Hellooo!
My friend and I decided to go to Playa Jacó last weekend instead of Montezuma because it is the closest beach to San Jose. I only live in San Jose for one more week, so I wanted to explore the area as much as I could before I leave. Jacó is one of the most famous beaches in Costa Rica because it attracts so many tourists. It is also a common place to stay when people want to check out Playa Hermosa, which is very close, for the massive waves and awesome surf. It is about an hour and a half away from San Jose, so we left early Friday morning for a weekend of relaxation because this is the first time we had nothing planned!
Being an East coast girl, I think waves that are bigger than ripples are massive. I did enjoy surfing, but I'm pretty short and I'm not that strong of a swimmer so I was kind of scared to go surfing in Jacó. I went swimming a couple of times at low tide, but once the waves got so big that I struggled swimming under them, I was running out immediately. I guess I'm paranoid of drowning because I scare easily. One of the friends that I made there did make a good point. He said that he got stuck under a couple of waves when surfing once; but you're going to come up eventually. So hold your breath!
Stumbled across this beauty on my first day
An iguana came to play with us at the pool in our hotel
It is currently the low season for tourism in Costa Rica because it is the rainy season. Apparently Manuel Antonio is very touristy and crowded starting in the month of December, but I thought it was quite tranquil. For this reason, I did not enjoy Jacó as much as Manuel Antonio. One of the reasons I came to Costa Rica was to improve my Spanish, and I only spoke Spanish once the entire weekend. I did not even meet that many ticos. Most of the locals that we met and hung out with were American and had moved to Jacó for the surf and beach. I'm not pretentious and try to avoid the areas that are very touristy; but I wanted to be challenged a bit and not spend the entire weekend speaking the language that I already know. If you're interested in Jacó for tourism and don't speak Spanish; GO. There are so many different hotels to choose from and everyone in the hotels speak English.
It's fascinating how two sunsets can be so different from each other when they're on the same coast. (Jacó vs. Manuel Antonio)
To give a thumbs up to the two hotels I stayed in, stay at Casa Mafalda or Hotel Kangaroo. Casa Mafalda is the more expensive one at $60 for a room per night during the low season. But, the hotel is directly on the beach and breakfast is free in the mornings so what better way to enjoy your pico de gallo than staring at the beach eating it? There is a bar/restaurant connected in front of the hotel which is genius because it is where we met all the locals that we hung out with after. And don't worry about the bar making noise at night; it closes at 9pm. There are two bartenders that are the nicest guys you will ever meet and they were so helpful with everything we needed. The food is delicious and an incredibly talented Tica makes your food directly in front of you. As for Hotel Kangaroo, we had to stay there on accident because we missed our bus back to San Jose. We did not feel like paying another $60 for a night when we were going to wake up early for a bus the next morning. This lovely family was walking past us at the bus stop and told us that if we wanted, they owned a hotel that we could hang out in and figure out what we were going to do because we missed our bus. The woman that owns it is from Belgium and she has five dogs (many of them rescued). The hotel was very cute and had a wonderful beachy vibe at just $35 a night during the low season. The hotel is only a block from the beach, so if you don't mind walking I would save your money.
The view from the bar in Casa Mafalda. Right on the beach.
The view from a friend's apartment right next door to Casa Mafalda
It looks like there are a lot of stray dogs in Jacó, but we found out that that is not the case. The dogs do wander around the beach and the streets without collars, but they do have owners. Apparently they don't worship and spoil their pets like we tend to do in America. We buy them collars, their own beds, their own food, and toys. But, in Jacó (maybe all of Costa Rica I'm not sure), they only feed them the scraps of their meals and let them wander where they want. So don't be fooled, the doggies aren't starving but you should play with them because they do want attention.
My friends and I waited for the sun to set
I would love to share with you certain activities that we did, but in all honesty we just relaxed the entire weekend. Sasha and I did explore the night life of Jacó, though. I cannot compare it to anything but the bars in San Jose because we have only been to house parties in Manuel Antonio. I'm not really a club type of girl. I think I exhausted it the summer before my Freshman year of college because I would go clubbing multiple times a week, so now that I'm older I've lost interest. But, Jacó is a very clubby place. The clubs do have a bar feel because often there were a lot of people hanging out outside or at the bar (where I was the entire night). But when it comes to open bars, Jacó is the best. Most places are free for girls and open bar until 11pm then after that most drinks are $2. That was definitely the best part of the Jacó nightlife because that would
never happen in San Jose. My favorite place we went was the Monkey Bar because it was 2 for 1 Jagerbombs and every one was wearing pirate hats. The bars are basically all in the same area, so you can walk from one to another. I highly recommend the Daiquiri bar as a place to hang out before going bar hopping. It is kind of expensive, but their daiquiris are delicious and completely worth the money.
My favorite photo that I took in Jacó
All in all, I did enjoy Jacó, but I guess I left my heart in Manuel Antonio for now until I find a new beach to love. I move near Santa Teresa and Montezuma on the peninsula next week, so I shall take y'all along with me on my new beach excursions! Unfortunately, I will not be in the rainforest for a while because I got very ill and could not go to Monteverde last weekend. :( But I am going in a couple of weeks so I shall share my bungee jumping and ziplining photos then!
Pura vida!
Have a wonderful day! xoxo
Annie Blair
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All photos belong to me.
