Costa Rica Travel Guide

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Over the River and Through the Woods, to Costa Rica's Massive Arenal Volcano

Where: Costa Rica
January 17, 2012 at 11:05 AM | by | Comments (2)

You know Kai. Last week he detailed how he made his surfing adventure happen. Today, he drops some intel on the famous Arenal volcano in Costa Rica...

Volcanoes are cool—giant mountain things with a hole that goes to the bottom of the earth, full of boiling hot lava and belching smoke and soot into the air. There's something very prehistoric and intimidating about them. Oh, and every now and then they explode and turn lethal. Both cool and a bit scary then.

My typical vacations are usually by the water (not many volcanos there) or at ski hills (likewise), so I'd never had the opportunity to see a volcano up close and personal. Then, on my recent surf trip to Costa Rica, I decided to take a couple of days away from the water and go check out the volcano Arenal, one of the ten most active in the world. It last erupted as recently as 1968, when it destroyed three small villages, killing 87 people in the process. Arenal is the real deal; it's most definitely not a Disney volcano.

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Kai Surfs Costa Rica: Budgets, Boards and Pura Vida

Where: Costa Rica
January 13, 2012 at 6:08 PM | by | Comments (0)

Kai MacMahon had lost himself to the urban life in NYC, taking up running but putting down the surfboard. That is, until recently when he bit the bullet and flew himself to Costa Rica to drive, sleep and surf wherever he damn well pleased. All this week, Kai will share his experiences on the beaches and the breaks, and how he made it happen.

Yesterday: Becoming a (surf) bum in Mal Pais

As you've probably guessed, Costa Rica is one of the most surf-friendly destinations on the planet. Surfers are welcomed here with open arms, and locals will go above and beyond to help you out. It is perfectly normal to see a massive board bag strapped to the roof of a taxi, to store your boards in your hotel room, and to set up a makeshift clothes line outside your door.

And just as friendly as it is, it's also easy. US Dollars are accepted just about everywhere and most people speak at least a little English, though no matter how bad your Spanish, an attempt to speak it will always go down well. ATMs are fairly easy to find, and most will have English as an option. The bigger bank ATMs even dispense dollars as well as the local currency, Colones, and any of the main hotels or stores will take credit cards.

Nonetheless, be careful of the foreign transaction fee charges that your US bank will tack on; look into a foreign transaction-free credit card if you travel abroad often. For myself, I tried to pay for most things in cash, only using plastic for purchases of $100 and up.

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Kai Surfs Costa Rica: Making It to Mal Pais

Where: Costa Rica
January 12, 2012 at 4:33 PM | by | Comments (0)

Kai MacMahon had lost himself to the urban life in NYC, taking up running but putting down the surfboard. That is, until recently when he bit the bullet and flew himself to Costa Rica to drive, sleep and surf wherever he damn well pleased. All this week, Kai will share his experiences on the beaches and the breaks, and how he made it happen.

Yesterday: Playa Negra and the rush of hitting the waves.

Mal Pais is a sleepy little surf down at the bottom of the Nicoya Peninsula. It’s about five hours' drive from Tamarindo (taking the sensible road), or many more hours drive than that taking the silly, but very picturesque coastal road. I say silly because the above is what sometimes passes for a road in Costa Rica.

Note that the photo was taken during the dry season. In wet season (May to November), or any time it’s been raining, roads like this become impassable to all but the sturdiest SUVs. You'll find that towns in Costa Rica usually have an old man who magically knows the conditions of every river within 20 miles of his location, but as I was not in possession of one of these wrinkly oracles in my passenger seat and didn’t feel like getting my SUV stuck in a river, I elected to take the boring, safer route.

Once I arrived in Mal Pais, the first thing I noticed was, well, not a whole lot really. Not much happens here, and that’s exactly what’s so great about the place. There are a couple of bars (that’s a couple more than when I was first there ten years ago), plus other mild activities like yoga, zip-line tours and so on, but the truth is you come to Mal Pais for one reason: to surf.

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Kai Surfs Costa Rica: Playa Negra and the Rush of a Single Wave

January 11, 2012 at 4:51 PM | by | Comments (0)

Kai MacMahon had lost himself to the urban life in NYC, taking up running but putting down the surfboard. That is, until recently when he bit the bullet and flew himself to Costa Rica to drive, sleep and surf wherever he damn well pleased. All this week, Kai will share his experiences on the beaches and the breaks, and how he made it happen.

