We wanted someplace warm.

Living on the east coast, first to mind coast was the Caribbean. Visits to AirBnB, VRBO, and Booking led to many hotel-ish / resort-ish kinda options – not the experience we were looking for. There were some hits for multi-bedroom places, though those came higher prices – again, not quite fitting what we were looking for.

Neighbors talked about their visits to Costa Rica making it sound as if it checked many of the boxes – more low-key, non-resort-ish, off the beaten path with reasonable prices. More visits to AirBnB, VRBO, and Booking, and we found a wonderful place on the southern end of the Nicoya Peninsula – Santa Theresa – a small surfing-vibe town, with amazing beaches, some good food choices, and plenty of dust.

For accommodations, the platforms served up a variety of options, we settled on what can be described as a tree-house on the hill facing westward toward the ocean. Hosted by April, it provided just the right mix of off-the-beaten path, and simplicity for an amazingly low-key, warm-weather experience.

A simple one-bedroom on the hill facing the miles-long beach, nestled in the trees.

And the beach in Santa Teresa, miles of pristine, flat sand. While it’s known as a surfer’s mecca, for us it was miles of walkable sand, low or high tide.

Perhaps not so surprisingly, by 10-11ish, it was too hot to stay in the sun. Our routine quickly emerged – to the beach early-ish – by 8-8:30ish – for a long walk until it got too hot. We’d head back to our place, shower or dip in the soaking pool:

followed by an afternoon siesta.

We’d then head out late afternoon to check out some of the stores along the main street, which was mainly a dusty road – FILLED with ATVs (ours included!).

Following that, we’d stop in at one of the beach restaurants for an early evening dinner, enjoying some amazing seafood and a beach-side sunset.

And, shortly after sunset – head back to our space and in for the night. It gets very dark, very quickly, with not much for street lighting, so best to be off the street.

Sprinkled into that routine, we took a day trip excursion to Tortuga Island. On the eastern side of the peninsula, it was a favorite day-stenation. Excursion boats, such as ours, visiting both from the peninsula and from the mainland further to the east (San Jose area). We enjoyed a bit of snorkling and just hanging on the beach – enjoying a coconut pena colada 🙂

We also took a day trip

While it sounds very modest and somewhat routine, almost boring, it was very, VERY relaxing. The two weeks just flew by!

How can you beat that?