Surf Fishing

Costa Rica Vacation On A Budget: Pura Vida!

The tiny Latin America country, Costa Rica, is a very popular destination for hundreds of thousands of visitors from Europe, Canada, the United States and other countries. They vacation for many reasons. Some love the great beaches. Others prefer the tropical mountains, great weather, outdoor activities, or adult nightlife (what happens here, stays here).

You do not have to spend a arm and leg to experience Costa Rica so long as you bring a little creativity. There are some travel secrets which are not commonly known to tourists.

Adventurers and explorers have marveled about this country for centuries. Christopher Columbus was the first to discover it, doing so in 1503. He was so enraptured he gave it its name, Costa Rica–the rich coast. About seven decades later, an English captain and seafarer named Sir Francis Drake rounded the southernmost point of South America and traveled north until he landed at what is now called Drake Bay off the southern Pacific Coast of Costa Rica. You may have heard of this fellow: he is famous for destroying the Spanish Armada and saving England in 1588.

However, unlike these discoverers, you won’t need a boatload of people to help you get around as you travel Costa Rica yourself and it won’t cost you the Crown treasure, either.

One way to experience Costa Rica on a budget is by taking a ferry boat ride. For about $1.50 (this is not a misprint), you can have a pretty hour and a half cruise along the warm waters off the central Pacific coast of Costa Rica between the port city of Puntarenas and the southern tip of the lovely Nicoya Peninsula. Where else can you take an ocean cruise for the price of a bottle of water? Most vacationers never take this ride because they’ve never heard about it. But now you have.

Trains are always fun, too, even if you’re on a budget. The Tico Train will take you from San Jose to Puntarenas for about $16.00 each way. It is a four hour trip through mountains and over rivers on tall bridges on an old train filled with laughing and singing Costa Rican families. And, in Costa Rica Pura Vida style, it ends at the beach! Yep. Few tourists know about the train but locals do so you’ll need train reservations. Call American Travel at telephone number 22-33-33-00 when you are ready to go. Bring your camera and bathing suit!

With two coasts to choose from, nearly 800 miles of wonderful beaches can be explored, hiked, surfed, swum (but be careful about rip tides at some places), and even fished for almost nothing. All the beaches in this country are public, open to everybody. Getting there is very cheap. Public and private buses are ubiquitous in Costa Rica. For example, lots of vacationers take in the lovely Pacific town of Jaco. From San Jose, a large, comfortable, air-conditioned bus ride takes about two hours and will cost you less than a Happy Meal! Less than $5!

And, one more thing. Consider staying in a Costa Rica hostel. Many hostels offer dorm accommodations for about $12 and lots of them also have private rooms for just a little more. Sure, you can spend $70+ a night in a fancy resort or hotel but you can find very nice rooms for a fraction of that. Hostels are not just for college kids anymore. I know because I stay in them—in private rooms—for way less than hotels.