So me and three buddies decided we needed a break and started planning a tropical getaway. We were debating hard between Belize and Costa Rica for weeks. Honestly, we almost flipped a coin.
How We Picked Costa Rica
We made a shared Google Sheet (yeah, basic but works). Listed stuff like flight costs, accommodation prices, food expenses. Surfing mattered to Jake, wildlife for Mike, my cheap-ass cared most about happy hour prices. Costa Rica won ‘cause flights were $200 cheaper from Austin and hostels had more “workaway” options.
Booking Hacks That Saved Our Wallets
- Skipped hotels: Booked treehouse hostels via Hostelworld app. Paid $12/night in Santa Teresa!
- Flights trick: Set Skyscanner alerts for Liberia airport + San José. Scooped $398 round-trip tickets.
- Local buses ONLY: Rented zero cars. Took chicken buses ($1-4 rides) between towns. Got lost twice but met dope locals.
Route We Actually Did
Landed in San José, immediately bussed to La Fortuna. Spent two days chasing waterfalls and stuffing faces with $2 empanadas. Next, Monteverde cloud forest – walked hanging bridges till Mike almost puked from height fear. Then Pacific coast: Tamarindo for surfing fails, Santa Teresa for sunset tacos. Ended in Manuel Antonio National Park sweating buckets but seeing sloths.
Budget Real Talk
Whole 10-day trip cost $870 per person including flights. Biggest saves? Ate at SODAS (local joints) paying $5 for rice-beans-chicken plates. Drank supermarket Imperials instead of bar beers. Oh! Split Airbnb with kitchen in Monteverde – cooked pasta like broke college kids again.
Regrets? Should’ve packed more bug spray. Jungle mosquitoes treated us like buffets. But worth every itchy bite when we saw howler monkeys at sunrise!
