Highlights:
- Nosara Beach house.
- Alex Nott 506 8829 0338
- www.nosarabeachhouse.com
- Private walk path in the jungle to a pristine surfing beach.
- House is well stocked with every needs
- Corky's surf shop
- Colin 506 8651 4130
- Next door to Nosara beach house
- Friendly and skilled surf instructors
- Finca Modelo adventure
- Jr 506 2645 5581
- Transportation + Ficus tree climb + 90 min night walk + a good dinner is only $45/pp
- ATV tour to coffee farm
- Yeudy from Pipin ATV rental 506 423 0754
- Friendly guide and friendly farm family
- Booked from Gilded Iguana for $500. Booked directly would be much cheaper.
- 100% Aventura
- Make reservation ahead of time.
- Tarzan swing is the most fun part
- El Tigre waterfalls
- 5 miles of superb scenery
- Horseback riding back to the top
- Hotel Belmar
- Penthouse's setting is ideal in the cloud forest.
- Arribada
- Mauren Cabalceta 506 6018 7412
- Turtle didn't arrive during our stay but Mauren was nice and communicate quickly
- Monte Verde Cloud Forest
- Make reservation ahead of time. Only admits 250 person per day
- Nosara Day camp
- Cinthya Rosales
- Activities sounds fun but we kept our kids with us
- Biting bugs! Bring enough bug spray. I counted 40+ bites on the third day!
Our house is a cozy group of buildings and I was lost on which part to go. Alex was in the courtyard and guided me through. We walked around the town trying to find Cafe Paris for dinner only to find it closed. We skipped Luvburger, a vegan restaurant that was recommended. We had our first meal at Pacifica Azul. The meal was expensive and had no highlights. This dinner cost us $150, more expensive than Hawaii. We took a walk to the beach in the dark after dinner and saw many crabs scampering around.
Sunday kids woke up early at 6:30. They skipped breakfast and went to boogie boarding in the ocean till 9am. Will rented a surfboard. We came back and played in the pool. Then we went to the mini mart to get some groceries. It’s also expensive that we only got lunch. After lunch we went to check out the tide pool. Low tide was at 1pm. It’s a long walk to the end of Playa Guiones. Nothing much really at the pool. Norah and I played till 3 and we came back to the pool. Then we all played the card game Rummy till we left for the grocery store. It’s fun to shop in a foreign country's local store.
We got to La Luna at 5:30. I made a reservation at 6pm at sunset. It was the perfect time to see the sunset. Playa Pelada is so beautiful! La Luna food is better but we waited a little over an hour for our food. It’s under-staffed. The view is unbeatable and should not be missed.
Rain started in the afternoon. Will was originally planning to go surfing 3-5pm. We took a trip to the ATM to outlast the rain. Walking in the rain among the forest (NCA trail) was fun. We had a break in the sky about 4:30 and Will headed out. Kids and I joined him with a boogie board. I was rinsing my hands when my phone fell out of my pocket. Tide is coming and took my phone out and wouldn’t clear. I was already imagining how I would survive without my phone. Luckily it resurfaced after a few rolling waves! We had a nice night walk after dinner and checked out the town streets.
The next morning, we took an exploration walk to Bodhi Tree resort to check the tour offerings. It’s about 30 minutes to walk there. The uphill walk took some energy. Grounds are nice but smoothies were so so. Boys went surfing when I chatted with neighbors and went to Gilded Iguana to sign up for an ATV tour the next day.
After lunch, we drove to Ostional to see the road conditions. Water level is too high yet people still drive through it. We went to the supermarket in downtown Nosara to get the yummy banana bread our neighbor was telling us about. We had a good surfing session in the afternoon until sunset time.
