Puerto Viejo

I knew I couldn't make the journey to Bocas del Toro in one day so my plan was originally to spend one night in San José. But as lots of people recommended Puerto Viejo I figured I should try to make it there to avoid San Jose. From Santa Teresa there was an early morning bus going straight to San José. San José has a lot of different bus terminals but luckily the bus to Puerto Viejo was leaving just 2 blocks down from the one were I was arriving. We arrived 10 minutes before that bus was leaving and it was raining heavily. But the next bus was leaving in 2 hours so decided to make a run for it. A guy got of the bus together with me and when he heard me asking for directions to the bus terminal for Puerto Viejo he joined me to find it. We were running up and down the streets in the pouring rain. Everybody we asked send us another way. At some point I decided to just trust my intuition and kept running the way that felt right to me even though one guy had told us otherwise. I was super happy this turned out to be the right decision and we could finally see another bus station and a bus marked "Puerto Viejo" parked ready to go. We dropped our wet backpacks at the bus and ran for the counter to buy our tickets. A minute later we were sitting on the bus soaking wet but laughing and happy that we made it!
The busride took longer than expected so it was almost 8pm when we finally made it to Puerto Viejo.
Some of the nicer hostels in Puerto Viejo are not right in town but a little further down the road towards Playa Cocles. I thought about going there as this was supposed to be the surf beach for beginners but as it was late and dark I decided to stay in town and check out the beach tomorrow. After checking in and a quick dinner at my hostel I met Linda, a girl I had met on the bus, for a drink at a nice restaurant called "Madre Tierra". We talked a lot about jobs and traveling. She's in the lucky position to combine her job with traveling and lives in Costa Rica right now. It was really nice talking to her.
The next morning I woke up early and went out to explore the town and the beaches. Unfortunately it was grey and raining on and off so everything looked a bit sad and uninviting. You could still get the caribbean-reggea-vibe of that town but as lots of places were closed (due to the early morning or low season) I didn't really feel like staying. I went to have a look at "Salsa Brava" a Point Break close to town but there were absolutely no waves so I knew there was no chance of Surf at the other beach as well.
So I decided I had seen it all and caught an early bus towards Panama.Read more