Costa Rica

Costa Rican Beaches

~ Adam Verdoorn ~ 1 Comment

One of the greatest assets that Costa Rica has is its beautiful beaches. My buddy Mike and I started out one morning at our hotel and decided just to go beach hopping the whole day along the Nicoya Peninsula until sundown.

From the touristy beaches of Playa Hermosa and Playa Flamingo, to a more secluded Playa Conchal, there is a beach that suits so many different tastes. My personal favorite of the day was Playa Conchal. It was different experience to get to the beach be driving down multiple dirt roads and driving right on the beach. The water was very warm and calm, which was great for swimming and wading. Tamarindo was a different story.

We finally reached Tamarindo at sundown, and it was a beautiful site to see. Tamarindo does not only have an awesome beach for swimming and surfing, but a whole lively beach town to go with it. They have everything any surfer could ever want and dream, from any budget range. From nicer full service restaurants, to little sodas on the side of the road, any one can enjoy a full day at Tamarindo.

Selvatura Adventure Park

~ Adam Verdoorn ~ Leave a comment

One of the most exciting things to do in Costa Rica is to check out the scenery via a zip line! I highly recommend heading to Selvatura Adventure Park in Santa Elena.

From our hotel in Papagayo, it was about a 3 hour drive up to Santa Elena. The route does not look that long, but once you get off the Pan American Highway, some roads are dirt and very steep. Once you are in the cloud forest, you are in a completely different world from the sand and beaches just an hours drive below. Selvatura Adventure Park is partially located in the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve, which contains over 26,000 acres of cloud forest. It is a very unique experience on this zipline company than most of the other companies in the area.

The zipline tour is about $50 USD, which is not a bad deal for the 3 hour experience. There are 12 cables and 18 platforms on this tour. One of the cables is 3,280 feet (1 km) long, which at the time of my trip in November of 2015 was the longest zipline in Costa Rica! If you have the time, or are in the Monteverde area, you should check them out!

Tough lessons in Costa Rica…..

~ Adam Verdoorn ~ 4 Comments

I have traveled to Costa Rica a handful of times before with no issues. I usually travel with my passport on me for the most part. This time around I left my passport in the safe at the hotel for the whole trip. I have heard about random police checkpoints in the country, but I never ran into one until my last trip in November.

After a fun day of beach hopping around Tamarindo, we were driving back to our hotel in Papagayo in the evening. We ran into a police checkpoint about halfway back to the hotel. The police were nice and friendly, but they asked us for our passports, which were back in the hotel safe. It seemed to me that their English was limited, but I was fortunate to have a local wifi hotspot connection and used google translate to the best of my abilities. The one officer then decided to search the car for any drugs or alcohol, while the other one was calling “someone” at the station. Once our car was cleared, the other officer wanted to talk to someone on his phone that was more fluent in English.

The person on the other end of the line told me that since I did not have my passport with me, they could do one of two things. One, they could call a traffic police official to come out and write me a ticket, which could take an hour or more. Or two, I could pay the officers 60,000 Costa Rican Colons and go about my way. My friend and I did not have that amount of money on us, but the officers offered to take us to an ATM to withdraw money. My friend and myself were hesitant to give the officers money directly, but we did not want to wait and possibly suffer more consequences. We drove about an extra 5 miles into town to the closest ATM to pay the officers. Once I gave them the cash, I asked if there was a receipt, ticket, or anything in writing to prove I paid a “fine”. Both officers assured me that they made a radio call with our plate number and we should have no issues for the remainder of the night.

When we drove closer to the hotel, my friend said that maybe we should go to the Hard Rock Cafe, since it was just a bit out of the way and he collects Hard Rock Cafe items during his travels. Just before we got into Coco, there was another police checkpoint……. this time there was an official traffic police officer with them. I explained them what happened about 45 minutes earlier. At first, he did not believe me. Once I showed him my ATM receipt and that I had no cash on me, all three officers looked at each other, smirked, and then wished me a good night.