We arrived at the coffee farm after about an hour's drive. The patriarch of the farm welcomed us. They made us coffee from their own coffee beans. And then used an orange peeling machine to peel freshly picked oranges for us.We went on a tour of the property. And had some more freshly picked fruits like lime, tomatoes, and coconut. The taste was so good. When we came back from the tour, lunch was ready. It was common Costa Rican food including salad, rice and beans, freshly rolled corn tortilla, plus the chicken. With their homemade chili sauce and lemonade made with fresh lemon and sugarcane, this was the best meal we had on this trip. On our way back, we saw a group of monkeys hanging out in the trees right next to the road. The guide's ATV was broken down, so Will towed him to the shop.
Will had a 3 PM surf class. And the three of us did boogie boarding. It was a very fun activity until the daily thunderstorm arrived and we headed back. Will and I took a walk towards the corner of the northern tip of Playa Giannis. The sunset was spectacular again. Time seems to freeze and people stop what they’re doing to watch the sunset. This is a dreamy part of the world
We started our day by surfing and boogie boarding. Came home early for lunch and headed to Ostional again to check the water crossing. We crossed the water this time and drove through the town. We stopped by the beach and checked out the Ostional beach with lots of broken turtle eggs.
We stopped by the Lagarta Lodge to check out the biological reserve Trail. It's where the river enters the ocean and has a good ocean view. They offered this turtle tour but it’s $60 per person. ($20/$10 with a local guide I contacted) Our guide has been very nice but he texted me saying unfortunately the turtle activity has decreased to none last night. During the break, I went to the local fruit stand near the NCA trail to buy some rambutan. Instead, I got some mango since they ran out of rambutan. We went to another surfing session in the afternoon. We served all the way till sunset. What a simple and beautiful day.
Today is a transition day. Will squeezed in another surf session in the morning. Three of us only watched. We packed up and headed to Rosi’s for lunch before the drive. Drive took 3.5 hours as the road was mostly good. I stopped by and picked up some rambutan. They were in season. Monteverde is so high up. We checked in our penthouse in Hotel Belmar and loved the room, the view and the luxury. We had dinner at Celajes, the hotel restaurant. It’s fine dining but still cheaper than Nosara restaurant price. We had dinner out on the patio and watched the rain. Storm was raging through the night with wind howling.
We had planned to go to the 7:30am yoga but realized good weather is only in the morning in the rain season. Changed plan to go to 100% Aventura. They had cancellation and could squeeze us in at 8am. We ran out of the door without much breakfast. We had great fun ziplining, especially the Tarzan swing. Then we stopped by El Tigre waterfall. We ate an early good Costa rican lunch then hiked the gorgeous waterfalls. Rode the horses uphill back. Love the first time riding experience with the kids! After we got home to rest, I checked again with the front desk about the Ficus tree but no luck. Will found a tour at 5pm so we again ran out of the door.
Ficus tree climbing was like a fairytale land. It started thundering and lightning and pouring during our climb. We got soaking wet. The other tourists didn’t climb. I was dazed by the fun experience. Then we waited for the rain to stop to do a night walk only to walk in the pouring rain again. Norah asked how long and the guide said 1.5 hours. We walked miserably for half an hour and when I saw the sign to reception, I finally asked to turn around. I’m glad I did. The rain got more intense. Hiking trail turned into a rushing creek that hit Norah's knee in some places. We had dinner near the finca Modelo place and it was pretty good food. What a day! We settled into our bed at 10pm.
Sunday we took it easy and dried our shoes on our Balcony and saw toucans and coatis. Turned on the jacuzzi and Norah enjoyed it. I picked Taco Taco for lunch. The restaurant perched high on a hill. The Clouds rolled in and it felt like we were dining in the clouds! Thankfully their food was good too. We stopped by Monteverde Cloud Forest and saw the hummingbird gallery. Hundreds of hummingbirds were darting about. Some of them float around humans and check them out. Kids loved photographing the birds and one coatis that stole the honey water. We did our self guided hike on the property, went to the beer garden then to our 4pm yoga. We went to Morpho’s for dinner. Morpho's has two ficus trees inside the restaurant for decoration. Their traditional CR food is pretty good.
Monday we had breakfast at the hotel. Took a quick stroll on the self-guided trail on the property and drove to LIR.
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