Costa Rica

“Pura Vida” means “pure life” or “simple life”

The true words of life seen all throughout Costa Rica. Believe me when I say it, you’ll understand exactly why its such a big deal in Costa Rica. It’s about living happy and being content with life, and the Costa Ricans definitely live this motto throughout their day to day lives. Costa Rica is pure paradise and I loved every moment of this trip. This was my first international trip since Covid, and it felt so great to be out of the country and start traveling again. My husband and I booked this trip with our other friends (Preston & Keely); the perfect doubles-couple’s trip. There’s so much to see in Costa Rica from its incredible national parks, thrilling activities such as ziplining, river rafting, and a great place to see animals.

How to Get There

The flight from Seattle to Liberia was quite long. From Seattle to LA was 2 hours, with a quick 1-hour layover and another flight from LA to Liberia (about 5 hours, total of 7hrs on the plane). There are two airports to fly into Costa Rica; you can fly into either Liberia or San Jose. It all depends on what you want to see and where you want to venture around. I typically always fly Alaska Airlines, but there are other airlines that fly there as well.

Best Time to Visit

The rainy season starts end of May to November, so the best time to visit is December-April during their dry season. However, I usually like to travel during the off season when there are less tourists. We booked our trip for end of May during Memorial Day weekend, although very rainy near the volcano, still really hot and humid throughout the day, and I really don’t mind rain living in Seattle.

Here is our 6-day itinerary:

Day 1 - Fly into Liberia

We arrived around 5pm, the airport is super small and easy to navigate through. Customs was a breeze to go through, thankfully. I suggest renting a car to drive around since there is so much to see in Costa Rica. We rented through Avis, and the rental car is a short shuttle ride from the airport. Since our next destination is near the Arenal Volcano, about a 2.5 hour drive from Liberia, we decided to stay 1 night in Liberia so that we didn’t have to do a long drive in the dark. We booked the Hilton Garden Inn in Liberia, right across from the airport, perfect for just 1 night to hangout and relax in.

Dinner at El Callejero - we found the highest rated restaurant in Liberia through Trip Advisors to try out and it did not disappoint! The atmosphere of a hidden courtyard with a painted “taco truck” feel, makes this place a local hole-in-the-wall specialty. It boasts flavors in all of its dishes and I highly recommend getting their fish, ribs, or burgers.

Day 2 - Drive to Arenal Volcano - Springs Resort

The Springs Resort & Spa is the most beautiful resort I’ve been to. It is the true meaning of vacation! I found this place after reading through so many blogs and seeing Costa Rica Instagram posts, so I knew this was THE place we had to stay at. This resort has spectacular views of the Arenal Volcano all throughout the resort, natural hot springs, five different restaurants, and a full-service spa. We reserved the Villa Guayaba, the perfect villa for 2 couples. It included a full kitchen, 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, and a beautiful backdrop of the volcano overlooking our back patio and hot tub. Views so serene to wake up to, you will never want to leave. The service here is phenomenal, everything you need they will provide for you and are on-call at any given point in time. Our villa included a complimentary golf cart to drive around the resort. Fun Fact: The Kardashians flew to the Springs Resort in Season 13 Ep. 10. and did the same exact things we did! (yes, I know, I love the Kardashians… my guilty pleasure)

The check-in service was amazing with the upmost customer service. As soon as we arrived, we were greeted right away, they took our bags and provided complimentary cocktails. Unfortunately it was pouring rain when we arrived, so we couldn’t see the view of the Arenal Volcano for a good few days! I was so sad for awhile but was hopeful it would pop out at some point throughout our stay.

Lunch at Tres Cascadas - upon arrival to the Springs Resort, check in wasn’t until 3pm so we had some time to kill and grabbed lunch at the resort. This was probably my least favorite restaurant at the resort. Its situated right by the pools, and has the view of the forest but the food and cocktails was mediocre.

