Turning into a Beach Bum in Manuel Antonio

I’m not a beach person. Or so I thought. Turns out when you’ve been holed up in the gray labyrinth of a New York City winter, working hard at a new job and trying not to freeze to death, a couple days on the beach is exactly what was needed. We had only budgeted one full day at Manuel Antonio, but after about half an hour in Costa Rica, I had made up my mind – I was ready to sacrifice a night in San Jose for an extra 24 hours of relaxation on the Pacific.

Seriously. Stick me on a beach with a book in one hand and a open coconut in the other and the New York mammoth winter just melted away.

On our first day we outfitted ourselves with proper tourist hats and trekked into the Manuel Antonio national park. Walking along the main road in the park, you will probably catch a glimpse of monkeys lazying around high up in the trees, but don’t worry if you can’t get a good look – they’ll practically walk right up to you at the beach! We also saw a pretty epic iguana fight and begging raccoons (yikes, we ran away from those fast!). Boyfriend and I spent a couple hours exploring the different beaches and skipping stones but we hadn’t counted on there being no food available in the park. Neither Boyfriend or I do very well when we’re hungry, so we skipped out to eat our first casado. A delicious typical dish of rice, black beans, salad, plantains, and meat, the little soda we stopped at set the bar high for the rest of the trip.

We tried to pick restaurants and bars with good views of the ocean and the sunset, which gave us a LOT of options — every place in Manuel Antonio offers stunning views.  One of my favorite places we ate at was El Avion. El Avion is a bar built into an old bomber plane with a restaurant built out the back. We unfortunately got there after the sunset, so we couldn’t see the view, but I can imagine it is spectacular. One of my favorite things about restaurants in Manuel Antonio is that they’re all these pavilion style buildings, half covered and half open to the fresh air.

We stayed in an adorable little hotel called La Colina on the winding road between Quepos and Manuel Antonio beach. It wasn’t exactly budget (not much in Manuel Antonio proper is), but the staff were so friendly and helpful. They were of course more than accommodating when we decided to stay an extra night and needed help rearranging our hotel schedule, using their phone and computer. We really felt like we were known at the hotel, and the staff gave helpful suggestions about activities and places to eat. One suggestion lead us to a ‘secret’ beach where we rented a kayak and did a little snorkeling. It was my first time snorkeling so I was pretty awe-struck, even though there were only about four different kinds of fish swimming around the reef.

When I returned home from Costa Rica, I felt like I always glossed over our time in Manuel Antonio. There wasn’t much to tell — because we did a major amount of relaxing and it was GLORIOUS. We went to the beach. We took naps. We day-drank sangria and played card games at the hotel bar. What part of that doesn’t sound amazing? After the Year of the Polar Vortex, it was exactly what I needed.

Even if you’re not a beach person, make sure you schedule a little relaxation at Manuel Antonio. Grab a coconut and your heavy sunblock and don’t worry yourself beyond that.

We stayed at Hotel La Colina while in Manuel Antonio. We loved this hotel, especially how wonderfully the staff treated us. You can probably find cheaper accommodation in Quepos, but I am perfectly happy with our choice.

Manuel Antonio isn’t exactly cheap, seeing as it’s on the main tourist track. Maybe if we had done a little more searching or gone into Quepos, we would have found more affordable food, but everywhere we stopped from our hotel to Manuel Antonio had western prices – even the grocery stores! I was warned to bring toiletries with me, but since I didn’t want to check a bag on the airline I didn’t listen very well. We paid an incredible amount for sunscreen (and eventually aloe), partially because I was confused about the exchange rate and partially because they’re just so expensive there. It’s still probably cheaper than checking a bag on some airlines, but plan it into your budget!