Weekend Travel
Costa Rica is not an island. This is due in large part to not having any of the characteristics of an island, principally the fact that it is not entirely surrounded by water. This is a surprisingly common point of confusion, not because people think Costa Rica is surrounded by water, but because they sometimes confuse Costa Rica and Puerto Rico, the latter of which is, of course, a group of islands. The number of times Gesina or I have explained that Costa Rico is not a place is…probably 4 times. That is still too many times.
While not entirely surrounded by water, Costa Rica does enjoy a lot of coastline. It is one of 22 countries with two oceans bordering their contiguous mass. Ambi-oceaners is the technical term, a group that includes, predictably, every sovereign state between Canada and Colombia in the Americas, save Belize.
The crest of Costa Rica celebrates this fact, with three of its significant volcanoes sandwiched between two seas of blue, ships of trade plying the waters on either side (crescit cum commercio civitas).
The opposite coasts of the United States are so different that "East Coast" and "West Coast" are enough to imply vastly different personalities and lifestyles. Despite its smaller size, Costa Rica’s east and west coasts also possess starkly different vibes.
We’ve visited a handful of Pacific-side beach towns and resorts, though not all the big name spots. The environs change as you head south from Guanacaste, but I’d wager they are what you envision when you think "Costa Rican beaches”. Resort hotels with familiar names offering onsite restaurants and pools with lazy rivers. An International airport 30 minutes from the beach, solid infrastructure, and expat realtors who don’t speak Spanish, but are excited to sell condos in the latest development to snowbirds from up North. Limón, on the Caribbean side, does not have these things, for better or worse.
Limón Province covers the entire Caribbean coast, and is named after the largest city and primary port on Costa Rica’s eastern face: Limón. Most of the coastline north of Limón (the city) is sparsely inhabited, with small communities and fishing enclaves, generally connected via waterways versus roads, peppered into nature preserves. To the south of Limón, smaller communities sit interspersed between low-lying agricultural areas, most of them banana plantations.
The vibe of the east coast is decidedly Jamaican. Rastafarian colors are prominent, Bob Marley is present in posters and lyrics painted on walls. One immediately wonders to what degree this is an affectation, designed to appeal to backpackers and retirees of a certain genre? Zero degree: the area comes by its heritage honestly. Waves of Jamaican immigrants, first to support the growing port and railway of Limón in the 1800s (constructed to improve the global competitiveness of Costa Rican coffee product), and later to work on banana plantations in the 1900s, provided the region with cultural influences and a heterogeneity distinct from the rest of Costa Rica.
The relative remoteness of the region, connected to the rest of Costa Rica by a single, painful highway, has limited commercial investment, hotel or otherwise. Infrastructure is in poorer condition than the more popular Pacific resort areas, but the Caribbean coast also does not suffer the same threat of overdevelopment. On your way to Limón, paved highways give way to somewhat paved town roads, which open to dirt roads surprisingly quickly. One can be off the beaten path quickly, or stop along an unpopulated stretch of beach without much four-wheeling. Even the 'busy' areas are relaxed. There is a benefit to the relative remoteness.
There are plenty of tourists, to be sure, based primarily between Cahuita and Puerto Viejo, but it is not the same set of tourists that arrive for the more standard visit to Guanacaste resorts. No one who flies into San Jose or Liberia airports ends up on Costa Rica’s Caribbean coast by accident; it isn’t a stop you easily ‘add on’ to a nearly full itinerary. It can, as we did, be lightly visited in a (3-day) weekend trip, if you're fine only spending time in one town and its neighboring national park. Flights to Limón are available from SJO, but by the way a Tica friend who travels to Limón frequently blanched at the thought of taking the small prop planes, we braved the roads instead, and just factored in the 4-12 hour drive.
Where We Stayed:
We spent two nights at New Caribe Point. A fully enclosed compound with three villas about 200 meters from the beach, it offered quiet and comfort at a reasonable rate. The pool is large, the grounds jungle-like, and touches like the covered porches with hammocks and communal library cart were nice enough that we’ll probably stay there again.
An unexpected treat was the wildlife visible from the villa, notably the monkey troops passing through the surrounding jungle. The group, dozens strong, moved between several large trees just after dawn. Not close enough to steal your stuff, but close enough to be able to watch their silhouetted bodies move from branch to branch (and hear them howl at each other). Some carried babies on their back, some swung from their tails to reach hanging fruit. Typical monkey stuff, and we were there for it.
What We Did:
Enjoyed the change in climate (the Central Valley is baking right now, at the peak of its hot and very dry summer, but Limón still has its humidity and afternoon rains), played in the surf and saw animals. The monkeys were free roaming, but the sloths were confined to Cahuita National Park. Visitors can follow a boardwalk path in through the trees and come back along the beach. The four sloths we saw were the stars of the 2.5 mile round trip, but a great blue heron, 3 chubby raccoons and a sunbathing turtle were also highlights. (Sadly, all of Gesina’s photos from day two of the trip were lost in an overzealous clearing of the memory cards. So no sloth pics.)
When it rained, we played board games on our patio.
Where We Ate:
We specifically got the villa so that we could prep breakfasts and lunches, though we did eat at three different restaurants.
Gesina’s note: Typical Costa Rican food is fine, but it isn’t anything to write home about. It’s comforting and consistent, which isn’t a bad thing, but the food in Cahuita was amazing, with different flavors and preparations. We ate amazing jerk chicken, “Rice and Beans” (not a translation, it’s literally “rice and beans” - the two staples served together with coconut milk and a scotch bonnet-like pepper), and by some black magic, consistently the best chicken, pork, and steak we’ve had in Costa Rica. Go for the food alone!
Asante. Odd set up, with kitchen, bar, and seats spread amongst two shipping container style buildings which straddled a gated driveway entrance to something unrelated to the restaurant. Slow service. Amazing food. 10/10, highly recommend. Because of the pace of service, you don't want to show up hungry. Due to the portion sizes and quality of food, you should want to show up hungry. I do not know how to reconcile that.
El Cangrejo Loco de Cahuita. The Crazy Crab. Located on the main drag of Cahuita, El Cangrejo employs the 'have a man chat up everyone going past to drive service' technique. I very much do not like this, but we had decided on the restaurant before seeing this. It's well reviewed, for good reason: above average food and extremely inexpensive alcohol. Plus, the guy working the foot traffic was good entertainment. His wife and son pulled up on motorbike to deliver him a mid-shift beer. Local kids rolled through later on their bikes and a 12-year-old produced a vape pen from which he took a hit (he later told us the child's parents are very, very bad parents). The restaurant brought Gesina the wrong drink and prices were constantly misquoted, which gave me misgivings, but then out of left field, they had a computer showing itemized orders and pricing before you paid; it was 100% accurate.
El Rincón del Amor. This was a lunch back-up plan. Despite the cheesy love theme, it is amazingly well reviewed, but when we arrived at a normal lunch hour it was entirely empty. I second guessed the reviews, but we sat down, because Anders was hungry. Did not disappoint. Their local dishes were phenomenal. Gesina ordered a Rice & Beans with chicken dish that had some of the better, most tender chicken I've had in a long while.
We enjoyed ice cream on tables set in the sand, drank a few local beers looking at the ocean, and took the time to slowly walk through town. We lost power for a few hours after a heavy rain, and enjoyed a family game on the covered porch. Everything is relative, even levels of chill. Limón has San Jose beat for chill, hands down. Our trip was a good reminder why we’re here - slow down and enjoy the world around you.