This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Martha Pierce , a 34-year-old former marketing agency owner, who started her own business coaching practice this year and left Denver, Colorado for Santa Teresa, Costa Rica.
01.09.2023 - 20:23 / lonelyplanet.com
On a recent trip to Costa Rica, on a hike in the remote forests of Volcán Tenorio National Park, the sky unexpectedly opened up, dumping buckets of rain on my 12-year-old twins and me. We were completely soaked, despite our rain gear.
“So much for the dry season,” I complained.
My kid looked at me with incredulity.
“Mom, we’re in the rainforest!”
Good point, kid.
In Costa Rica, every adventure comes with a potential misadventure. That’s the lesson I have learned (and learned to love), from 25 years of traveling in this wild wonderland.
From driving through rivers due to washed-out bridges, to getting stung by scorpions, to getting lost in the country’s largest national park…I have had my fair share of travel “disasters.”
But I have also learned how good planning (and a healthy dose of reframing) can turn almost any disaster into an extraordinary experience. Here are 13 tips to make sure your trip to Costa Rica is memorable in all the right ways.
Waterproof sandals are ideal for river crossings, rocky beaches, waterfall swimming and other essential Costa Rica activities. Close-toed sandals are recommended (and sometimes required) for many activities.
Costa Rica is in the tropics and yes, it gets hot on the coast and in the humid lowlands. But the temperature drops significantly as you climb into the mountains. If you’re planning to go to the cloud forest – Monteverde or San Gerardo de Dota or Rivas – you’re going to want a jacket (at least).
The rainforest and cloud forest are wet climates at any time of year. So it’s best to pack for rain, even if you are traveling in the so-called dry season. Bring sturdy, waterproof boots for hiking on muddy trails.
Be prepared for showers (or downpours) with a quick-drying, moisture-wicking base layer and a waterproof rain jacket.
Everybody who rents a vehicle in Costa Rica is legally required to purchase liability insurance from the rental agency. This can be frustrating and confusing for travelers, especially since the extra cost of this insurance is (often) not included in the original price quoted at the time of reservation.
It seems like a scam, but it’s an official scam and there’s no way around it. You can usually avoid this confusion (but not the charge) by reserving your vehicle directly with a rental car agency and not through a third-party consolidator.
Note that most rental agencies also require drivers to have comprehensive insurance, in addition to liability insurance. You may be able to avoid purchasing a comprehensive insurance package if you use a credit card that provides this benefit.
Do you want to swim at secret beaches, discover hidden waterfalls and hike untrodden trails? You’re probably going to need a 4WD to get there.
There are plenty of wonderful
This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Martha Pierce , a 34-year-old former marketing agency owner, who started her own business coaching practice this year and left Denver, Colorado for Santa Teresa, Costa Rica.
Costa Rica is best known for its volcanoes, greenery and famous wildlife — but the beaches are also worth daydreaming about. Because of its rich biodiversity, there’s a little something for the surfer to the yogi or the casual sunbather.
Costa Rica is home to everything from steamy rainforests and misty cloud forests, to still-smoking volcanoes and sublime beaches strung along Pacific and Caribbean coastlines.
New York is a beach town if you want it to be—but I didn’t know that when I first moved here four years ago. That first New York summer, I left my Williamsburg apartment, boarded the ferry, and was miraculously lounging on the beach an hour later. As I squinted into the sun, I spotted surfers in the water. Surfing in New York? I couldn’t believe it. The following summer, I signed up for lessons with Locals Surf school, and have since spent almost every single weekend flinging myself into the waves at Rockaway Beach.
For generations, designers have adopted towns, villages, and other enclaves as second homes and visited them again and again, imprinting a touch of their own sensibility on their chosen place—and importing something of its essence into their own work. It’s the kind of symbiosis that Coco Chanel and Le Corbusier, who summered in neighboring homes, enjoyed with the Cote d’Azur’s Rouquebrune Cap-Martine, or Yves Saint Laurent with Marrakech and Tangier. More recently, Christian Louboutin popularized the Portuguese village of Melides, eventually opening Vermelho Hotel there earlier this year. Here, five designers on the places they go, and why they continue to be pulled back.
It’s been hidden from public eyes for more than a hundred years. But in a few weeks time, the former Old War Office in London, Whitehall will finally open its doors after a multi-million-dollar transformation.
It turns out that luxury London hotels are like buses. You wait ages for one to open, and then two, or in this case several, come at once.
At the Sustainable Social Tourism Summit (León, 30 August – 2 September), UNWTO welcomed new high-level signatories to the Glasgow Declaration on Climate Action in Tourism. The Secretariats of State for Tourism of Ciudad de Mexico, Queretaro, Guerrero, Quintana Roo, Nuevo Leon, all signed up to the landmark declaration, designed to guide tourism to Net-Zero emissions by 2050 at the latest. They join the Secretariat of State of Tourism of Guanajuato which signed up at the COP27 United Nations climate change conference in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt. The Secretary of State of Tourism of Guanajuato, Mr. Juan José Álvarez Brunel, heads the Sustainability Coordination of the National Association of Secretaries of tourism of Mexico A.C. (ASETUR) and led the discussion of climate action in tourism at sub-national level since becoming a signatory.
In the 1991 surf-heist movie Point Break, Keanu Reeves learns how to ride waves in a day. My own experience is a little different. On my first attempt, I banana-skid backwards off my board, catapult into the foam, and swallow about a pint of brine. Next, I dive face-first into the waves; a process known as “pearling.” The phrase sounds almost glamorous when my teacher, Mary Osborne, says it. But I can assure you it is not.
It’s easy to experience sticker shock when checking into eco-lodges and renting vehicles and booking tours in Costa Rica. Indeed, it is the most expensive country in Central America, thanks to a booming economy and well-developed tourist sector.
UHNWIs are spending extravagantly on travel; and high-end tour operators are seeing an unprecedented rise in trips with price tags of $100,000 or more.
It must be down there, buried deep. The still-beating heart of National Geographic. The spirit that once inspired every traveler’s soul.