Banana smoothies & Friendship

Hello again - it’s been a (long) while! I’m back to share a travel recap of our most recent trip to the rich coast or Costa Rica!

A little side note : In early May 2025, EWR airport suffered major communication outages for the air traffic controllers. This malfunction coupled with construction/repair on their runways meant chaos for our home airport, Newark. Nevertheless, we persisted; because I refuse to travel to JFK/LGA or gasp - not fly United and miss out on those sweet sweet miles.

But as a weird benefit to the anxiety surrounding the airport, many people switched out their flights and the 730 AM flight from EWR - LIR was empty. Lucky for me and Kevin that meant we were upgraded for free (!) to business class. Aside from the nice seats, this trip was extra special because we were able to go with our great friends, the Johnsens. Anyway, here’s the trip recap and what you should do if you’re planning a trip to Costa Rica.

High Level Trip Details:

• Flights: United Airlines non-stop EWR > LIR

• Transportation: Adobe Car Rental Liberia Airport

• Accommodations: La Fortuna - Indian Cane House AirBnB, Samara - Casa Verano

• Guided Excursions/Activities:

  • La Fortuna - Mistico Hanging Bridge Park, Tabacon Hot Springs, Private Chef dinner

  • Samara: Tico Surf School, Samara adventures Isla Chora Kayak + Snorkel

We flew from Newark to Daniel Oduber Quirós International Airport and a couple of movies and 5ish hours later we touched down into Liberia. LIR airport is a small airport in the Guanacaste province of Costa Rica. We’ve only flown into/out of this airport twice but each time it’s been perfectly pleasant, efficient and easy to navigate. Right after a speedy chat with customs (remember to have your accommodations and return home flight details handy) and our huge bags were whisked away by the Adobe Car Rental driver down the street to their depot. We picked up a car (in retrospect probably a little too small for our luggage) and made our way to La Fortuna.

A note on driving in Costa Rica: don’t let the Reddit threads scare you. Driving in Costa Rica (with adequate sunlight) is perfectly doable. Yes, some roads are bumpy/ pot-holed. Yes, you can get stuck behind a slow moving truck. But overall if you follow traffic patterns and the speed limit, having a car is the best way to navigate Costa Rica. Again, make sure you start your journey with adequate sunlight as some rural roads are very windy and may not be well-lit.

The view from Arenal Brewery

Midway to La Fortuna (about an hour and a half in) we stopped at Lake Arenal Brewery and Jungle Resort. Here you can enjoy delicious beers and burgers while overlooking the beautiful Lake Arenal. After a quick lunch, we drove about another hour to La Fortuna. Though La Fortuna can feel really touristy, our AirBnB was little off the main drag and was surprisingly quiet. Indian Cane house had a beautiful layout with 3 bedrooms with ensuite bathrooms and a gorgeous outdoor space with a hot tub, pool, and canopy area to watch the ever shy Arenal Volcano come in/out of the clouds.

In La Fortuna, we booked a guided tour of Mistico Hanging Bridge park. Unfortunately, it was raining during the tour so we didn’t see as many birds but with our guide’s expertise we still encountered snakes, frogs, caterpillars and motmots. After the guided tour, we changed into our swimsuits and spent the rest of the day lounging at Tabacon Hot Springs. You are spoiled for choice when it comes to hot springs in La Fortuna. We chose Tabacon because of the variety of pool options as well as the yummy coconut and pineapple drinks you can have at the bar. I haven’t yet been to other hot springs, but from other reviews I’ve read Tabacon also has fewer children.

One of my favorite “activities” that we did at the Indian Cane house was to hire a Chef to cook a private dinner for us one night. The kitchen in the AirBnB was well equipped which lent itself to some great cooking. Chef Ademar made us a delicious Tuna appetizer, a salad with heart of palm and garbanzo beans, fried red snapper and perfectly done steak. I’ve eaten at plenty of Michelin/ James Beard awarded restaurants but there’s something so lux about eating amazing food in the comfort of your own pajamas. Definitely would recommend! Speaking of food, one of our other favorites while in La Fortuna was Travesia - you must get their specialty mixed grill platters as well as a banana shake (I know that sounds weird, but the fruit in Costa Rica is SO GOOD!)

After La Fortuna, we wanted to spend some time at the beach. Costa Rica has over 800 miles of coast line and it’s a common Tico saying that you can spend each day of the year on a different beach. For this trip, we wanted to spend time in Samara because it has a reputation for pristine beaches, great restaurants and a thriving downtown area. We stayed in Casa Verano an AirBnB which is a 5 minute walk from the boardwalk. Samara has calm waters and an incredible beach front unobstructed by ugly hotel chains or condos. Costa Rican law protects public access to beaches and regulates the coastline which protects natural beauty and fights overdevelopment.

Our favorite activities included surfing during near perfect conditions, kayaking to Isla Chora and then snorkeling to see an Olive Ridley turtle, and of course enjoying the great beachside eats.

Pro tip: Though there are almost no ugly high rise condos or hotels on the beach, there are small hotels with attached restaurants. For very cheap ($7 per day), they will rent you very comfortable lounge chairs and umbrellas. No need to lug around chairs or suffer back pain sitting on a towel on the ground.

Playa Samara was very quiet while we were there so we had plenty of space to spread out and never felt like we were on top of any other people. Nearby there is also Playa Carrillo (beautiful but no shade) and Playa Barrigona (supposedly Mel Gibson has a property here). The only thing that tainted the beauty of Playa Samara in my opinion were the vendors. They will come around to sell bracelets, massages and various trinkets. Say no thank you and they will walk away - but still a little annoying when you are trying to enjoy paradise.

Samara Food shout outs:

• Breakfast:

  • Frog (this place is run by the nicest German folks; get the eggs benny)

  • Roots (we ate here almost every day; get the banana coffee and the cinnamon rolls!)

• Lunch:

  • Mr. Pelicano (highly recommend the tuna tacos)

• Dinner:

  • Kalimba (get the steak or the ribs, really yummy drinks here)

Final thoughts: Our first trip to Costa Rica in 2023 was more focused on birdwatching so we spent more time in La Fortuna and the cloud forest in Monteverde. This time, it was a little more relaxed with time to play loads of board games (I think I still can’t play Catan + Cities and Knights for a long while) while enjoying delicious food with our friends. It was nice to see yet another beautiful part of Costa Rica - I will definitely be back!