Costa Rica Travel Itinerary from a First Gen Traveler
Read the adventures of three Latinas that had their Dora La Exploradora moment in the forests and beaches of Costa Rica. This was our first sister travel experience outside of visiting familia in México. We also went with our mutual amiga. It was the best time we could have had. Read more about our jampacked 5 days in Costa Rica.
Airbnb
After long research, we opted to fly and stay in Liberia. It’s a northern city that offers close proximity of the natural attractions we wanted to visit. The other international airport option is San Jose. Due to the capital being in the central region, distant from the main activities on our bucket list, we decided to save on travel time with our Liberia selection.
Our Airbnb was a house in a family neighborhood next to a nice neighbor we met with his dog Benito. There was also a very convenient corner store that had long business hours. The address did cause some confusion at first as it’s a local area off the main road. There were three beds in this two bedroom, two bathroom home. The space had a washer and dryer which was important with all the water activities. We also had excellent A/C within the home. We rarely spent time here as we had full day excursions, but it was always nice coming back to a comfortable and soothing home.
Overall Rating: 5/5
Transportation
This kept us up late at night prior to our trip. So many people told us we needed to rent a car to get around. After hours of seeing crazy prices and hearing about the curvy and aggressive roads, we went in with no plan other than ask the locals for advice once we arrive to the country.
Our first night we had extreme difficulty finding Ubers to take us to our destinations with addresses not being accurate and scarcity of drivers.
Our Costa Rica savior was our chauffeur Poli (also known with basically all the locals as Chino). We met him during our first excursion that included him as our driver. He ended up being our rider and Costa Rica personal tour guide for the entire trip. Looking back, he was so essential in the success of our trip. And to have that local connection and new friend abroad, it’s truly made our trip. We love when Latinos come together genuinely, especially in traveling. From breaking barriers of growing up as Latinas and not seeing our people travel, it’s important for us to create and form relationships with locals of Latin Americans countries to learn and share cultures and life.
To book him, What’s App him at +506 8962 5036. Tell him las chicas de Chicago sent you.
Overall Rating: 6/5
Rincon de la Vieja – El Santuario & Termales
Our first excursion in Costa Rica was tarnished as the weather was majorly not on our side. Being on the rainy side of the volcano, the day turned into a major pour day. Looking back, this excursion should have gotten canceled. The conditions would be described as a constant slippery slope with gum-like muddy conditions. Our tour guides said they very rarely witness it rain this long and as hard. This unglamorous journey really made me appreciate one, our tour guides for letting us use them as our human crutch to minimize falling and two, acknowledging mother nature isn’t just to look cute. She serves a purpose and we’re meant to go with her timeline.
The typical experience we saw online of seeing calm crystal blue water and a glistening rock waterfall structure became an aggressive brown stream amongst the huge raindrops. The stream was so strong, we had to DIY a zipline to get across. Truly a scene of survival and making it work.
The slippery walk back was just as bad as the walk there. A well-deserved meal was waiting for us at our tour guide’s home. The full excursion experience is family owned as the mother cooked for us, dad was our driver around the area, and the son was our tour guide. It was wholesome to hear about their drive to showcase Costa Rica’s beautiful nature to the world. Here’s their Instagram.
To conclude our journey, we got to spend some time in a hot spring. After the treacherous wet and cold journey, we had, it was well deserved to relax in some warm water in complete tranquility.
Although, the sight and experience weren’t as advertised due to out of our control circumstances, we appreciated the time spent amongst nature and our tour guides. We’re extremely grateful we met and connected with Poli on this day. He was hired as our driver from the travel agency, but ended up tagging along for the journey so he spent the whole day with us.
Overall Rating: 3/5 (mainly because of the weather conditions)
La Leona
This was a must on our list prior to coming to Costa Rica. It’s one thing seeing celeste blue through pictures, it’s surreal seeing how truly baby blue this water is. We ended up doing this tour with Poli versus having a tour guide in a group setting for a designated time frame.
To start, there’s a short back of the truck drive to the start of the walking portion. The hike over was through rocks, river streams, and branches. Because there is a swimming portion, make sure to bring a waterproof bag and shoes. Due to timing, we couldn’t book the guide Poli recommended to us, however, having Poli take on the task of guiding us to the destination was the best decision. This man let us take as much time as we wanted at the waterfall. Taking in the powerful water beauty, swimming, and taking as many rounds of pictures was a privilege as we saw so many groups come and go as we stayed back. It was appreciated that weren’t rushed.
Same as how we got there, we swam, hiked, and drove back to town. Included in the package we got, we ate at a nearby restaurant. The food fuel was beyond needed on top of it being delicious.
Overall Rating: 5/5
Playa Tamarindo
A touristy, gringo filled beach town for sure. Here you’ll find restaurants, souvenir shops, and water attractions. We spent four hours here relaxing watching surfers do their thing while taking in the sun. We ended up renting chairs from one of the local businesses on the beach. Poli picked us up after and we all ate at a beachside restaurant while the sun set.
Overall Experience: 3.8/5
Playa del Coco
A very dark and rocky beach is how I would describe Playa del Coco. We spent one day beach hopping. Poli took us to local beaches before taking us to this touristy one. Compared to Tamarindo, this was on the calmer side in terms of people and businesses. It was less relaxing beachy vibes with the water being not as clean and random trash around. If I had to pick between the two big beaches we visited, Playa Tamarindo would be my favorite.
Overall Experience: 2.2/5
Fiestas Civicas
With timing luck and just like in México, we happened to be in town for las fiestas del pueblo. The town of Liberia had live music performances for locals to gather and dance in el centro. After dinner, we headed over to join the crowd. They played classic Latin cover songs to get everyone moving. They also had carnival rides nearby, but unfortunately, we didn’t get to visit. We recommend researching local celebration in and around the area you’re staying.
Overall Experience: 4.2/5
Termales Rio Negro
An experience hidden within the Hotel Hacienda Guachipelin’s property. We can once again thank Poli for the recommendation. This is a resort run hot spring with 10 extremely hot but refreshing pools. There’s also a stream of cold water available if you want to alternate between the hot springs.
If you’re not a hotel guest, you can rent a day pass. We spent practically our whole last full day here relaxing, trying out all the pools, taking in nature, and soaking up the minerals from our mud body mask. The facility offers towels, lockers, outdoor showers, and bathrooms.
Overall Experience: 5/5