Dinner at Ginger Sushi - If you know me, I’m always craving sushi! So of course, we had to try this restaurant. They had two menus for us, a sushi menu, and a normal dinner menu perfect for Ben and I since he’s not as big of a sushi lover as I am. Our friends also ordered from both menus. I really loved the “Arenal roll”, and we had endless cocktails and Imperial beers (a local Costa Rica Beer) !

Day 3 - Explore at Springs Resort

Every time I go on a trip, I can’t sleep and I’m the first one up at the crack of dawn. Poor Ben, having to deal with me so early! But, I love a good golden hour, perfect to take photos and get some drone flying in.

Breakfast at the villa - Breakfast is brought straight to your villa and they set up wherever you want to have breakfast. We ordered our food the night before, and they brought it to us right on time at 8:30am! There are options of a traditional Costa Rican breakfast, or pancakes, waffles, omelet, etc.

Club Rio - is located directly below the resort. The resort has it’s own excluded beautifully forested, mile long stretch right on the Arenal River. Club Rio is perfect for all ages and is a “must see” amenity of the resort. It offers numerous activities such as river kayaking, river tubing, horseback riding, rock climbing, rappelling, hot springs, and fishing. There are numerous scheduled tours to see the sanctuary, as well as hiking; and a convenient bus stop near the main lodge that takes you down to Club Rio running every 30 mins, since they do not allow the golf carts to drive down there.

Our group reserved river tubing and we spent the morning floating down the river! This was one of the highlights of the trip! We walked around the natural hot springs and got to soak in each spring.

Lunch at Rancho Club Rio - This restaurant is located right along the river beneath the towering canopy of rainforest in Club Rio. We stopped here after tubing and ordered some margaritas, tacos and a chalupa. YUM!

Monkey Slide - When you arrive at the resort, they make you sign a waiver for the monkey slide (water slide). So you know you have to see it for yourself! At the resort, there are multiple pool areas, and this one is located right next to our Villa. We all has so much fun sliding down the monkey slide and going head first, great for kids and even adults!

Dinner at Las Ventanas - One of the fancier dinner restaurants at the Springs Resort, with semi-formal attire required. This was by far the best meal we had at the resort with great service and beautiful views of the city.

Day 4 - Drive to Tamarindo

Another morning, an even earlier rise. I got really excited when I woke up at 5am and had CLEAR views of the Arenal Volcano… FINALLY! I got worried when I overheard someone else staying there saying that they hadn’t seen a clear view of it since 5 days prior! So as soon as I saw it, I tip-toed out of bed trying not to wake everyone headed outside to take in the view and of course got some drone flying in.

Breakfast at the Villa - Our last meal at the Springs Resort, and we were so sad to leave. But also excited for our next stop in Tamarindo. We had breakfast ordered and brought to our villa again, and they set it up right on our patio for us.

The drive from the Springs Resort to Tamarindo is about a 3.5 hour drive, with a scenic view pretty much the entire way. We drove right along Lake Arenal on the 142, and got to see picturesque views of the lake and volcano. It was breathtaking! Like something straight out of Jurassic Park.

Casa Negra - Arrived at our modern boho Airbnb at 4PM, the vacation house of my dreams and OMG! A glass house within a few minutes from the beach in prime location of all the best restaurants in Tamarindo. This was the perfect vacation home for us, with 3 bedrooms, a main living space with full kitchen, and a sweet infinity pool. The vibes here totally screamed my style, so I absolutely loved our stay here. Our host was also exceptional, met us at our place, gave us the tour and helped us with recommendations and reservations.

Watch the sunset at Agua Salida - the sun sets relatively early in May, around 6PM, so we made reservations here for cocktails at 5:30PM. A newer restaurant in Tamarindo that has a live DJ, and amazing drinks right on the beach in prime location for the sunset. What more can you ask for? You may even see a cute little porcupine on his way home climbing up the trees after a long day of venturing around. The waiter told us the porcupine lives in the trees right above our table and usually shows up once its dark out to return home. When we initially saw it, it freaked us out a bit since we didn’t expect to see a creepy crawly thing in the dark in the corner of my eyes. But once we saw it closer, it was kind of cute!