Yesterday: Hitting the road to Tamarindo.

Standing on beautiful Tamarindo beach, with my board under my arm and looking out to sea, it occurred to me in a moment of mild panic that I was very out of practice. Was I making a terrible mistake? The ocean, for all its infinite beauty, is still a scary, powerful and potentially lethal thing.

You see, you can generally tell how good a surfer somebody is by watching them as they enter the water. Folks who know what they're doing look like they own it; they glide out on their boards and effortlessly get themselves beyond the break (to the calmer part of the water where you see surfers congregate). Surfers who maybe aren't so great will walk their boards out until the water comes up to their chests, then flail around every time a wave comes in, and they generally project an aura of terror.

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Kai Surfs Costa Rica: Setting Off from the City

January 9, 2012 at 4:54 PM | by | Comments (0)

Kai MacMahon had lost himself to the urban life in NYC, taking up running but putting down the surfboard. That is, until recently when he bit the bullet and flew himself to Costa Rica to drive, sleep and surf wherever he damn well pleased. All this week, Kai will share his experiences on the beaches and the breaks, and how he made it happen.

I used to surf a lot in my 20s. I even took a year out of my life to travel 'round the world on a combo surfing/snowboarding trip. At that time, I visited some of the world’s great destinations for these sports, taking in Central America, the Californian coastline, Hawaii’s legendary North Shore, and of course Bells & Bondi in Australia. I wasn't an expert per se, but I was reasonably competent on a board.

Eventually I settled in Southern California, with world class breaks on my doorstep, before making the move to NYC. In recent years though, my dearly loved 7' 6" funboard (hand shaped in San Diego, lovingly transported to New York City by your truly) has been more of an ornament than anything else. It's a beautiful '70s-style blue and white, and it's propped up against my living room wall, making me look all sporty and Californian to visitors that don’t know any better, but definitely not serving the purpose for which it was designed. The truth is, I had stopped being a surfer.

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Froggies and Fumaroles: Hiking Costa Rica's Rincón de la Vieja Volcano National Park

December 22, 2011 at 3:55 PM | by | Comments (0)

Have you got a spare three or four hours? If you were in Costa Rica right now, those could be spent hiking around a volcano and petting frogs. Sure, everyone knows the giant Arenal volcano towards the center of the Central American country, but Costa Rica has six other active volcanoes, one of which is Rincón de la Vieja Volcano, located in the Guanacaste province and within its own National Park.

Rincón de la Vieja is serious business as far as volcanoes go. Heading up to its top rim and caldera is no longer allowed (too risky!) but local, experienced guides can easily lead you on a several-hour hike to spot fumaroles (steam vents), bubbly muddy water cauldrons, cute froggies and waterfalls so clear and cool you'd think it was Norway instead.

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Mindblowing: Costa Rica's Burger Kings Have a Queso Fundido Whopper

December 8, 2011 at 1:23 PM | by | Comments (0)

We probably don't need to tell you that Costa Rica has a crazy long list of things going for it. Among them: surf spots, hot springs, eco tourism, canyoneering/ziplining, beaches, and now even a new $40 million airport. But what we bet you didn't expect us to say is that Costa Rica also hits home on the fast food front, as evidenced by our discovery of the Burger King Queso Fundido Whopper.

Drive through the town of Liberia, CR and, at the single stoplight, you'll hit upon a few options: McDonald's, Papa John's, Subway...and a brand new Burger King with this banner out front.

Sadly we didn't stop to try it (hindsight is always 20/20), because we figured we were surrounded with enough better, more local food options than Burger King. But then...when will ever get to try a Whopper that features a deep-fried patty of melty cheese? Guess we'll just have to go back.

Disclosure: We zipped down to Costa Rica as guests of JetBlue and the Costa Rica Tourism Board, but rest assured that all opinions and all photos are completely our own.

[Photo: Jaunted]

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Ear Candling for Frequent Flyers: A Hotel Spa Test

Where: Costa Rica
December 6, 2011 at 4:34 PM | by | Comments (0)

Ever been ear-candled? Is that even a verb? The quick and dirty way to explain the practice of ear candling is to say that you lay on your side, a plate/tray thing is placed over your ear, and a hole in it allows a special waxed muslin candle to rest in your ear. The candle is lit and it smolders, creating a mild suction designed to clean your ear canal of residual earwax other gross-ew-ew stuff. Whether or not it actually works and is safe is constantly being debated, but we decided to give it a go on our recent trip to Costa Rica.

