Costa Rica is on everyone’s radar. Ahead of I moved right here, it was on mine too. I was captivated by the rainforest, the beach locations, the climate, and of system, the sloths.
And will not fret, I have a “sloth hack” for you to get up near and personal with one of these furry balls of magic.
But since residing below for more than a 12 months, there are so numerous much more items I’ve found that are merely outstanding. And I’ve figured out ways to get the most out of every of them.
This checklist could extremely effortlessly be 25 Causes to Check out Costa Rica but I know Ain’t No one Obtained Time For That. So I’ve by some means managed to slender it down to the Prime 6.
Here are the top 6 Reasons you have to check out Costa Rica & journey hacks to enhance your experience.
one. Explanation: Happiest Place On Earth
According to the Satisfied Planet Index, Costa Rica ranks 1st out of 151 different international locations based on measuring 3 various elements: skilled nicely-becoming, lifestyle expectancy, & ecological footprint.
What’s so fantastic about Costa Rica are not these measurements but what they induce. The society is happier, much less pressured, and (quite clearly) considerably less rushed.
It is contagious. When you are listed here, you find your self succumbing to the exact same life style and might even wonder, “What have I been speeding toward?”
Hack: Pay a visit to the Blue Zone
There have been 5 regions in the globe discovered as a “Blue Zone.” These unusual areas have been classified as locations where men and women are inclined to live the longest. The Nicoya Penisula in Costa Rica is a single of them.
There are a number of traits that reveal why folks reside lengthier listed here but rather of reading about it, occur knowledge it. Perhaps even stay a while. Who understands, you might even leave a little younger.
You could devote your total trip just on the Nicoya Penisula and depart content, but right here are the best places to see although you’re there: Montezuma, Nosara, & Tamarindo.
two. The Food
You can appear for bananas in the jungle alternatively of aisles. Like the excellent previous times of currently being human.
I do not take into account myself a foodie by any stretch of the creativeness so I was taken by shock when I discovered myself obsessing over the fruit. In truth, again in the States I didn’t even like pineapple, mango, or papaya. But they’re so excellent below I went from disliking a food to it getting 1 of my all-time favorites.
Severely, they are that good. And fruitful. I usually go on walks and arrive residence with a dozen eco-friendly or yellow mangos basically due to the fact they line the streets where I dwell in Manuel Antonio.
And let’s not overlook about coconuts. You can purchase clean coconut water by the liter below for 50 percent the value in the States (and entirely unprocessed), or purchase one particular appropriate on the beach front.
Of training course, there are the conventional Costa Rican dishes you need to attempt. Casado is a Costa Rican dish of rice, black beans, plantains, salad, & tortilla accompanied by your choice of meat or fish.
And will not neglect the gallo pinto. It practically translates to “noticed rooster” but do not enable the identify scare you. The dish is just rice and beans. But also will not presume that it truly is *just* rice and beans. It will likely be the very best rice and beans of your existence.
Hack: Try to eat Coconut Meat
Coconut water is all the trend but what if I informed you the meat was much better for you than the drinking water?
It can be grow to be fairly the chore to get it yourself but the good news is for you, there are specialists all about.
Obtain your coconut (‘pipa’, in Spanish) from a seller and then sip on the h2o. When you happen to be completed, question the seller to lower it in 50 % for you.
Seize a spoon and get pleasure from the food.
3. Affordability
Often instances, traveling outside the house of the United States can be tremendous pricey. But it really is actually reasonably cheap to fly to Costa Rica.
A easy research on-line (Google.com/flights) while I’m creating this exhibits me round vacation tickets from Los Angeles to San Jose, Costa Rica for $360, only $271 from Miami, and as low as $260 from Atlanta.
You can travel to paradise for the cost of one particular car payment.
Not only is acquiring below reasonably priced but lodging is sensible as nicely. Hostels appropriate on the beach front are $fifteen-$twenty five for each night time, while a common lodge area will operate you between $50-$eighty… which is not a negative cost to pay for paradise.
But it will not end there. Transportation in metropolitan areas is typically much less than a dollar, and you can even hop on a neighborhood bus to one more metropolis for a couple of bucks.
Or consider a flight with the world’s only carbon-neutral airline, Mother nature Air. They fly to in excess of a dozen areas in Costa Rica and are quite reasonable.
