Costa Rica ranked very high in yet another international survey in terms of quality of life and ease of settling in for foreign residents. The Expat Insider poll recently reported its third annual rankings, which aim to encapsulate the quality of expat life in hundreds of countries with a variety of indexes and subcategories. Costa Rica ranked No. 1 in the …
We’ve put together a few trip suggestions for you to consider, based on the time you have and your propensity to drive “Tico-style”. This is not a tourism guide book, just a subset of the places we’ve enjoyed… Remember that roads can get tricky in some areas, and will sometimes require a 4 wheel drive car. We’ve tried to point out the …
Around the house, there are many things for kids to do. There are plenty of small lizards that are fun to hunt down and try to pick up (just make sure you put them back). There are howler monkeys just down the hill near the pool. THey stay in the trees and you can observe them from beneath. The view …
One of the most interesting places we went to was Rincon de la Vieja National Park. This is a beautiful volcanic area with many of those small electric-green iguanas. It’s not much hiking to visit the mud pots, which there are several of scattered around, and at each one there is at least one lookout point, a lot of steam, …
We also went to Cabo Blanco Natural Reserve, which was a 6 hour drive, crossing many streams and rivers on dirt roads. This was difficult and is not recommended during the wet season because the rivers swell and become impossible to cross. Do not do this unless you have a four-wheel-drive. It was a very fun experience, with beautiful hikes …
One of the beaches a little bit further away is Playa Flamingo. It has very, very large waves during high tide, and they are not much smaller during low tide. The waves crash very close to the shore. It was very fun for us because we enjoyed jumping around in the white foam right on the shore. One of the …
Another great place to go in Guanacaste is Witches Rock Canopy Tour. This is also an activity for all ages. It is by far, one of my top two favorite places in Costa Rica. It is about an hour away, near Playa Hermosa and it costs $105 per person. Here, the zip lining is superb, and a gopro is highly …
Playa Conchal is a great beach to visit for all ages. It is great for snorkeling and scuba diving. The sand on the North side of the beach is closer to what someone would think of as “Playa Conchal”, which means “Shell Beach”. The sand looks like whole shells put into a blender that exploded. The water is normally calm …