You see, the Four Seasons Resort Costa Rica has quite the impressive spa, with a large spa service menu to match. It was there, under "Alternative Treatments," that we saw it: ear candling for frequent flyers. Bingo.

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And Now, Your Moment of Zen (from the Wilds of Costa Rica)

Where: Costa Rica
December 2, 2011 at 12:40 PM | by | Comments (0)

Deep breaths. It's Friday. The day after today is Saturday. Are you traveling this weekend? That's awesome. Are you doing something more local? Equally awesome, because you're out there doing, discovering, deciding to be anything but stagnant.

Let's have a moment, hmm? Recently we found ourselves sitting in knee-high, naturally heated water at the Rio Negro hot springs in Costa Rica's Rincón de la Vieja Volcano National Park. Above us was a swinging rope bridge we had crossed to reach this spot. Below us, the rushing crystal clear waters of the Rio Negro, and all around a saturation of green. Ahh nature.

That is a happy place, the type you sometimes come across in the world and which you attempt to burn into your memory to mentally escape from future stressful situation far, far away.

A video:

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Forget Ziplining; Costa Rica is All About Canyoneering Next to a Volcano

November 30, 2011 at 11:25 AM | by | Comments (0)

Canopying goes hand-in-hand with Costa Rica. Maybe it's the allure of the seven volcanoes and the lush flora and fauna they support or the desire to get down and dirty, but visitors to the country often have communing with nature on their minds and we're no different.

Instead of ziplining through the trees and crossing swing bridges on the Caribbean/rainforesty side of the country, however, we were able to go whole hog on the Pacific/dry forest side in the Rincón de la Vieja Volcano National Park of the Guanacaste region, where canopying combines with ziplining, rappeling, rock climbing, canyoneering and—yes, swing bridges—to make an experience simultaneously exhilarating and exhausting. There's no one word to describe it, but for now "adventure" will just have to do.

It begins easily enough. The lower half of your body is jimmied into harnesses and a helmet buckled onto your head, where nervous sweat is already starting to bead. From base at the Hacienda Guachipelin's Adventure Tours HQ, it's only a 2-minute walk to the first platform, from which you will take the plunge to zoom the longest of 12 ziplines.

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First Look: Inside and All Around Liberia, Costa Rica's Snazzy New $40 Million Terminal

November 22, 2011 at 10:39 AM | by | Comment (1)


The departure hall

Riddle us this: What has four jetways, five security lanes, 484 seats, but no one yet in them or on them? The answer is simple: an airport terminal that hasn't opened yet, and in this case we're talking about Daniel Oduber Quirós International Airport in Liberia, Costa Rica, where a $40 million terminal is ready to cut the ribbon as soon as authorities give the thumbs up.

Late last week we had the awesome opportunity to snoop around the place before most anyone else, and what we saw, we liked. We liked very much. Travelers who typically head down to the Pacific coast of Costa Rica for vacation or to visit family will be knocked off their butts next time they fly in and, instead of pulling up to the open-to-the-elements corrugated metal tents that are the old terminal, arrive instead to a jetway, air-conditioned immigration and a baggage claim so clean and spacious that it almost puts a tear in your eye.

Oh, and did we mention that they've managed to break ground on this terminal and complete it in just one year and one month? It's been "Extreme Home Makeover: Airport Edition" for Liberia Airport (LIR), a description straight from the mouth of Wogbe Ofori, the Senior Vice President of Global Operations for ADC & HAS, the good people charged with making the place a reality (though not a reality show, ha).

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Mmm, New Airport Smell.

November 21, 2011 at 5:31 PM | by | Comments (0)

Only twice before in the entire history of Jaunted have we specifically focused on airport food items as being too awesome to believe (for to-go airport food). First, it was the fried rice and sushi at JFK Terminal 5's Deep Blue restaurant. Then it was the dessert cups of Amsterdam-Schiphol. Now we have another, and frankly it surprised the hell out of us: the dessert selection at Liberia, Costa Rica's new airport terminal.

Above is just a small sampling, but we'll show you more tomorrow when we reveal the entire interior of the snazzy, fresh terminal space. Walking in, we were hit with the scent of newly painted walls, just-laid carpeting, and—yum yum—pastries fresh out of the oven. Mmmm new airport smell.

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