Food here was so freaking delicious! AND I love eating a whole fish everywhere I go, and this place had one of THE best ones. See the pic for yourself!

Drinks at L’Estanco, the “hidden garden” - We stumbled upon this place walking back to our Airbnb after dinner. Keely and I were messing with the boys trying to get them to come to a Gay Bar with us called “Suck my Cocktail” and “Kinky”, but they refused so we settled for this place. We were greeted by the owner who was super friendly and happened to casually mention “some would say this is the best restaurant on Tamarindo”, so we had to find out for ourselves. The owner is a mixologist so there is no cocktail menu, you just tell him what you like and he’ll mix it up for you. All of our drinks turned out pretty tasty. Unfortunately, due to COVID, every restaurant/bar in Tamarindo had to shut down at 9PM so we didn’t get to experience the night life.

Day 5 - Sunset boat ride

Cafe Tico for Coffee - Ben and I walked here from our place while everyone else was still sleeping. We found this coffee shop on Trip Advisors and it had one of the highest ratings for a coffee shop near us, so we had to try it. Costa Rican coffee is soo good, and I loved their Chai Tea Latte

Costa Rican Mama Breakfast - Our Costa Rican mama, recommended by our host, came bright and early and started cooking us a traditional breakfast. SOOO worth it! She was really sweet and the food was BOMB.

Walk around Tamarindo - After breakfast, we had some free time to walk around the beachfront and shop around the shops.

Manta Ray Sailing - Our Airbnb host helped us book a sunset ride through Manta Ray boat rental for a sunset catamaran cruise. Our host’s name was Luca an Italian who vacationed on Costa Rica 8 years ago and never returned home, he was extremely friendly! It was a private boat tour that started from 1PM-6PM, including open bar, snacks, and a light meal depending on what can be caught on the ride. There’s also paddle boarding, kayaking, and snorkeling available. It was an amazing boat ride, some of us dipped into the ocean and went snorkeling. We had phenomenal views of the coastlines, learning about the history of Costa Rica and Playa Flamingo, and saw an amazing sunset.

Dinner at Green Papaya - One of the best restaurants in Tamarindo with excellent reviews located within a few minutes walk from our place. Our waitress was super friendly and gave us recommendations around the town. She also told us we had to try the shrimp enchiladas, because their in-house sauce they make is great for spicy lovers and she was right! Come here for their tacos and enchiladas and it will not disappoint. They also have a lot of vegan, vegetarian, and gluten free options as well.

Day 6 - ATV Tours, hangout in Tamarindo

We woke up early, headed to the same coffee shop, Cafe Tico, and got breakfast sandwiches.

ATV - We booked an ATV ride which included pickup from our place to Hacienda El Roble ($80 per person). This place also offers horseback riding, and ziplining as well, but we opted for just ATV. Our tour guide took us for a ride through the jungle with beautiful scenic lookouts, saw lots of horses and cows throughout our ride. We started out great, all had our own ATV’s, but then going up a big hill, our tour guide’s wheel on his ATV popped off and rolled down the hill, so we all had to stop and tried to find it. It was pretty funny, I felt bad for our guide so I offered my ATV to him and rode with Ben for the rest of the ride. Luckily, we were all safe and no one got hurt!

We had lots of pool time when we got back from our ATV Tour, made some cocktails and guacamole and chips and relaxed in the sun!

Dinner at Pico Bistro - Amazing beachfront restaurant, we came here for dinner and cocktails and watched the sunset. I recommend making reservations if you can, especially during sunset because it can get pretty packed. I got the grilled Octopus and a Paloma to drink.

Day 7 - Drive back to Liberia and head home

We were so sad to end our trip in paradise, but it was a bittersweet trip with our friends and one we’ll always remember filled with laughter and memories! We had a pretty early flight so we packed up and headed to Liberia around 8AM. We’ll be sure to venture back here one day since there’s so much more to explore!