Category Archives: Tours

2 Nights in Southern Nicoya Peninsula: Sunrise to Sunset

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If you’re short on time, but have heard from friends and fellow travelers that you just have to experience nature in Southern Nicoya, here is a quick itinerary to work it into your vacation and get the best of both sides of the peninsula. In just three days and two nights, you’ll see the sun rise over the Nicoya Gulf and the sun set over the Pacific, with lots of extra in between.

Day 1: Arrive in Montezuma

  • Check-in – Plan to arrive in Montezuma in the early afternoon by bus, shuttle, or boat. This will give you time to check in to your hotel and grab a quick bite to eat before adventuring. A few great hotel options are Hotel Ylang Ylang, located on the beach, or Amor de Mar at the base of the falls. Other great options in town include Luna Llena and Hotel Aurora, or Casa Frangipani above town on the hill (easiest to stay here if you have transportation).
  • Waterfalls – Next, you’ll have time to go to the famous Montezuma Waterfalls. The hike is short, but can be tricky for those not familiar with the area. If you know you’ll want to do this, you can hire a private guide in advance, which is safer and recommended for less experienced hikers. Take some photos and a dip in the cool water, and head back before it starts getting dark.
  • Shop & Dine – Once you clean up, you can walk around town, explore the little the shops, and then have dinner at one of the delicious restaurants. Cocolores is our favorite, but there’s plenty to choose from including some with live entertainment such as Organico.

 

sunrise_cabuya_BirdLoversMorningDay 2: Sunrise to Sunset

  • Bird Watching or Nature Tour – If you love birds, book a Bird Lover’s Morning tour. It starts early, but it’s a great way to see the sunrise, get in a bird watching tour and have a late breakfast in the town closest to the southern point of the peninsula. If hiking is more your thing, you can watch the sunrise from your hotel or the beach, then take a guided tour to Cabo Blanco nature reserve.
  • Travel to the Pacific Side – After checking out of your hotel, take a shuttle to the Pacific Side of the peninsula via the town of Cobano, or if you’re in your own car you can get there via the town of Cabuya in the dry season.
  • Check-In & Dinner –  You’ll be pretty hungry and tired by this point, so check in to a hotel with a great restaurant. We like Moana Lodge, or Frank’s Place in Mal Pais. Enjoy dinner while you watch the sunset over the waves of the Pacific Ocean.

Mal Pais


Day 3: Explore Mal Pais/Santa Teresa

On your last morning, you’ll have time to explore Mal Pais or Santa Teresa a little before checking out. Schedule an early Stand-Up Paddleboard or surf session the day before, or spend the morning taking a long scenic walk on the beach. After that, you’re ready to checkout and head back to San Jose for departure home, or go on to your next Costa Rica destination.

 

 

The Experience of Living Abroad, in Just 1 Day

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So you’re not a student anymore and you don’t have a semester to spend living abroad. Who really has the ability to do that anymore anyway? It’s challenging, even if you are a student, let alone an adult with family, career and other responsibilities. But let’s face it, living abroad for study or other reason has rewards and lessons that are hard to replicate by any other means. If you’re one of the many who wants to experience those things, but you’re short on time (and/or cash for that matter), don’t worry! You can still experience local living in Costa Rica, even if you have as little as one day.

organicfarm_costarica

Finca Integral Didactica

What you’re probably looking for are those experiences that make you feel like you’re in a different  place. You want to see what a typical home is like (one of my personal curiosities when I travel), taste real local food, and meet people from a different culture. Vacationing may not always feel like it allows for such experiences, with all the obligatory water sports and whatnot, but you can certainly change that. A ‘tour’ doesn’t have to be just transportation to the topmost attraction that showed up on your TripAdvisor search of things-to-do (don’t get me wrong, I use this method too ;)). With a little extra research, you can find the ones that offer a bit more perspective on aspects of regional and local culture, and allow you to engage in activities that make you feel like you’re a part of someone’s home or family for a day. Usually, the investment in a professionally guided tour will do just that. You’ll get someone who knows the area, knows the people in it, and has greater insight on the unique characteristics that may make it different from where you’re from, thus highlighting things that you’d likely find out from living there versus just taking a vacation there.

We’re trying to create that kind of opportunity for visitors here in Montezuma, perhaps like yourself, who want the experiences one would gain living abroad for a period of time. Offering a peek into local living is a way for visitors to better connect with the country and region they are visiting, even if they have very little time, or simply want to enhance their tropical vacation with something a little more educational and enriching. We keep adding more components to our Let’s Get Local tour too, such as a visit to Finca Integral Didáctica (a local organic farm) because the truth is we keep finding more interesting things in the area we never knew were there, and we live here! So we hope it will provide a few things you may not have gotten to see otherwise. It may not be a semester or summer abroad, but we’d like to think it can still be rewarding and offer valuable exchanges between visitors and residents, just like living here would be.

www.jcsjourneys.com