Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica

After finally deciding what we would do with our last week in central America, we took a long bus journey (yes another one) from Cahuita on the Caribbean coast, back to San Jose, then continued West to the Pacific Coast. All in all it wasn't a bad journey and we were very lucky with bus timings, which meant we only had a very short wait in each transit point.


Our final destination here in Costa Rica is a little coastal area called Manuel Antonio. This is about half way down the West coast of Costa Rica. We would be staying half way between the small town of Quepos and the even smaller beachfront place of Manuel Antonio. We arrived and soon found our hostel. Instantly we knew we would like it here. It was a lovely open hostel, friendly people and some amazing views. 

The view every evening from our hostel

The view from the communal area was fantastic and with the hostel being perched up high, there were amazing views down over the sea. The added bonus being that every evening at about 5pm, everyone gathered on the sofas and hammocks, beer in hand and watched another gorgeous sunset.



Unbeknown to us, we would actually spend the next week here, just chilling out and exploring the surroundings. As our hostel was situated halfway between Quepos and Manuel Antonio so we used the local buses, that shuttled between the 2. Perfect and for only 250 Colonés (about 25p) each way it was a bargain.


We checked out the local town of Quepos and we were there at the right time for the local farmer´s market. We took advatange and got lots of fresh fruit at bargain prices - nice!

Close by was a national park, which was reputed to have some great wildlife. We took a day trip there and enjoyed the sights and nature. It wasn't as good as our trip to Cahuita, but still great. As well as the forests and wildlife there were also some secluded beaches, so we made the most of it and spent the afternoon chilling out.


Each day after this was more and more relaxed. It was great and one of the first places where we have actually stopped and relaxed. Most of the time it has been a constant feeling of being on the go every day, being up very early to catch the first bus out of town, so to stay in one place was a novelty.

We spent a number of days on the local beach, about a 40 minute walk away, down steep roads/tracks. The beaches were great and the water warm and clear. We did have a try at some surfing and rented some boards for an hour. However we didn't envisage the waves being as big as they were. Kip definitely looked like she had been thrown into a washing machine and put on full spin. I on the other hand retired after only 10 minutes, the reason for this is that after a rather large wave, I surfaced to find my surf board had snapped clean in two!! That was it; with my record of breaking things, I wasn't going to chance any more. 


Whilst at our hostel we also met some great people and because we were in one place for more that a night, it was nice to have that familiarity and that social side we lacked in other places.Sadly though all good things come to and end and after a week of relaxing we had to leave our little piece of paradise. We set off and headed back to San Jose. We were heading back to a nice family hostel that we had stayed in before, so knew we would be well looked after.


And then that was that. We packed our bags for the last time in Central America, checked the passports and Cuban visas, booked our taxi for 03:30am and went to bed, reflecting on another amazing leg of our travel adventure. 7 weeks in Central America and now on to our final leg......Cuba! we have 2 flights to get to Cuba, but luckily they are both relatively short.


Now, i am not sure how good the Internet connection/availability will be from Cuba, but I will update you all when I am able to.


Until then, I'm off to enjoy some Mojitos, Cigars and Salsa !