What a summer it was! After tasting the travel bug again and travelling out to Arizona to see my brother this spring (2021), I realized how much I missed travelling and longed to get back out there exploring and satisfying my wanderlust. Not just for the sake of travelling, but also to spend time with friends and family again and to discover places where I could eventually live or open up an eco-resort (which is a dream of mine).
Being able to see friends and family was a huge reason why I decided to move back to the East Coast at the end of 2019, so finally being able to travel again this summer has been great.
Cue in Costa Rica!
After a very long and stressful year of work and dealing with some personal stuff that wasn’t the most fun this spring, I knew that I was I going to need to take some time off and travel this summer. What I was craving was the ocean, healthy eating and living, and getting my mind right.
Costa Rica turned out to be exactly what I needed!
After my last surfing session in the Outer Banks at the end of 2021, I was itching to get back in the water. You know when you have an off game, or miss a shot, and you walk away with that sour taste in your mouth? Well that’s exactly how I felt after my last trip surfing in the Atlantic in the fall of 2020. I needed to get back in the water and redeem myself.
Costa Rica had always been on my list of places to visit and had always heard great things about the incredible natural beauty of the rainforests, mountains, beaches, biodiversity, and friendly people. I was drawn to the eco-friendly culture and seemingly chill lifestyle of the country.
It’s also worth mentioning that Costa Rica walks the talk with sustainability and is heavily invested in renewable energy which is something near and dear to my heart. My kind of place, for sure! 😀
It was an added bonus that the surfing happened to be world class in the summer months. My goal for the trip was to fully decompress and relax, get in the ocean and surf, and I also wanted to check out the Nicoya coast, which is a proclaimed “blue zone” of the world.
Blue Zones – what the heck are those???
“Blue zones” were coined by American Dan Buettner in the early 2000s after he travelled the world and found certain areas where the people lived much longer than average and have some of the healthiest lifestyles in world.
There are 5 “blue zones’ in the world located in:
- Okinawa; Japan,
- Sardinia, Italy
- Ikaria Greece
- Loma Linda, California
- Nicoya Coast, Costa Rica
Some of the common characteristics are that they eat healthy (well duh! what does that even mean!), move consistently throughout the day, live with a purpose, and have a strong social network of family and friends. They also don’t seem to have much stress in their lives. Easier said than done sometimes.
Part of this fascination with the blue zones started because I have been very interested in finding the optimal diet this year. As part of this journey and what diet is the best for me and my body, I started eating mostly vegetarian mixed with a pescatarian diet this spring – you can read about that here! I had been tweaking my diet all summer long with different foods and finding the optimal balance. I’m basically vegetarian now, with a moderate amount fish and seafood mixed in. I would like to eat more fish but there is still a lot of seafood that is questionable with accumulated toxins and chemicals and I’m not about that.
The blue zone diet consists of very little meat and is essentially just a Mediterranean diet with lots of fresh vegetables, seafood, grains, and cheese. This is very similar to the diet that I’ve been on and I definitely feel healthier while sticking to a whole food, plant based diet. I’m still finding the best way to get protein and that’s where fish and eggs have come in.
Costa Rica has a huge “wellness” lifestyle community, with hundreds of yoga camps, meditation retreats, and lots of vegan restaurants. Typical Central American cuisine is not known to be the healthiest but I figured I would try to eat a lot of fresh fruits where I could.
Playa Grande
We began our trip in Tamarindo, or rather in a little town just north of Tamarindo called Playa Grande. It was a sleepy little village with not much going on other than having a little grocery store, and a few hotels catered to surfers.
All of the restaurants were at least a 15 minute drive from the beach and 30 minutes to Tamarindo. We stayed at the RipJack Inn, which I would highly recommend. The location was unbeatable situated only about 200 yards from the beach and the main surf break.
The beach was pristine and uncrowded with only a few tourists during the day and the rest were locals. Most of the Ticos (Costa Ricans) all spoke English and were super friendly and helpful. There was a restaurant at the hotel that served all 3 meals.
Because there really weren’t that many restaurant options nearby, we ended up eating most of our meals at the hotel restaurant. The food was surprisingly good with lots of local fruits and fresh fish options. It was relatively cheap too which also made it very convenient to eat all our meals there and get as much time in the water as we could.
We went to Tamarindo a couple nights but to me it felt very touristy with a lot of obnoxious Americans and not much culture. Everything closed down at 9pm due to the country wide Covid curfew so there really wasn’t much going on for nightlife. I wasn’t all that impressed with Tamarindo, but would definitely go back to Playa Grande and the beach towns closer to the Nicaragua border in the north.
I’m saying “we” here because I went on this trip with an old co-worker and friend who also happened to be a surfer as well. It worked out perfectly because we were both looking for a chill surf trip to relax and he was working remotely so we could be flexible with our schedules.
