Week 309 · National Park · Casa Elsa · Mango Moon · Espadilla Beach
Manuel Antonio
Pretty simple trip logistics — saw a cheap airfare over the holiday weekend that allowed for a stop in Panama City on Copa Airlines, booked first/last night with hotel points and after some research settled on Jaco as it is a 1-hour drive from San Jose and booked two nights in a beach hostel at $30/night. However, after doing final research, we found that Manuel Antonio was more scenic and had the highest-rated beach in the country — only a 1.5-hour drive further. Pura Vida!
We booked a walking tour through the national park at 12:30pm — so with a 2.5-hour drive and some time for getting the rental car in San Jose and checking into the AirBnB, we left at 8am. Plenty of time? Pura Vida! No Emerald Isle on the pickup and by the time I took two shuttles, waited for the car, filled out forms by hand, inspected the car, and drove 5 miles back to the hotel to pick Sharon up — already used up an hour. We encountered regular weekend beach traffic and showed up at the park at exactly 12:30pm.
One negative about a short trip to Costa Rica is everything takes a little longer than planned — Pura Vida! No Emerald Isle on the pickup. Two shuttles. Waiting for the car. Forms by hand. Car inspection. Drive 5 miles back to the hotel. Already used up an hour before leaving San Jose.
Google Maps is not that accurate in Costa Rica — make sure you map to well-known landmarks. We eventually found the AirBnB. Pretty spectacular.
Glad we had a guide — although one of the most biodiverse places on earth, we really didn't see any wildlife unless our guide found it and we used his telescopic lens to see them and take photos with our phone. We did find a couple of sloths — but the view was obstructed by the trees.
Manuel Antonio National Park is the smallest national park in Costa Rica at just 16 square kilometres — but one of the most biodiverse per hectare of any protected area in the world. It contains four beaches, two coral reefs, and a rare tropical rainforest habitat that meets the Pacific Ocean. The park protects one of the last remaining patches of lowland forest on Costa Rica's Pacific coast. Species include white-faced capuchin monkeys, squirrel monkeys (endangered), three-toed sloths, iguanas, scarlet macaws, and over 184 bird species. The beach closes daily at 3:30pm to allow wildlife to move undisturbed — a policy introduced to protect nesting turtles and reduce the impact of the approximately 150,000 annual visitors.
After the walk — as planned — we ended up on the beach a little before 3pm. Two beaches in the national park, back to back and postcard perfect. One side was calm and the other had large waves. Sharon went for a swim and came out for me to have a turn — then they closed the beach at 3:30pm. Apparently a daily occurrence. We walked out the long way and ran into a lot of monkeys on the beach.
Eventually we found the AirBnB — pretty spectacular. The owner designed and built it himself and we had one of four master suites. Except for the four suites, the entire house was outside and integrated with the jungle — and would have had a spectacular view of the Pacific except for the trees. The view picture is 20 feet from their front door between the trees. Although 4 groups were there, we only saw one other — they were staying for 8 days.
A short walk across the street we found the "Mango Moon" hotel where we settled in for sunset and met other tourists. Lots of activities to do if you are staying for more than a couple of days. This view was the other side of a peninsula and a completely different view. Pura Vida!
The next morning we walked down to the public beach at Espadilla — basically perfect. Great waves for body surfing and perfectly white sand. What we should have done was drive our car because in this area you could park on the beach — provides a low-stress way to ensure your stuff doesn't get stolen. We then walked back to the national park and took a local bus back to the AirBnB for the drive back to Jaco.
"Ended up being the right decision. Being in Manuel Antonio for the evening and the next day at the beach was great — and shockingly the drive was longer than indicated. Pura Vida!"