was a pool and yoga pavilion. The vibe here was more casual and laid back but no less pampering.
We had a big room with a large veranda that provided views down to the ocean. An interesting feature of the room was the open bathroom. It had a large window with no screens, which meant that when taking a shower you could open the two wooden shutters and feel like you were outside. The downside, however, meant that all manner of creatures could get inside, and we had a surprise guest one evening that required intervention from the front desk!
Since this was a work week for us, we certainly weren’t unplugging, but we did try to get out as much as we could. Over the course of the next seven days we fell into a routine that had me getting up early to squeeze in a walk with my friend down on the beach, followed by a scrumptious breakfast, a few hours of work, a break for lunch, then more work until happy hour. Dinners during the week were a mix of in town and at the hotel. The food at Tierra Magnifica was magnificent to say the least. I was amazed by the number of plant-based options and how delicious they all tasted.
The weekend rolled around, and I finally tried surfing and failed miserably. That afternoon we drove to San Juanilla, a little fishing village 40-minutes north of Nosara. We explored the tidepools before climbing a rock outcropping to watch the sunset. The original plan was to have dinner at Brisas del Mar but a mix up meant we got there 30 minutes after they had closed. None of us were sad to be going back to the hotel for dinner at Las Huacas.
Another weekend rolled around, and I finally tried surfing and failed miserably. That afternoon we drove to San Juanilla, a fishing village 40-minutes north of Nosara. We explored the tidepools before climbing a rock outcropping to watch the sunset.
The original plan was to have dinner at Brisas del Mar, a soda (typical Costa Rica mom and pop restaurant) tucked behind the beach, slightly up the hill, but a mix up meant we got there 30 minutes after they had closed. None of us were sad to be going back to the hotel for dinner at Las Huacas.
For our last night in Nosara we went to Coyol. While the food was good (not great) the location and ambience made for a marvelous dining experience. The restaurant is a glass, metal and wood structure, like the most beautiful greenhouse you’ve ever seen, located on a hilltop at the end of a winding road. Walking through the cozy dining room takes you to the lawn where tables are situated around the yard. You get the impression that you are sitting in your friend’s backyard, the one who happens to have a tastefully designed home with drop-dead views of the surroundings hills and the ocean beyond. We hung out with our cocktails, watching the sunset over the Pacific Ocean, before heading to our table for dinner. Portions were very generous and I was feeling comatose by the end of the meal. Good thing we had a 30-minute drive back to the hotel.
The morning of our last day in Nosara we did a turtle tour. It was a stroke of serendipity! I had been inquiring about seeing turtles but was told that the time was not right. I knew that I was in the completely wrong season to see the arribada but learned that it was finally a new moon which was apparently when female turtles came to shore to lay their eggs. While we didn’t see thousands of turtles, I was moved to tears to see the Olive Ridley turtles that we did encounter. As much as I was moved by the turtles, I was annoyed by the humans that found themselves above the rules (and lacking in any common sense) and would park themselves in front of a one trying to make its way back to the ocean. We slowly made our way back to the van, remarking at the sight we just witnessed. It was a truly special way to end our time in Nosara.
Read about the rest of our Costa Rica adventures here.
Coda
This segment of our trip was definitely less about sightseeing and more about settling into a daily rhythm that involved enjoying the water—whether in it, on top of it, or next to it. Particularly in Nosara, I felt like this is the place where people come to visit and then end up staying.
Additional Information
- Sansa is the regional airline and it offers the most flights to the most destinations in Costa Rica. There’s no advantage to booking a roundtrip airfare as it’s the same price as buying two individual legs. Most flights tend to go through San José—there’s just no getting around it.