Twelve days of house and dog-sitting had left us refreshed, relaxed and with a pack full of clean, machine-washed clothes. We bid goodbye to Chile and Spot – they seemed unimpressed by our leaving – loaded our gear into the dreaded panel van and pointed it south. We had a loose plan to visit a couple beach towns on the southern Pacific coast as well as the crown jewel in Costa Rica’s national park system – Manuel Antonio. Back in the fall, as we were planning our Central America journey, a visit to this park was one of the first things we added to the Costa Rica itinerary. It’s known for stunning beaches, wildlife-spotting walks along its forest trails and being the most-visited national park in the country. We thought we’d start by spending a couple days in Dominical – a laid-back, hippieish surf town, then move a bit further south to Uvita for snorkeling at Isla Cano, then finish with three or four days at Manuel Antonio. Thankfully, our plan fell apart almost immediately. Rolling into Dominical along one of its dusty, potholed roads, seeing its beautiful stretch of palm tree-backed black sand beach (which many reviewers dissed as unattractive for some reason) and finding our accommodation, which offered a decent, if not fairly basic room, but in a fantastic garden setting only steps from the ocean, we were instantly enchanted by this little gem. After getting settled in our room we headed out for a better view of the beach and then strolled into ‘town’ to find a watering hole that would slake our thirst and offer a sunset view. Tortilla Flats fit the bill perfectly. The friendly staff served up ice cold beer, the largest wine pour we may have ever seen, opened a tab to allow us to take our drinks out to the beach for sunset viewing, and, upon returning offered us complimentary shots. I mean, is this place heaven on earth or what! Turns out that’s how you win our business for the length of our stay. Which ended up stretching from a couple days to four and then to six. Uvita for snorkeling? Turns out you can do that as a day trip. Manuel Antonio National Park? Better as a day trip due to the traffic-clogged, narrow, twisting access road and massive crowds. Suffice it to say – Dominical just made the list of favorite places. Don’t get me wrong – it’s not just the cold beer and generous wine pour. This place is the poster child for ‘laid-back’ beach towns. Everyone, and I mean everyone, in town comes out for sunset. There are great cafes serving up amazing breakfasts (Mono Congo and Cafe Ensuenos). There are cool smoothie stalls blending up mouth-watering combinations of fresh tropical fruits. First-rate taco joints – check (Del Mar Taco Shop). Local fare at low prices – got those too (Rincon de Domi). An abundance of yoga classes and studios – duh, of course. Oh, and a craft beer brewery if you ever get tired of the Imperial.

We made the trip down to Uvita in about twenty minutes one morning to meet the gang at Costa Rica Dive and Surf, who would be taking us and a group of sixteen other folks out to Isla Cano’s marine reserve for a snorkeling tour. To say these guys run a professional outfit is an understatement. From check-in to the moment we left the shop at the end of the day everyone was courteous, friendly, helpful, knowledgeable and, most importantly, proud and protective of their little corner of paradise. They stressed the importance of being respectful to the sea and the reef – touching nothing, taking nothing and leaving nothing behind. We made two stops for snorkeling with a beach break in between. While the reef wasn’t the most colorful (we are a little spoiled after Indonesia), there were certainly ample amounts of fish, including white-tip reef sharks, olive ridley and hawksbill turtles and a snowflake eel. Following our snorkeling, we feasted on a tasty lunch of veggie rice, salad and tortilla chips, washed down with ginger lemonade, before returning to the mainland and the drive home. All in all, a great day on, and in, the water.

On our next to last day we made the thirty minute drive north to Manuel Antonio, which had been described to us as a bit like Disneyland, according to some other guests in Dominical. Great. Driving the panel van along the narrow, twisty road to the park’s entrance, touts would step into the road to get drivers to pull into their paid parking lots, while guides would solicit their services through our open windows. We got through the gauntlet, parked, and made our way to the ticket office, where we waited in line to purchase our entrance passes. Passing through the gates we immediately ran headlong into large tour groups stopped on the trail, surrounding their guide, who had set up a spotting scope in order to show the group some small insect. Along with families with loud, screeching kids we knew that seeing any wildlife in this park would be a remote possibility. Walking in the 90+ degree heat with high humidity had our shirts plastered to our bodies in no time. Finally breaking free of the main crowds we settled into a nice walk, taking in some views of the ocean, catching glimpses of howler monkeys and an occasional sloth. Following the large loop trail we eventually reached Manuel Antonio beach and what seemed to be, for most park patrons, the sole reason for their visit. One can’t dispute that this beach, and neighboring Espadilla Sur beach, are beautiful. Their brown sands stretch between rocky headlands with small offshore islets and clear blue waters lapping at the shore. The palms and sea grapes that back the beaches are patrolled by white-faced capuchin monkeys ready to snatch an unguarded bag or picnic lunch. The water was a welcome relief from the unrelenting heat and we were able to find a shady patch of sand for a rest and a few, guarded, bites of our leftover breakfast burritos. Refreshed, we swapped our sneakers for flip-flops and strolled the last stretch of trail to the park entrance and back to the van. While Manuel Antonio wasn’t our favorite park we visited in Costa Rica – due to the crowds, noise, chaotic entry area and lack of wildlife compared to other parks, it does offer some nice walking, a chance, however slight, of seeing animals, and the reward of a swim at a beautiful beach is certainly nice. Contemplating finding a stop along the winding, traffic-choked road for a smoothie, we opted instead to head straight back to Dominical for a fabulous smoothie from our favorite stall, some hammock time in our hotel’s garden and eventually sunset at the beach.

After five weeks we regrettably leave Costa Rica. After one night back in San Jose we’ll catch a flight to San Salvador to start our one week El Salvador road trip – which you’ll hear about in our next post.