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If you’re ready for a great escape, we’re here to share our winning formula that is truly extraordinary. Extraordinarily close, friendly, convenient, and safe: Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica.

Before we dive into the formula, a brief Q&A about Costa Rica:

Is Costa Rica close? From Dallas, it’s a shorter flight than flying to New York or Seattle. Costa Rica is just a 3.5 – 4 hour flight from Texas.

Is Costa Rica friendly? Costa Rican Ticos are friendly, warm and hospitable. We have made life-long friendships through our travels there.

Is Costa Rica convenient? English is acceptable most everywhere, especially in the tourist towns, and so are US Dollars, so no exchange rate hurdles or hijinks. You can pay for almost anything with the US dollar, however, you will get the Costa Rican colones in return. That’s ok! Use them for tolls or tips!

Is Costa Rica safe? Costa Rica is considered to be the most safe Latin American country. We trust it so much, we sent our daughter for a 2 month animal rescue mission at the Costa Rica Animal Rescue Center in Alajuela. Costa Rica is a peace-loving country with no army since 1821. Pura Vida!

With two jobs, five kids, two dogs and fifty things going on at home, our lives are abundantly full, but our schedules are complicated, stressful and restrictive. Our formula for Manuel Antonio is the opposite: simple, relaxing and adaptable.

Our Formula for Costa Rica

Step 1. Get to CR (Costa Rica).

Because Manuel Antonio is on the southern Pacific side, we began with a flight out of Dallas into Costa Rica’s capital city San Jose. We like to fly Southwest or American Airlines (depending on flight costs). If you can negotiate a window seat with the airline, your wife or kids, you can catch eye-popping views of Belize’s turquoise islands, spectacular terrain in Honduras and volcanos in Nicaragua. Most of the flights (at least from Dallas) arrive in the evening, and because we want to drive across the beautiful country during the day, we book a clean and comfortable room for one night at an airport hotel in San Jose. We prefer the Hampton Inn in Alajeula (technically where the San Jose airport is.) The Hampton Inn shuttle zips you from the airport to the hotel in under five minutes. But if you prefer Holiday Inn, there is also a Holiday Inn in Alajuela (same parking lot). The Hampton Inn shares a parking lot with parrot filled palm trees and multiple rental car offices. So easy.

Step 2. Get to the Pacific Ocean.

In the morning, after a cozy night at the hotel Hampton Inn, we grab breakfast and a rental car for a 2.5 – 3 hour drive to the coast (remember, the rental car service is in the hotel parking lot, so it’s easy and convenient to pick up the car in the morning). We prefer Toyota Rental Car or POAS Rental Car. (pick the option for the San Jose airport for your pickup. There are no rental cars directly at the airport. Every rental car company requires a shuttle from the airport).

There is an option to take a short flight from San Jose to the Quepos airport which serves Manuel Antonio, but we love the scenic ride and having a vehicle handy all week. And… the locals in Costa Rica say not to worry, because all the bad pilots have already hit the mountain. 🙂 We’ll drive.

The drive takes you from Alajuela’s windswept mountains, across the famed Tarcoles crocodile bridge, down the Pacific coast line from Jaco, through palm and teak plantations to Quepos, and ultimately Manuel Antonio.  The natural beauty is overwhelming, but the roads are not – they are paved the entire away! 

Don’t worry about getting lost. WAZE, Google Maps, and Apple Maps all work in Costa Rica.
Have a few dollars ready for tolls on the tollway. Again, they will accept US dollars, but will give you change in Colones.

Step 3. Get Checked In (aka: Get a room).

Travelling with our kids and/or a second family, we book a vacation house through VRBO for a true “home” base. Casa Carolina and Casa Panorama are two favorites with dramatic ocean views, just minutes from the beach. We like Casa Carolina for the private pool and great staff and Casa Panorama for the in-resort experience at Tulemar and private beach. We have shopped locally and stocked the house, had the shopping done pre-arrival, or had meals prepared by staff, included in the rental agreement. You’ll be surprised at the economics of a fantastic house and staff vs. multiple hotel rooms. 

Traveling as a couple to decompress and come together, we book a favorite suite at a classic hotel, La Mariposa. This mountaintop masterpiece has incomparable views, updated rooms, hospitable staff, and an easy walk to great restaurants and shops. When is the last time you woke up to palms swaying in the breeze, tropical bird calls, the distant roar of howler monkeys, and the sparkling blue Pacific stretching to the forever? 

Step 4. Step into nature.

Manuel Antonio is home to the #1 rated National Park in Central America to no surprise. The area is a natural phenomenon, where sheer mountains, lush rainforest, beaches straight off a post card, and mountain streams intersect.  The available activities and excursions are as  limitless as the flora and fauna, and after 20 years of vacations to the country, we can only account for a fraction of the options, that we have experienced and enjoyed.

Here are just a few favorites and recommended contacts:

Parque National – hike and swim and take in the wildlife in the national park 

Day at the beach – tan, swim, surf, boogie board, volleyball, parasail and more at Playa Espadilla

Waterfall Tours – hike, swim and dive into clear mountain pools

Rafting Tours – nearby Sevegre and Naranjo rivers provide excitement for all levels

Zip-Lining Tours – zip through the tree tops and cross sky high suspension bridges

Mangrove Island Boat Tours

Butterfly Farms

Spice Farms

Sunset Catamaran

Deep Sea Fishing

Whether you choose to fill your day with a good book by the pool, a pickup beach volleyball game, or a white-water adventure, you can’t miss finding your own pure formula in Costa Rica.

We typically break our weeks and days into three categories; beach, hotel pool, tour. My wife and I lean more toward beach and hotel pool days when we’re on our own and ratchet up the tours when the kids accompany.

When is the last time you savored a made to order breakfast with hand-squeezed juices, local coffee, vibrant fruit, omelets athat is included with the room, on La Mariposa terrace that words can’t describe.  There’s a symmetry to finishing our day at the patio bar with cocktails at sunset. If we don’t watch the sun set into the Pacific from the mountaintop La Mariposa, you can bet we’re watching below on the beach, with toes in the sand. In either place, people gather, stop what they’re doing and take in the beauty of the moment.