Nosara
From Playa Grande, we made our way down the southern Pacific coast of the Nicoya peninsula to a popular town called Nosara. We had a rental SUV and we definitely needed it as the roads down the coast were extremely rough. 4 hours out of the 5 hour drive was through the jungle roads used by local ranchers and truckers. It was quite an adventure!
It’s an absolute must to have 4 wheel drive if you get a rental car in Costa Rica.
We were only planning to stay 2 days in Nosara but decided to make it 3 since we really enjoyed the vibes, the food, and the beach. It felt a little like Malibu, California to me with more of an upscale and classier feel right on the beach. It also seemed like all of the ex-pats living there were a bit wealthier and we could tell with the slightly higher prices.
Even though it was still very much a Costa Rican beach town tucked away in the jungle and somewhat remote, everything seemed to be a little nicer in Nosara. The town seemed to be mainly expats that were living there permanently, mostly American hippy types.
Everything was centered around healthy living, vegan food, yoga, meditation, and surfing. The restaurants and food were really good and there were lots of health food options and good international options like Japanese, Thai, Mexican, but not a lot of local Costa Rican options.
My favorite spots were the Sushi Mar food court that had a bunch of really good little food stands. I also really liked Destiny Cafe, which had really good Costa Rican coffee and great fresh breakfast options. The cafe had a very cool ambience as well and was next to one of the top surf schools and resorts in the town.
Nosara is definitely more of an upscale yoga or meditative retreat type of town tucked away in the middle of the jungle. I really enjoyed it the vibe as it had more of a community feel rather than a tourist destination.
After talking to a number people on the beach and in town, it sounded like a lot of people ended up living in Nosara permanently or stay for a number of months out of the year. I very much liked that it had a real community there and would certainly return for a few days if I’m back in Costa Rica.
Santa Teresa
Our last stop on our trip was Santa Teresa. I had heard amazing things about this town and actually wanted to check it out as a potential place to live or do a little vacation rental or Airbnb casita type thing.
Santa Teresa is located at the end of Guanacaste or Nicoya Peninsula and it is pretty far from everything. It took us another 4 hours to get from Nosara to Santa Teresa, but at least there were paved roads.
My initial reaction to Santa Teresa was that is was much less developed than Nosara or Tamarindo. The main road through the town was a dirt road and it was very dusty. There were a lot more backpackers and travelers in town and it seemed like it had more of party vibe or bohemian feel even though there really was no nightlife because of the 9PM covid curfew.
We ended up getting a huge cabana all to ourselves in a surf hotel right on the beach. It was a really nice place but the people at the hotel weren’t the most friendly. It was nice to be close to the beach but we were kind of far from the main strip and surf spots. Walking on the dirt roads seemed a little dangerous so we mainly drove or walked on the beach to get to the surf spots.
Despite the location and the interesting crowd at our hotel, we still managed to enjoy ourselves and spent most of our time on the beach surfing – or rather trying to surf. The waves were massive the 3 days we were in Santa Teresa. We tried surfing everyday but 2 out of the 3 day I couldn’t even make it out past the break. There was even one instance were I got held under and my board whacked me in the whitewater. I took that as a sign that I needed to practice a little more before I go out when it’s that big. I was overhead but super powerful. I did have one really good day surfing in Santa Teresa.
The last day I decided that I would instead go for a freshly made Piña Colada on the beach versus trying to tame the ocean.
We had some really good meals in Santa Teresa that included some top notch Açai bowls. A couple places I really liked were The Bakery and The Somos Cafe. And one of my favorite meals was a Peruvian style ceviche made with red snapper at a Peruvian chicken joint. The ceviche was some of the best I’ve had in a long time made by a Peruvian expat who also served Peruvian style rotisserie chicken. The fresh fish reminded me of being back in the islands.
We had a good time in Santa Teresa but I left with mixed feelings. I’m not sure if it was the unfriendly welcome we got at the hotel, the very congested main road, the lack of nightlife, or the fact that I got humbled and beat up by the ocean.
I wanted to like Santa Teresa and I feel like I might need to give it another chance someday. I do think that it did have a lot to offer with the beach and surfing. I don’t think I’m ready to buy a vacation home or live there yet, but it did reinforce that you need to live somewhere and check it out first before you go all-in in deciding to move or get a second home.
Who knows, maybe there is a villa and AirBnb calling my name in the future in Santa Teresa or Costa Rica.
All-in-all our Costa Rica trip was epic and I couldn’t of asked for a better getaway. I came back to the U.S. feeling like my surfing improved, but more importantly I was relaxed. I have a feeling I could be going back to Costa Rica in the not too distant future to enjoy some more of the Pura Vida.
Until next time, Keep It Sambal!