Hack: Dwell in Paradise
Dwelling listed here is affordable too. I’ve paid as small as $250/month for a manufacturer new living space comprehensive with a massive out of doors kitchen area and yoga deck. Combine that with getting my groceries sent by a neighborhood farmer for much less than what I might pay out in the States and my total expense for foodstuff and lodging is about 1/8th of what I was used to shelling out every single month. That indicates I could quadruple my cost of foods and lodging here and it would nevertheless be half of what I was paying out in San Diego.
So, maybe it truly is time for an extended getaway?
4. Beach Existence
Have you ever witnessed the jungle and the beach collide? It really is amazing. But there is much more than viewing the inexperienced jungle meet up with the turquoise ocean…
The ocean drinking water temperature averages between the higher 70s & mid-80s which implies it really is usually the excellent temperature to swim in. It’s also popular for browsing and even if you’ve never even been on a board, it’s a great spot to understand how to surf.
But one particular of my favorite reasons to visit Costa Rican seashores is how few individuals there are. Most seashore locations are packed with people and you happen to be fortunate to find a number of square ft of sand to briefly call your personal.
Not here. There are so a lot of miles of seaside terrain to investigate you will very likely find by yourself staring at one of the most exceptional things you’ve at any time seen asking yourself, “In which is every person?”
Even the most common shorelines have much much less folks than the effectively known spots in Southern California–and if you take the time to chat a quarter mile away from the group, you will uncover even a lot more room.
Hack: Check out Greatest Beach front in Costa Rica
Costa Rica boasts some of the best beach locations in the globe… so how do you choose which one particular to go to?
Nearly all top ten lists of shorelines in Costa Rica set Manuel Antonio at the top and it really just lately ranked as one of the top 15 beach locations in the planet.
It really is situated just two.5 several hours from San Jose and is near other popular vacationer locations like Jaco, Playa Hermosa & Arenal.
five. Biodiversity
We located this male on one particular of our recent outings to Arenal, Costa Rica.
Even although Costa Rica only takes up.03% of the world’s land mass, it hosts an astounding four% of the total species located on the world!
According to the National Institute of Biodiversity, there are more than 500,000 species and–in an energy to safeguard them–a lot more than twenty five% of the land in Costa Rica is safeguarded. Which, as you probably know, is extremely rare these days offered the quantity of deforestation going on on a standard basis.
There are even hundreds of species in Costa Rica that you actually cannot discover anyplace else on the world… which includes the Scarlet Macaw. It is a location in which Earth nevertheless feels wild and–in a unusual way–makes you truly feel right at ‘home’ in the nature of the jungle.
Hack: Get Up Near & Private With A Sloth
I advised you there was a sloth hack coming.
Individuals from much and vast journey to Costa Rica in the hopes they will capture a glimpse of these magical animals but they’re not always in luck. It is the essence of the sloth to move slowly and gradually and continue being undetected by their eagle predators in the sky so it can be really challenging to location them with an untrained eye. Even if you are lucky to see 1, they’ll very likely be off in the length and higher up in a tree.
Thankfully for you, we have a way to get you up near and individual.
Children Saving The Rainforest is a nonprofit business (began by youngsters!) located just outside Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica and they are devoted to protecting the biodiversity in Costa Rica. They have orphaned 3 sloths and on their Wildlife Tour you get to see them confront-to-encounter.
six. Pura Vida Vibe + Society
Practically translated into English, Pura Vida means pure daily life but in Costa Rica, it is a way of dwelling.
At its greatest, the Pura Vida life-style will have you slowing down, calming on the seashore, and pondering what it was you constantly felt rushed to do back again at property. At dominical costa rica , you uncover oneself unable to get out of your hammock and really do anything at all.
Costa Rican tradition is welcoming, sort, & attractive. It truly is also one particular of the only nations around the world in the planet with no standing military which, ironically, helps make you feel rather secure.
Hack: Get Cultured
One of the most crucial factors you can do whilst traveling is to find out about the place you are browsing.
What is the historical past? What are the people like? In which do the locals dangle out?
Steer clear of submitting up at an all-inclusive vacation resort and sipping on Mojitos all working day. Instead, immerse your self in what it is like to spend a day in the daily life as a Costa Rican and obtain a correct feeling of the Pura Vida vibe.
Soon after all, it is the Ticos & Ticas (name for Costa Ricans) that founded this way of residing and there is a good deal to find out from it.
Growth!
Now that you know some of the prime motives you should go to and how to make the most of them, you are officially all set to get a journey to Costa Rica.
Do you have yet another favored place or questions about Costa Rica? Drop a line in the responses!