Last summer, my friend and I spent a month travelling around Costa Rica. It was an amazing experience and I am so grateful that I had the opportunity to explore such a unique country.

We began in Manuel Antonio, known for its beautiful national park. We paid $50 for a tour of the park which ended up being worth it as we saw many sloths (including a baby), monkeys (including white face monkeys and howler monkeys), poisonous frogs, and birds. The park also had a peaceful beach to relax on. The rest of our days in Manuel Antonio involved sunbathing on the beach, swimming in the sea, and enjoying our hostel pools. We stayed in a Selina Hostel which is a brand of hostels that are slightly more expensive but provided nightly entertainment and tours.

We headed further up the Pacific coast for our next two stops. Santa Teresa was great as it was slightly livelier than the other areas we visited and full of surfers. Every day was spent relaxing on the beaches and watching the stunning sunsets. We also ate many of our meals at a Soda near our hostel. A Soda is a type of local restaurant serving traditional, delicious, and cheap Costa Rican food. We particularly enjoyed Casado – a combo plate of chicken, rice, salad, and beans. Another top recommendation is Banana Beach Club – we had delicious pizzas and tasty cocktails here! Montezuma was our next stop and is similar to Santa Teresa but much smaller. A highlight while there was the day we spent at the Montezuma Waterfall, hiking to the waterfall and enjoying the warm pools of water underneath it.

After almost two weeks exploring Costa Rica’s Pacific coast, we booked hostels in Monteverde and La Fortuna, two popular areas further inland. Monteverde is known for its impressive cloud forest and we splashed out on a canopy zip line tour. This was a really cool part of our trip and a great way to see more of the forest, though the Tarzan swing definitely set our hearts pounding! La Fortuna had more varied activities and seemed less expensive than Monteverde.

One of our favourite days was spent at Termalitas del Arenal. This was the cheapest hot springs resort we found, costing only around £6 each to enter, and the hot springs were extremely relaxing. We also visited the popular El Salto rope swing, spending a day jumping into the river and enjoying the water.

Our friends who visited Costa Rica before us really recommended Puerto Viejo, a town on the Caribbean coast. We trusted their advice and booked a hostel there for our last seven nights in Costa Rica. This was definitely the right decision to make! Whilst the sea on the other Pacific side was warm, the Caribbean Sea was warmer and crystal clear. The food was also slightly different as the meats were usually coated in Jamaican jerk seasoning and covered in a rich Caribbean sauce. Other than that, the food was typical to what we had enjoyed elsewhere, with cafes serving refreshing smoothies, eggs, and pancakes, and other restaurants providing pasta and fresh seafood. Most of our days involved exploring the local beaches. We also visited Cahuita National Park, though we did not see as much wildlife as we had seen in Manuel Antonio. Almost all our evenings were spent at Hot Rocks, a large, popular bar in Puerto Viejo with entertaining themed nights, including karaoke and a circus night!

This trip was one of the best experiences I’ve had so far. We visited during the rainy season over June and July but were very lucky as the rain did not interrupt our plans, mostly happening whilst we slept. It remained hot during the day, meaning we were almost always in shorts, skirts, and dresses. We also aimed to keep the trip as budget friendly as possible which was manageable as we stayed in nice, cheap hostels and used buses to travel around.

As two girls travelling alone, we made sure to remain cautious but felt safe throughout the trip. I would really recommend Costa Rica for anyone looking for a beautiful and safe country.

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