Costa Rica - Pura Vida! Pacific side

There is so much to report about Costa Rica. We traveled for 4 weeks with our backpacks and rental car across the country in June/July. We had planned our itinerary before we left home. We took care of the accommodations on site. Which is enough. We also booked the rental car in advance in Germany through BilligerMietwagen.de. We arrived in the afternoon in the capital of Costa Rica: San José. Here we were picked up by a driver from our car rental station. It was only 5 minutes away from the airport. Once we had the rental car, we were ready to go. We had downloaded the 'road network' of Costa Rica to our phones in Germany. These are called offline maps. We got along great with them. The navigation on our phone even knew roads that weren't actually roads :D e.g. dirt roads through rivers. Our first destination was Mal Pais. Mal Pais is located on the southern tip of the Nicoya Peninsula in Costa Rica and on the Pacific side. To get there, you should drive to the port city of Punta Arenas (located in the west of Costa Rica). It's about 2 hours from San José.

Here you take the car ferry to the port of Paquera. From there, it was about 50 km to Mal Pais. I think it took us almost 2 hours. There are still unpaved roads in Costa Rica. Especially towards Mal Pais, there are more dirt roads. We also crossed our first river with the car. It was quite funny.

Once we arrived in Mal Pais, we looked for accommodation: The Mal Pais Surfcamp. A beautiful and large place to stay. Non-surfers are also welcome here. As a surfer, you can rent surfboards here and take surf lessons. The resort is surrounded by jungle. You will be awakened by howler monkeys in the morning. And at the pool, you can relax with the iguanas. Everything is really well done. You can rent communal areas here or so-called 'private rooms'. There are even large houses for families there. If you have your own tent, you can also camp in the garden for little money. So there is something for everyone.

Next to Mal Pais is the town of 'Santa Teresa'. Here you will find bars, restaurants, banks for withdrawing money, and much more. Here we rented a quad bike. You should definitely do that. I think there is nothing more fun than racing through the most beautiful nature of Costa Rica at full speed with a quad bike! We attached our GoPro to the front of the quad bike. Really cool videos were taken. I think we stayed in Mal Pais for a total of 4 days. That was also enough.

After the national parks, we drove to Flamingo Beach. It is also on the Pacific side. Here we actually wanted to go diving at a German diving center. But unfortunately, the boat was broken and it was taking too long for us. So we only stayed there very briefly. There is not much to report. The beach is beautiful but touristy with hotel after hotel. We can still highly recommend the accommodation we stayed at: Guanacaste Lodge. Small colorful houses. There is a pool and breakfast. Very nice hostess.

One day we also went to Tamarindo Beach. The beach is very popular and therefore very crowded. There are also many hotels and if you prefer it a little quieter, you shouldn't go there. The beach itself is very beautiful, also for walking through the town in the evening.

More reports about Costa Rica to follow: Monteverde, Arenal Lake, Caribbean side, and the Corcovado National Park. :)