A 2024 Costa Rica Adventure: Pura Vida with Star Clippers!
A Costa Rica visit, in my humble opinion, is a must for every person on our planet. The very fact that this tiny country, about the size of West Virginia, is estimated to be home to 4% of the world’s species is truly mind-blowing! One reason is that the country is reputed to have approximately 12 major eco-systems…fascinating. Every possible color in the spectrum is represented in the birds, iguanas, insects, snakes, plants, trees, mammals, and fish.
A wonderful highlight for me was to see the Blue Morpho butterfly as we visited the Mistico Park for our Hanging Bridges tour in the Arenal volcano region where we stayed. Our guide, Allan, was incredibly knowledgeable about the flora and fauna, and when he shared that our group’s “energy” was to account for our seeing this beautiful creature near the waterfall, I was enthralled. As you are professionally led through the nature all over the country, guides will carry high-powered telescopes in order to spot and share all sorts of creatures. It’s a true gift to be able to spot them from a distance, to be sure.
This 10-night adventure was over a year in the making. My boutique travel agency connections are many, and I study the world in order to create unique travel opportunities for my guests. Once or twice a year I lead a trip, and this was my second chance to explore CR. For me and my fellow travelers, 10 nights is a sweet spot, both for being cost conscious and for allowing greater chances for those unforgettable nature and adrenaline experiences. The other advantage is that there is more time for my fellow travel buddies to bond with each other…and we had a wonderfully cohesive group this trip! There was a great balance of adventure and partying, to be sure.
Way to Go Travel was my destination company, curating with me the “off without a hitch” 3-night stay before our Star Clippers cruise from Puerto Caldera, a working port just south of Puntarenas on the Pacific coast. Windstar Cruise Line uses this port as well. I was very impressed, from the airport guide/driver duo who met us in San Jose, to the transfer to our Hanging Bridges Tour, the transfer for all 15 of us to the ship from Arenal Springs Resort and Spa, and the Doka Coffee Tour I arranged ship to airport on the day we disembarked, as our flights were late afternoon. Destination Costa Rica and our guide Fabian deserve big praise. A side note: this port has nothing for you to do as it is a container facility, so do NOT arrive too early!
Arenal Springs was wonderful. Your lodging is spacious with bright, comfortable rooms and bathrooms, stunning grounds, a very good breakfast buffet, and, of course, warm to hot springs of healing mineral waters. As we arrived after a long day of travel from Cincinnati, we loved walking into the warm waters, sitting at the bar, ordering a cocktail and sushi, then sleeping like a baby.
Most of my group arrived on Wednesday, January 3, 2024. On Thursday I had booked 9 of us with Arenal Rafting Company to do the Class III/IV rapids on the Balsa River, and we had a total BLAST. I don’t think I stopped my super wide grin the entire trip! After a particularly crazy stretch in the river, our guide would have us raise our paddles high in the air to say “PURA VIDA” at the top of our lungs. Photographers took photos at various places along the river, so sometimes we would pause to rest and let them catch up in their kayaks and paddle down river in front of us. A yummy lunch was served for the 90 or so of us paddlers afterwards, and we hooted and hollered at the faces in some of the many photos. We had 6 to our raft plus our guide, so we split the $40 for the link to our pics, and goodness, they are fun to review. One of my companions was 80 years old, and her face was pretty much a permanent state of “oh crap!”
The cruise aboard the Star Clipper was special, made even more so as our ship was just over half full at 68 passengers. What excellent service we had! 7 glorious nights of nature, sailing, beaches, adult beverages, shenanigans, and lovely food. Cabins are not especially spacious, although one of my guests chose a suite that opened onto the aft pool where our gang loved to hang out together, and their bathroom had a nice jet tub! But these staterooms are well-designed to store all your things. There was even space for a large suitcase under the bed.
We were assigned two tables for the group for dinners, which was nice. I do encourage my groups to meet other passengers, and perhaps dine together if they wish. I loved that several of them did that this trip. There is something a little bit magical about people while on a cruise. It seems to me that hearts are more open, and conversation becomes just a little bit easier and organic. There is also something about being on a ship with no land in sight that really moves me. Do you know what I mean?
