Jaco Beach

December 2018

So moving on we made our way to Playa Jaco, which is on the west coast of Costa Rica and apparently a pretty good beach for surfing. We took a shared shuttle and met some cool people along the way. It was us, two brothers traveling together, and a brother and sister that drew the short straws during their family trip when the rental car became too crammed. One of the guys learned Spanish in 3 months living abroad, so he sat shotgun chatting it up with our driver the whole way. I was pretty impressed, but nobody likes a show off.

“Traveling – it leaves you speechless, then turns you into a storyteller.”

It was about a 4 hour shuttle through the jungle and rain forest from La Fortuna to Jaco. Up and down winding roads, past the coffee farms and through the clouds. To grandmother’s house we go. About 1.5 hours into the trek, the boys needed a baño break, so we stopped at a lonely spot that made us pay 300 colones to use their bathroom (~$0.50). When we got back in the van, I shit you not, the car wouldn’t start. The driver tried the ignition a few times, and each time it seemed to get worse. He made a phone call to some mystery man, and all I could make out from the voice on the other end was “push”. So we sprung out of the van and pushed it back onto the street. This was a steep hill, and miraculously zero cars came zipping around the bend while we were trying to make magic happen. The van began to roll, we dashed out of the way as it picked up speed down the hill, and after some questionable noises, POOF! A cloud of black smoke shot out of the exhaust pipe, and the car started. We all ran down the street, jumping swiftly into the open door as the car ran like we just robbed a bank. We all bonded during that moment and agreed no more baños.

Along the way, we crossed Crocodile bridge. The name speaks for itself. I wanted to drop a chicken sandwich just to see what would happen. It was friggin’ Jumanji down there:

Crocodile Bridge

In Jaco we stayed at this amazing Hostel called “Room 2 Board" Hostel & Surf School. It was steps away from the beach and a few blocks from the main strip of bars, restaurants, and shops. They literally rang a bell for the start of happy hour (come and get it) and people cheered. Best part was they had a pool with a water slide right outside the bar. Easily Keri’s favorite part of this place. The water slide of course.

Here we surfed, did some roof top yoga, walked the beach, ate sushi and acai bowls, and drank plenty of delicious coffee. Jaco rules! Only downside is tourism has driven prices up considerably over the years, and food/drink was equivalent to Chicago prices. YIKES. I feel bad for the locals... From Jaco it was about 2-3 hours from San Jose airport. We took the 11am bus and arrived around 1:15pm, but we were warned traffic is a crap shoot so plan on 3-4 hours.

**Pro Tip: The public bus costs ~$5/person from Jaco to San Jose airport. An Uber is said to cost around $60, which we heard was actually illegal in Costa Rica (not sure how it operates), and a shuttle or taxi would cost around $100. The bus was totally fine. Apparently, it fills up quick so book ahead of time (our Hostel did it for us), and you get assigned a seat number so it should be guaranteed. That was an interesting conversation when locals were trying to tell us we were in their seats, but we hadn’t a clue what they were saying. Would have been nice to be a part of that conversation... dah welp!

Next stop, Guatemala!