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| Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica |
After spending an amazing week in the Manual Antonio area of Costa Rica with my family, I'm convinced you really can't go wrong with a vacation in this country!
There are 3 key ingredients for how to make the most of your stay in the Manual Antonio area of Costa Rica:
(1) Get yourself a house in the jungle
(2) Trust in the tour guides
(3) Eat lots of fish.
(2) Trust in the tour guides
(3) Eat lots of fish.
I'm excited to share WHERE to stay, WHAT to do, and WHAT to eat, as tested by me and my fam!
Come follow me through Manual Antonio Costa Rica with this Google Maps list
Come follow me through Manual Antonio Costa Rica with this Google Maps list
WHERE TO STAY
With Manual Antonio's close and easy proximity to both the jungle and the beach, I found this to be the perfect location to stay for first timers to Costa Rica. It provided the perfect balance of relaxation and adventure for everyone in the family. And a house rental is the way to go!
Our Airbnb "Casa Tranquilidad", nestled in the jungle, was incredible (I've linked it here so you can check it out!). It came with a travel concierge, a housekeeper (who even did our laundry every day!), maintenance staff, a personal chef for hire, and all the towels, pool toys and games we could need. It's common for home rentals in the area to offer these amenities, so take that into consideration when booking yours. Settling into this comfortable home for the week was the perfect escape for us - we made use of it every day (attn: the infinity pool), while also getting out and exploring the area, knowing we had somewhere fun and comfortable to return to.
When I travel I like to experience the local culture as much as possible, and something about staying in a home nestled in the jungle really made that possible. Our backyard WAS the Manuel Antonio National Park! We watched monkeys climb through the trees from (the comfort of) our patio, we saw birds and butterflies of every color, and we heard all the sounds of the jungle (often without seeing their source).
WHAT TO DO
Finding a balance between guided tours and renting a car for self guided adventures is important in Costa Rica, a country that thrives off of tourism, but also has so much for you to discover off the beaten path. Most tour activities provide transportation so I suggest planning those to be on consecutive days so you can rent a car before or after. For us, it worked out that we did the tours we wanted to do on our first few days (they came with transportation), and then for the rest of a week we rented a car for ourselves, that we picked up from right there in downtown Quepos.
Not only are the tours excellent about providing timely transportation, the guides are excellent as well. They're so friendly, very fun and very knowledgeable; we learned a lot about local Costa Rican culture on our car rides to the activities or while we were lunching.
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I'm someone who likes to plan, organize and lead my own day trips, it's hard for me to put that in the hands of someone else - I'm too afraid of not getting what I want out of something. But in Costa Rica, there is something to be said for their tourism industry - they're not completely out for your money - they truly are excited to educate you about their home - I learned a lot!
My favorite activity of the whole trip was one that I planned and led myself, but thats because I'm a sucker for a good road trip searching for hidden gems off the beaten path. You can read about our waterfall/beach day trip through Dominical and Uvita in this post.
Here's a little bit about some of the other activities we loved filling our day with:
If you've ever toured through mangroves, you know how magical they can seem, and the Isla Damas Mangroves were no exception. Our tour company (there are several) provided kayaks, a guide, transportation and lunch. For a few hours we got to feel like we were getting lost in the mangroves, exploring narrow paths, learning about the wildlife, and watching monkey climb through the trees - though sometimes it felt like they got a little too close (or maybe I just got too close to the edge)!
One of the best, if not THE best, perk of staying in the Manual Antonio area is the Manuel Antonio National Park, the namesake of this region. We hired a tour guide at the entrance (there's no shortage of them!) who took us on a walk through the park where he was able to point out sloths, monkeys, birds, iguanas, just to name a few.
The tour ended at Manuel Antonio Beach (also Espadilla Beach) where we got to relax for the afternoon and really get up close and personal with the monkey, sloths and iguanas that we saw from a distance earlier.
The National Park can be a hectic area, so here's my recommendations to make it as seamless as possible:
We "purchased" a beach cabana that the local vendors set up, for which the fee got waived when we ordered food & drinks from their restaurant that got hand delivered to us on the beach - win, win, right?! My brother rented a boogie board and wet suit to ride the waves and we got fresh coconuts from a local vendor. Otherwise, the beach vendors didn't really both us unless prompted. My advice here: just show up! You'll see the cabanas, you'll see the vendors, set yourself up with whatever you need to relax and enjoy.
TIP: Park in the same lot mentioned above, near the Manual Antonio National Park to avoid the street hasslers.
