Passing Time in Playas del Coco

Passing Time in Playas del Coco

From Quepos, we travelled to Playas del Coco, about 280 kilometres north. In order to get to Playas del Coco, we had to take a local, non-air conditioned bus to Puntarenas about 3 hours away, in above- 30-degree heat, and then another three-and-a-half-hour bus ride to Liberia, followed by a third one-hour bus ride to Playas del Coco. Exhausted and dripping with sweat, we arrived at our apartment, about ten minutes from the main street of the town. We then needed to go on the hunt to try and find someone to let us into our accommodation. Fortunately, the owners appeared just before we were about to give-up and set-up camp on the nearby beach.

Unfortunately, the nearby beach was one of the least attractive beaches that we have come across, with brown, dirty sand and dry, dead-looking surroundings. The ocean didn't look overly appealing either. We thought another beach around the corner, Playa Hermosa (Beautiful Beach in English) may have been a better option for a swim. But despite only being about six to seven kilometres away, it seemed that the only way to get to the beach was an overpriced taxi ride. We waited for a bus for over an hour to be told that there are only three or four buses a day. It all became too difficult, and we susected that the beach wouldn't live-up to its name anyway. So we gave up and returned home to drown our sorrows with a few alcoholic beverages.

We had expected beautiful beaches and scenery with lots of native wildlife in Costa Rica, and perhaps we had been unlucky or chosen to stay in the wrong parts of the country, but things didn't quite live up to the expectations. Not to mention the prices of accommodation and food were much higher than we had been used to in many other South American countries, particularly Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador and Colombia. The prices were more in line with the United States, and not too far off those in Australia. Maybe that is due to the fact that Playas del Coco and the surrounding area is home to many North Americans from the US and Canada, who have decided to retire and die in Costa Rica. The stop in Playas del Coco did allow us to continue to plan the next segment of our journey.

Next stop: San José.Read more