The Nicoya Peninsula.  Possibly one of the greatest drives of the trip.  Fast dirt roads give way to water crossings and then turn into slow technical trails.  Then you repeat.  The scenery alternates between lush, bright green fields filled with cows and stunning beaches with turquoise waters and crashing waves.

On our first day we started at Playa Grande and we drove down to Nosara.  We stayed in Playa Guiones for few days of surfing (finally!) and relaxed at the luxury at the 4You Hostal.  (This is one of the best hostels we’ve ever stayed at so if you’re staying in Playa Guiones, stay here.)   We took a surf lesson with Coconut Harry’s, which included $5 board rentals for the following day before making our way down to Montezuma.

Montezuma isn’t known for a great beginner wave so we decided to go on a hike instead.  We drove 6km out of town to the Cabo Blanco Nature Reserve and hiked the Sueco Trail to Playa Cabo Blanco.  We normally like a peak with epic views at a climax of our hike, but the Cabo Blanco beach is a great second choice.  Warm water, white sand beaches, and a little bit of wildlife thrown in is a perfect spot to have some lunch, have a swim, and hopefully not get cramps because you ate your lunch before going swimming.

To get off the peninsula and make it to Jaco (or farther south on the mainland) we had three options.

1.  Drive back the way you came.

2.  Take the ferry to the mainland.

3.  Drive the road following the opposite side of the peninsula.

We chose Option 2 and woke up early to catch the ferry from Playa Naranjo to Puntarenas.  Too bad the ferry schedule we had was wrong.  We were 4 hours early for the ferry (or 1 hour late) and changed our game plan to Option 3.  Unbeknownst to us, the highway following the east side of the peninsula is actually a paved highway  and we made quick work of it.  We spent our last three days of the trip in Jaco, surfing, hanging out, and cleaning out the truck while staying at the Kangaroo Hotel.  The rainy season had officially begun and so we had daily downpours and some pretty spectacular storms.

Playa Guiones140510_D2G_CR-34 140510_D2G_CR-35 140510_D2G_CR-36140522_D2G_v2-1-2

En route to Santa Teresa through one of the many water crossings.  Yes, this is the main road… I wish the commute back home was more like this!140510_D2G_CR-37 140510_D2G_CR-38 140510_D2G_CR-39 140510_D2G_CR-40 140510_D2G_CR-41 140510_D2G_CR-42 140510_D2G_CR-43Typical casada (combo) in Costa Rica… mmmm140510_D2G_CR-44From Santa Teresa we pointed the truck towards Montezuma!140510_D2G_CR-45 140510_D2G_CR-46 140510_D2G_CR-47Montezuma140510_D2G_CR-48Playa Cabo Blanco140510_D2G_CR-49 140510_D2G_CR-50 Costa Rica has crabs.140510_D2G_CR-51 140510_D2G_CR-52 140510_D2G_CR-53 140510_D2G_CR-54