Kayaking Tour through the Damas Mangroves
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Manual Antonio National Park
The tour ended at Manuel Antonio Beach (also Espadilla Beach) where we got to relax for the afternoon and really get up close and personal with the monkey, sloths and iguanas that we saw from a distance earlier.
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| Manuel Antonio Beach |
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- PARK: Park at the very end of Road 618, the only road that takes you to Manuel Antonio Park. There's a roundabout at the end and at about 10 o'clock there's a large and trustworthy lot to park in for $2. Do the best you can to ignore all the "official" looking people who will stand in front of your car to stop you as you make your way down the road. And right before the entrance to the roundabout is a path that takes you to the park entrance.
- TICKETS: Tickets can be purchased at a building about 100 ft from the entrance to the park, for 16 USD.
- TOUR GUIDE: I don't typically suggest a tour guide for a nature walk, but would 100% recommend for this, because these guys have an eye for spotting all the wildlife and they come equipped with telescopes and binoculars for your viewing. Wait until you get to the very entrance of the park to select a tour guide offering their services, this is where you'll find the most legitimate people, because trust me, 70% of the people you pass on the way to the park will try to be your tour guide. We paid our guide 50 USD
Ziplining with El Santuario
I wont say ziplining is what brought us to Costa Rica, but technically, ziplining is what brought us to Costa Rica. We went out with the wonderful El Santuario. It was a beautiful day gliding above the tree canopy, on Costa Rica's longest zipline. And the excellent staff (who memorized our names and jobs within 5 minutes) catered to our individual level of thrill (ie. my sister going upside down), we had so much fun!
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Manuel Antonio Beach day
And this was finally where our true day of relaxation came in. 3/5 family votes went to a relaxing day on the local Espadilla beach instead of road tripping to some secluded beaches in the North (specifically Esterillos Oeste) that I had planned.
We "purchased" a beach cabana that the local vendors set up, for which the fee got waived when we ordered food & drinks from their restaurant that got hand delivered to us on the beach - win, win, right?! My brother rented a boogie board and wet suit to ride the waves and we got fresh coconuts from a local vendor. Otherwise, the beach vendors didn't really both us unless prompted. My advice here: just show up! You'll see the cabanas, you'll see the vendors, set yourself up with whatever you need to relax and enjoy.
TIP: Park in the same lot mentioned above, near the Manual Antonio National Park to avoid the street hasslers.
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WHERE TO EAT
Did you know, the third largest source of revenue for Quepos is their sport fishing? Not only is this a unique activity that you can take part in while visiting, bit it also means the freshest of fresh fish on every menu in town! I ate Mahi Mahi literally every night. But there was tons of other fish too - salmon, trout, shrimp etc.
And of course, you can't go wrong with a Casada, the typical plate of Costa Rica, consisting of rice, beans, vegetables, often plantains, and a protein of either fish or chicken. This lunch is provided as part of your package with most of the tour companies, but I found myself ordering it a few times on my own.
And of course, you can't go wrong with a Casada, the typical plate of Costa Rica, consisting of rice, beans, vegetables, often plantains, and a protein of either fish or chicken. This lunch is provided as part of your package with most of the tour companies, but I found myself ordering it a few times on my own.
Must try staples:
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Favorite Restaurants:
El Avion - Dinner in an airplane perched on a cliff? Sure, why not! El Avion is an old plane converted into a restaurant and you can see these details throughout the entire open aired restaurant. Ocean & sunset views are on point from their patio, and the food was great.
Ronny's Place - Try to make it here for Sunset. Situated up on a hill, the view of the coast is spectacular. The drinks at Ronny's were festive and fun, and so was the food.
Ronny's Place - Try to make it here for Sunset. Situated up on a hill, the view of the coast is spectacular. The drinks at Ronny's were festive and fun, and so was the food.
Hire a chef - Our favorite night was when we had a chef come to the house and prepare a meal for us using the kitchen space. Not only did we get to relax in our home while dinner was being prepared, we got to learn about local cuisine and wildlife from our resident local! This is a popular tourism activity in Costa Rica.
Osa Thyme - Farm to table deliciousness. You can read about this restaurant in my Dominica/Uvita blog post
Osa Thyme - Farm to table deliciousness. You can read about this restaurant in my Dominica/Uvita blog post
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Maybe it was the sloths, maybe it was the all-green-everything, maybe it was the people - in every way, Costa Rica had us captivated from day one. Manuel Antonio was a spectacular destination that had so much to offer.
From my family to yours, happy travels and Pura Vida!
Follow my footsteps through Manual Antonio Costa Rica with this Google Maps list
From my family to yours, happy travels and Pura Vida!
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