Playas del Coco, Provincia de Guanacaste, Costa Rica
Playa del Cocos
Hello
Walmart
so
we are in need of some new flip-flops for Paul, looks like his won’t
last much longer and we also wanted to check if they have USB sticks
– and Liberia has a walmart!! so we stop: ok USB sticks are way to
pricy here – we can do without. But otherwise we did find the
flip-flops x2.... so we are happy beach goers again.
Playa
Ocotal – Back to the Beach
Which
beach to go this afternoon – this is a tough decision. Gine decided
on playa Ocotal – since it is a little bit out of the town and then
hopefully quiter. It is a small fishing village and you couldn’t
miss that point because the first thing you see are all the fishing
boats anchored in the water. Also this is one of the smaller beaches
we went to so far and the sand it nearly black – it’s a dark
grey.
According
to the internet the sea air there is as per healers filled with
negative ions which have beneficial effects on people. I asked Paul
and he said his receiver is likely not working...
Paul:
decided that he needs a break and some sunshine – so after a dip in
that clear and warm water he volunteered to look after the towels.
And as per Paul: a white sand is more appealing to him than black
sand...
Gine
first went to the left to scramble over some of the metamorphic black
rocks (which they say are 80 mill years old) and found another little
sandy beach between the bays... then back and it was time to check
out the little caves on the other side... and then there is barely
time to swim before the time on the beach is over....
Our
Resting place room
In
Airbnb it is described as: “from our retreat space you can
access the Azul Tranquilla Terrace: it’s the perfect place for the
first cup of coffee in the morning, decompressing meditation,
greeting the morning sun – whatever you do, do it from the heart
“Pura vida” - the pure life style.” And that’s what this
last 2 days on the pacific ocean will be our – our little
vacation....
we
have a super nice room with not only fridge but also a real coffee
maker. Saundra even has a beach bag with towels and a shopping bag
(so you won’t need plastic bags). And interestingly she is from the
US – that is the 4th person we are staying with from
either US or Canada .... guess some people like to move to the warm.
From
Saundra we also learn as soon as you have a 200.000 US$ investment in
Costa Rica you are automatically a resident. But as long as you don’t
have an official permanent residency you need to go every 3 month
over the border if you want to drive and insure a vehicle.
And
our little balcony is super cute... very private and our little oasis
to sit down – and get everything up to date – make the plans for
the next days and catch up...
And
in the morning: we get up and sit outside near the cactus- have a
super awesome tasting hazelnut flavoured Costa Rican coffee –
listen to the palm trees and relas :-)
Why
Playa del Cocos?
- Once it was a quite fishing village – now it’s a tourist beach town and a retiree community (yes we met people from Canada here)
POP’s
– Costa Rican Icecream
founded
in 1968 is yummy Costa Rican Icecream with 110 stores also in
Guatemala, Nicaragua, Honduras and El Savadore – you can’t miss
this place. They started it to offer premium ice cream for Costa
Ricans and we love it too!!! I’m not sure what is my favourite:
Coconut, banana, coffee, chocolate... and POPs says the colours mean
happiness (guess I’m very happy when I have ice cream):
“one
needs to pause in life – give yourself time, give yourself
pleasure”
And
following this tradition: we
have banana split!! Paul needs a sandwich before ice cream – Gine
says ice cream is good enough for supper.
Time
to clean the car
Paul
talked for days that the inside needs a clean – so during Gine
makes everything ready for the day Paul goes to the car: fixes the
inside light (now it comes on when you open the door – which is
great at night) and the whole inside gets a nice clean up
Costa
Rican’s Coco Barber
Gine
decided Paul’s hair is too long!! So this morning we went in search
of a barber... we searched as per Google map when a nice old
(Canadian) gentlemen told us where he always goes – and yes he is
one of the retiree’s who bought a place here and lives 6 month here
and 6 month in Montreal... they love it in Costa Rica where it is as
per them safer than back home. As well the people are very friendly.
And
so we end up at the Barbers place – now with a nice fresh summer
hair cut we are ready for:
Today
is a day for the Beach – Playa Panama
we
need it before we will leave the Pacific Ocean beaches..... big
question which beach to go: we decided on Playa Panama. First
Parking: and as always someone comes and wants to collect money (by
the way it is a public road not a paid parking lot – so we didn’t
pay)
This
beach doesn’t have palm trees as a backdrop – but some other
super cool looking trees. There are nearly no waves and the clearest
water we saw so far at the pacific... the sand here is a
greyish-light brown. We set up – go for a swim – walk along the
beach – swim some more – walk along the beach.... and 3 hours
later we decided we had enough sun!!!
Time
for a sun break – Siesta
after
being out in the hot sun (and it is really hot here) we decided that
we need a little bit a sunbreak – so we came back to our little
oasis and relaxed there in the shade with a cup of coffee, so that we
are ready:
it’s
time to hit the town!!!
tonight
we wanted to check out the main street of the town: there are a lot
of souvenir shops – perfect to check them out... going down to the
main beach area... they have a really nice walk with grass and palm
trees along the tree and during we were there: a truck with a trailer
came and the party started.... I thought it was super cool. And then
to have the best ending in this cute town we had supper in a typical
“Soda” right alongside the beach and what do you eat in a fishing
village: Paul had shrimp and Gine the typical Casado with fish (Gine
loves the black beans and the cooked plaintain!!)
the
German Bakery
and
then Gine discovered by Accident the Panederia Allemane “The German
Bakery” and it is on our route... I mean that is a must stop this
morning right!! So we stopped and drove between a cup of coffee and a
big piece of black forest cake... and they sell pretzels... so we get
two for supper (but then Paul decided later that we should have a
real supper) – ok let’s pick up some ham and cheese too
We
are smarter than Google
as
google map is awesome and we would be lost without it. It is not
perfect in Costa Rica: so when it says that Walmart is on the left –
keep an eye open because it is on the right. If Google says turn
here: make sure it is not a one way street with no entry!! Guess
google doesn’t know all the one way streets. As well if it says
turn here and you can’t because you are on a highway then maybe the
map is not updated. And if Google says turn onto that road and it is
really bad gravel... it could be that it is a dead end and no through
road even if Google think it is....
Liberia
Cemetery
since
we have some time: Gine decided that today we also look at a
cemetery. Nearly on the way we stop in Liberia – and we found
parking: all you do is park along the way... what I thought is
interesting the graves are nearly all above ground with tiles –
very interesting.
Good
Bye Guanacaste
2025-05-23