Nov. 2016
How to have a ladies honeymoon weekend in Costa Rica
with some of your best gal pals! #squadgoals
My friends and I wanted to see the sloth sanctuary and so we based our trip around things near the Puerto Viejo area. Check out the pix below and video of our adventures during our fun-filled girls weekend!
A VISIT TO SEE CUTE AND CUDDLY SLOTHS IS A MUST
FOR YOUR PERFECT LADIES TRIP!
Sloth Sanctuary
- Easily accessible by bus, however, we took a taxi from Puerto Viejo to the Sanctuary (20-30 min drive).
- $30 USD for the Buttercup Tour
- 2-hour guided tour of Costa Rican sloths aka Perezosos
- The tour included a canoe trip to experience the sloths’ rain forest habitat. What a treat this canoe ride was! We got to see the beautiful forest and saw and heard so many howler monkeys 🐒
NOTHING SAYS LET’S BOND LIKE THE THRILL OF ZIPPING,
CLIMBING, SWINGING, AND MORE IN THE JUNGLE!
Jungle Adventure Tour with Terraventuras
If you want a Costa Rican outdoor adventure, the Jungle Adventure Tour won’t leave you hanging. It’s a good chunk of your day (about 6 hours) but it was easily one of the best times I’ve ever had! Being an outdoorsy Colorado gal, this tour was jam-packed with everything I wanted and so much more.
- They make transportation easy for you as we got picked up directly from our Airbnb. Rolling up in an old jeep safari-looking vehicle was the only way to start our adventurous day!
- $95 USD
- We hiked, zip lined (multiple times), walked over a hanging bridge, Tarzan swung, waterfall rappelled, tree climbed, and superman cabled.
- Along the way our tour guides would point out the different plants and wildlife.
👍 This whole day was my favorite, but I most enjoyed the gut-wrenching Tarzan swing.
“LET’S GO TO THE BEACH BEACH, LET’S GET AWAY”🎶
La Playa Negra
Enjoy the black and gold sands that is La Playa Negra. It spans for miles with plenty of space to pick your very own spot. There’s an old barge near the shoreline with a tree and vegetation growing atop. Hop aboard and jump off into the ocean! Well, it was not quite that easy to hop aboard like we thought; thankfully we had some help from a local.
GIRLS NIGHT OUT ON THE TOWN
KOKi Beach Restaurant
Get dolled up and enjoy fine dining at KOKi Beach with its vibrant and intimate atmosphere. If anything felt like a honeymoon on our trip, this was it. We couldn’t have found a more perfect spot to lounge, eat, drink, and be merry. Our waitress was the best and kept bringing us free shots. We went all out and ordered it all because why not!? We enjoyed drinks, ceviche, guac, an entrée, and though completely stuffed, we got dessert. I got the Sea Bass topped with grilled calamari, herbs, garlic, olive oil, veggies, and hummus. My meal was all so yummy and I was pleasantly surprised to find that the hummus was my favorite part with its super garlic-ey goodness.
After you’ve stuffed your face and in dire need to walk it off, walk over to the Lazy Mon Sports & Music Bar Dance. Dance to some reggae beats, take a break and swing on the beach, catch a fire show, and take shots of Chiliguaro (a local drink you have to try that tastes like a bloody mary but in a shot form)!
STAY AT A JUNGLE BEACH HOUSE
Not far off the main road to Puerto Viejo and tucked away is an Airbnb Casa Caribe’s Jungle Beach House. Our host Alex welcomed us, getting the party started with Tequila Shots!
- 2 minute walk from the beach, La Playa Negra.
- 5 minute walk to Puerto Viejo. The house isn’t directly in town, but is well worth the short walk to stay in this amazing house.
- Very spacious with 3br/2bth and AC 💨 which was much needed! So many more amenities, check out the link above.
- We loved that the balcony had hammocks to lounge in. My friends and I drank our coffee, listened to the sound of the rain, and enjoyed each other’s company and conversation on these hammocks.
***Try out Airbnb and use my link to receive $35 in Airbnb travel ↙
EAT LOCAL
Soda Shekiná
At the recommendation of our host, Alex, and my need to have fried plantains aka patacones, we ate at Soda Shekiná. This traditional style home cooking soda can be found in town near a soccer field with wooden tables and open air seating.
This was the best first meal to try out a traditional Costa Rican dish called, casado, which uses rice, black beans, salad, plantains, and an optional entrée of some sort of meat. I got the Coconut Shrimp with Patacones. The Patacones did not disappoint 👍
BROADS AND BEERS
Kayas Place & BriBri Springs Brewery
Right near our Airbnb was a hard to miss painting of a sloth holding a beer on the side of this brewery. It’s a micro-craft brewer, so of course we had to stop in! What we weren’t expecting was their deliciously flavored nachos that we devoured in minutes. They have lots of open seating with a view of the beach!
TRAVEL TIPS:
Below are a couple of tips we learned during our visit. Like any foreign country, be smart, be aware, and research before you travel.
Weather: On Google, it said Costa Rica would be in its rainy season in November, but for the most part we experienced overcast and sunny days with a big side of humidity. It would rain here and there, but when it did, it felt glorious. It was a high 80s weekend and we embraced the rain —>
Transportation: If you rent a car, know that locations in Costa Rica don’t have numbered addresses and the GPS on your phone may not be reliable.
*If you take the bus, purchase your tickets at least a day in advance because the buses do fill up. *Get to the bus stop early before your departure. Nothing says “are we there yet” like standing for 5 hours on a full bus. *While traveling on the bus, we were stopped at a police check point so be prepared to produce your passport or a copy of it.
What to Bring: Pack light. Lugging around a suitcase is not ideal with the unpaved Costa Rican dirt roads.***Bring bug spray. If you’re anything like me and mosquitoes love to suck your blood, bring the spray. Also, I found out that they have bracelets to repel mosquitoes too…wishing I wore a couple of those.
Locals: Aside from the various harmless cat calls, I felt safe traveling around. My friend studying there told us that Costa Ricans steal opportunistically. When traveling on the bus keep a close eye on your belongings. While thankfully none of our stuff got stolen, stories from my friend’s classmates forewarned us to be observant and hyper-aware. Again, while traveling in any foreign country, be smart about things and be aware.
Money: Most places accept credit card and US dollars, but a lot of local shops and food places may only take cash. Know that most banks have a foreign transaction fee, but on the plus side, most things are relatively cheap to purchase in Costa Rica.
Know the Language: Or in our case have your own personal translator. There were a couple of times that we came across a language barrier and were yelling for our friend to come to our rescue. Most spoke English, but it sure made it easier and saved us A LOT of time having our friend know and speak the language. BTW this blonde all American beauty is our friend and translator —> *Shout-out to this babe in red❤ Sorry fellas she’s taken!
To the Skies 