Day 158 to 161 - Beach bums

Playa del Coco / Liberia

Day 158

We decided to check out some of the beaches in the area north of Playa del Coco, so we first drove to Playa Hermosa. This was a lovely beach and much quieter than Coco. There were a couple of options for lunch on the beach, we went with the recommendation of the old man who looked after parking, who told us the best food was "150m on our left".

After lunch we drove to Playa Panama, this area had lots of upmarket houses on the nearby hills and seemed geared more towards residences and holiday homes, so it was a quiet and not so touristy beach.

Day 159

We drove to the nearby city of Liberia to buy bus tickets to take us to Granada in Nicaragua in a couple of days time. We were surprised though when we were told there weren't any spots available for the day we wanted (Saturday), or for Friday either. Up to now we've always been able to buy tickets on the same day or the day before, so it was unusual to find a bus that was fully booked. We had no option but to extend our stay by another day, though we couldn't extend where we were staying, and we also had to return our rental car. We ended up booking a hotel in Liberia, that way we could drop off the car and be close to the bus terminal for the 9:30am departure on Sunday.

We spent the rest of the day swimming at Playa Hermosa and sipping happy hour cocktails.





Day 160

More beaches today, this time heading south from Playa del Coco. Playa Ocotal was a quiet beach in a lovely bay with patches of black volcanic sand, we spent the morning swimming there followed of course by lunch on the beach.

After lunch we drove onto Playa Matapalo. Here we found the massive 700 room all inclusive Riu resort on 380 hectares. We decided to try and enter from the beach and surprisingly there wasn't any security. We wandered around the many swimming pools and also watched a beach wedding. It was tempting to use the pool and try to order a drink, but the place is all-inclusive, and as we weren't wearing a white wrist band like everyone else was we didn't like our chances.

We made it back to Coco in thunder and lightning, just getting in the door before a tropical rainstorm hit. It lasted a couple of hours and was very heavy for a while, that still didn't stop us heading down the street for more happy hour pina coladas.

Day 161

It was a shame we had to return the hire car today, as we have enjoyed the freedom of being able to drive anywhere, especially after months of catching buses. It's always a relief though to get the car back without any problems, especially when we don't usually take the expensive insurance option, though in Costa Rica there is a minimal level of mandatory insurance.

After dropping the car off we took the local bus in to Liberia, and lazed around the hotel all day, the weather was overcast and rainy but we still took advantage of the pool. We walked into town and scoped out the location of the bus terminal then had dinner, goodbye Costa Rica and back to bus travel again, next stop Nicaragua.