Costa Rica is a beautiful lush country in Central America which offers a bounty of options for adrenaline junkies as well as laid back beachgoers. For our trip to this paradise, we chose the Pacific Ocean side in the region of Guanacaste as it offered a stunning backdrop of towering lush verdant mountains alongside a wide expanse of pristine beaches.

We opted to stay at a resort in Playa Flamingo which has since changed ownership and has been rebranded by the Margaritaville hotel chain: https://www.margaritavillebeachresortcostarica.com.

The beach resort had an on-site restaurant and bar, a large pool and swim-up bar and a small fitness center overlooking the pool. Initially, we were booked in one of the lower level rooms, but it was the rainy season, and the room was small, smelled dank and quite mildewy so we upgraded to one of the large ocean front view suites with a king bed.

It was a fantastic decision as the suite had a kitchenette with a large refrigerator and microwave as well as a sink and wet bar

adjoining a decent sized living room which led to a wraparound balcony overlooking the resort on one side and the beach on the other.

The bedroom was in a separate room facing the ocean which allowed for natural “white noise” from the waves crashing onto the shore.

Every morning, we ate our first meal at a quaint restaurant across the street from the resort called Marie’s: http://mariesrestaurantcostarica.com. The prices were reasonable and the food was quite good. It was also a great place to meet others staying in the area.

About a ten to fifteen minute beach walk south of the resort was Coco Loco: http://www.cocolococostarica.com which had an outdoor beachside restaurant. It had a pseudo beach club vibe with upbeat dance music playing in the background. Despite the rainy season, most of the tables were filled and as a result, the service was a bit slower, but the view and the fantastic food and drinks made up for the extended wait.

For a bit more high end dining, we ventured across the street from the resort to Angelina’s: https://www.angelinasplayaflamingo.com which specialized in Italian food and seafood.

The service was impeccable and the food and view from the second floor were pretty spectacular.

For all our excursions, we booked with Flamingo Adventures: https://flamingoadventures.com. Conveniently, they were also across the street, in an outdoor hut just steps away from Marie’s.

Sal, our guide for the week, was an older gentleman but quite lean and spry and participated in every adventure.

From the ATV up the mountains and back down to the beach, to the combined horseback riding and zipline adventure and

finally for whitewater rafting, rope swing and cliff diving, he was game and beyond fearless.

To ease the tension and muscle aches from all of our adventures, we took the time to pamper ourselves. I read about Beach Massage by Orfa on TripAdvisor and was happy to find she was set up on the beach just in front of our resort. At the time, a 90 minute massage cost each of us $55.

Being massaged beachside hearing the crashing of the waves seemed blissfully indulgent.

Another stress relieving venture came at the tailend of our horseback riding and ziplining adventure at Borinquen Resort: https://www.borinquenresort.com/gallery.php.

After a hair-raising few hours, the mud bath and hot springs were the perfect antidote for the rigorous and stressful excursion we had just endured and survived.

Costa Rica is a fantastic and budget friendly option to tropical destinations like Hawaii and Florida as the travel time is quite similar. Alaska and Delta now offer direct flights from Los Angeles to Liberia making it literally just one flight away. Our time on Playa Flamingo and Guanacaste definitely exceeded our expectations and stands out as one of our most exciting and memorable vacations. Costa Rica is the perfect spot for those willing and courageous enough to step outside of their comfort zone and head blindly to spine tingling adventures in the great outdoors. Pura Vida!