Once I got back to the United States, I did some research into this. It appears that the need for passports is to verify that you are still legally in the country within your visa period. Other than that, I have not seen or heard of anyone else paying a fine. If you have, comment and let me know! Did I get scammed? I may never know. If you do rent a car and drive in Costa Rica, please do yourself a favor and have your passport with you. It will save you time, and even possibly your money.

Experiences at Hyatt Andaz Peninsula Papagayo Resort

~ Adam Verdoorn ~ 1 Comment

I was very excited to hear that Southwest Airlines was launching service to a second city in Costa Rica, Liberia, back in March of 2015. The first flight down was not until November 1st, but I was already doing research into the area and surrounding hotels. I found a hotel close by to Liberia where I had elite status at. The Hyatt Andaz Peninsula Papagayo Resort!

Once we flew in on the inaugural flight to Liberia on Southwest Airlines and picked up our little Suzuki  Jimny, we were on the way! The drive from the airport to the resort was an easy half hour drive. The check in process at the Andaz properties is different from your normal front desk check in. The lobby had a huge sitting area where the agents checked us in on a tablet while we enjoyed a cool refreshing beverage. Being a Diamond elite in the Hyatt Gold Passport program netting me an upgrade to a Relax Twin room. The room was amazing! It had a huge rainfall walk in shower that opened up into the room and balcony. The mini bar was included in the room rate and was restocked daily. We at an amazing view of the treetops and bay. The front desk also advised us to keep the balcony doors closed when we were not in the room, as the local monkeys may end up wreaking havoc in our room!

Luckily at this property, they offered breakfast in the morning for free for Diamond members and their guests. I took full advantage of the open breakfast buffet and picking an item from the menu, like the coconut french toast and Gallo Pinto, a traditional Costa Rican breakfast! The hotel also has two pools, one family pool and one adults only pool. One of the biggest benefits of the hotel is its two private beaches within walking distance on property. One of the beaches has hammocks (as seen in the featured image) and lots of chairs in the shade with towels neatly rolled up on each chair. The beach is swimmable and the water was warm even in November! There were also 3 different restaurants to pick from on the resort, but my friend and I ate off the resort since there were more options at a more affordable price.

If you are looking for a nice resort in Costa Rica, you should check out the Hyatt Andaz Peninsula Papagayo Resort. I used Hyatt points to stay at the resort since rates are very expensive and hover above $400 a night. If you can afford it, I highly recommend it!

Llanos de Cortez Waterfall

~ Adam Verdoorn ~ Leave a comment

When you think of the Guanacaste region of Costa Rica, you think about the numerous beaches and the dry climate. Who would had thought that this area of the world had an amazing waterfall? We just happened to stumbled upon it by chance!

My travel buddy Mike and I were lounging around at the Andaz Peninsula Papagayo Resort on our first full day in Costa Rica, when I looked up what to do in the Liberia area in my Lonely Planet travel guide. There was a little box about this waterfall that was highlighted and stood out to me. After some research, it was an easy drive to the waterfall!

Llanos de Cortez waterfall is about a 30 minute drive  south from Liberia. In our case, from the resort was about a 75 minute drive. It is along the Pan American highway about a few miles west of Bagaces. Once you pull off the highway and drive a short distance, you come up to some locals working the entrance. This is not an entry fee! It is a donation to the local school in the area. I gave them $10 USD as a donation, but I heard that the minimum recommended is $2 USD per person. The road from here on out to the parking lot for the falls and all dirt. If it had rained recently in the area like it did when I was there, it is very muddy and very rough. I highly recommend renting a four wheel drive vehicle when in Costa Rica!

From the parking lot, the hike is a moderate decline for about 5 minutes. Once you reach the falls, it is so awe inspiring. The water is fairly warm and it is very shallow until you reach the last 30 feet to the falls, then it drops significantly. There is a rocky area right behind the falls you can hide out/hang out in. You could even be risky like Mike and I and do a shallow dive off into the water! This is definitely a must see location in Costa Rica!