Costa Rico

So we had a BOGO ticket with Delta and I decided to see the farthest we could get with it. Delta and American’s BOGO tickets are limited in their destinations, but I was able to find that we could get to Costa Rica. So we booked out tickets to Costa Rica for June. While I know that it is technically the rainy season, their rainy season works a lot like Hawaii where it does not rain all day. The dates were booked. We actually have friends that own 2 places there, so we were able to choose between a condo and a house for a heavily discounted rate. We ended up choosing the condo. We had some family join us this time. We met Andy’s sister and her husband in Costa Rica and two of our daughters joined us on the trip. One left with us and we met another in Atlanta. We had almost a 3 hour layover in Atlanta so we enjoyed breakfast and drinks at the Centurion Lounge. TIP: Lounge access can be a welcome break between flights. With food, drink, showers, and more, this is a great way to pass time between flights. This was very nice after being up since 1:30 am due to tornado activity in our area. The Atlanta Centurion Lounge is 26,000 square feet with multiple rooms. It offers showers and a hot buffet. Be forewarned this is the first time I have been asked for an ID to get a drink (and it was not because she thought I looked too young). This is standard procedure at this lounge for everyone. They are very nice about it if you left it at your seat and allow you to go and get it. It was a good thing that we fueled up, because these two flights were actually short flights (less than 2 hours to ATL and less than 4 hours to Costa Rica), so unless you were in first class on Delta, you are not receiving a meal on either flight. TIP: Check your airline to see if you are getting meal service or just a snack. They are making the snack sizes much smaller, so you want to be prepared on a long day of flying. We arrived in Costa Rica before noon and breezed through customs. Then is was about an 1 1/2 drive to Tamarindo. Tamarindo is a beach town on the Pacific side of Costa Rica. I seriously procrastinated packing as I was having some asthma issues before we left (that continued on the trip), and ended up leaving some key beach items behind. I forgot flip flops and a beach coverup. I decided not to worry about the beach cover up and flip flops were an easy purchase at any of the local shops. TIP: I used to really stress about this stuff. Now I realize, that as long as you are willing to pay what they are asking (and I set I price in my head before I shop) you can get what you need at almost any location. Andy and the girls went surfing on our first full day and had a great time. The waves were good and they did well. The second day we went to an animal sanctuary and saw sloths and other animals. We enjoyed monkeys in a tree right in our condo area and even saw one on the sidewalk by our condo. We went in June (which is during the rainy season, but we only had showers for a couple of hours one day and some evenings and nights. It really did not end up impacting our trip at all unless you count that fact that we dealt with much less crowds than we would have in season. The family took a surfing lesson and then rented surf boards to enjoy the surf. Both of these undertakings were very reasonably priced. We focused on eating breakfast in the condo but one day we did venture to Waffle Monkey which was delicious. We would eat out for lunch hand dinners. We enjoyed several meals at sodas, so we were able to try traditional costa rican foods. We rented a car and drove to Playa Conchal to enjoy a day of snorkeling at the shell beach. We saw a lot of fish and my daughters saw an octopus! TIP: If you read about that beach, they tell you to prepare like you are camping. It is fairly remote, however it is only about an 8 minute walk to a town and a grocery store. Also, locals sell A LOT on the beach: water, lunch, mixed fruity drinks. They rent snorkel gear, jet ski rides and horseback riding. TIP: Our rental car agent said it best though. Tamarindo is Tamagringo. Do not go expecting to get a good picture of Costa Rica. I felt it was more like Florida. We didn’t even have to exchange any money. Andy and I want to go again and rent a car and drive down the pacific coast. However, it was a good trip and we enjoyed time with family.