As a gift for this trip, I gave each a leather journal and pen. I may share a few entries of mine before finishing this entry, but let’s briefly mention our itinerary. Initially we were to make a stop on an island off the coast of Nicaragua, but their government stopped that plan a few months prior. Let’s talk about the actual itinerary we followed and a brief impression of each of our stops.
Day 1 Saturday boarding
Sailaway from Puerto Caldera. Piano tunes are played in the intimate Piano Bar most every evening from 7-8:30, as those seated at the bottom of that staircase are able to hear while they dine. Dinner is served 7:30-10 every evening and you do have some grace for being fashionably late. Be kind to your companions, however, so as not to delay servings or cocktail and wine choices. It is lovely that the sommelier is very good at checking in with you soon after being seated. Note that prices for house wines by the glass and bottle are extremely reasonable on your Star Clipper journey.
Do not miss on the first night going up to the Sundeck after dinner for sail away. It is quite an experience watching the sails be raised on a Star Clipper ship! It is quite a show.
Day 2 Sunday Quepos
For my own guests, I was “on it” to arrange our visit to the Manuel Antonio National Park. Having visited a few years earlier, I knew this was a special experience. All of us prearranged this through SC, and you need to know that it is the only excursion we were allowed to pre-book before boarding. It is about a 30-minute drive, and not many taxis in this area, so I would do the same if I were you. Only 24 spots were available! It cost a bit more than $100 pp, but worth it! We all loved the little marina at this port, and we had a lovely little happy hour at a restaurant/bar right on the water before our tender back to the ship. Local beer in CR is yummy!
Day 3 Monday Golfito
Breakfast on board offer two choices…or both! At 6:30 there is an early bird offer in the Piano Bar of lovely pastries and cookies, coffee and tea (many choices!) and light bites. The wonderful dining room buffet generally begins serving at 8 am and until 10 am. Lunches are primarily also in the dining room. If you can’t find yummies on this ship, you are a VERY picky eater! Eggs to order…what else do we need?
In this port, which at one time was very active in banana export, we decided to explore on our own. Thos who took the dolphin and beach escape saw a whale BREACH! I saw those photos, and I was so very jealous of the nature they saw! But our walk down the street was my kind of adventure, too!
The walk we did was a two beer walk for 7 of us…not sure I have EVER been so sweaty in the humidity, yet there was something very cleansing about it. We eventually found a local bar with two charming local ladies bartending. As the American rock music videos played, we enjoyed our third adult beverage just before noon. Grin. You can’t drink all day if you don’t start in the morning! The highlight for me was the stop for ceviche at a roadside restaurant. Oh my, that was delicious! So nice while traveling by cruise, even if most meals are on the ship, to partake in local cuisine with local businesses. Honestly, this memory is one of my favorites of the entire trip. Another was that very evening during the “Quiz Night with a Drum with Axel”, our cruise director. We won the bubbly, and it was all Mel, my friend! They would play a song and you had to run and hit the drum. Extra points if you could also sign the song karaoke. She rocked it!
Day 4 Tuesday At Sea
Sometimes this is my favorite day when cruising! We climbed the Crow’s Nest…of course we did. It’s not for you if you are challenged by height or strength challenges, but the reward is great. I took some photos from up there and chose the day to wear my T-shirt from my first SC cruise on their largest and newest vessel, Royal Clipper from Barbados in 2019.
Our adventures today were about making relationships and toasting our new friends. We had great fun in the pool aft where one of our guests had a suite. Perhaps there were a few adult beverages consumed? And the white party that evening was fun with lots of great dance music. Afraid most of my crew were early to bed that night!
Day 5 Wednesday Playa Panama
We loved the beach here, pretty dark volcanic sand, accessible via our tenders, then you transfer for a wet landing. Had several of these, so be comfy if you might not be as graceful as you once was! I WON on Pirate’s Night! Ha, ok will share a pic. Lots of pretty easy physical challenges were involved, like hold a coin between your knees and drop it in a bucket. Anyhow, came to the last “tiebreaker” and they handed me a small glass with beer in it, with a straw. I said to myself, “Well, I lost!”. Guess what? The straws had holes in them, and I proceeded like a mad-woman and WON! Grin.
Day 6 Thursday Bahia Potrero
Bahia means beach, so I knew I would love this day! We splurged on a catamaran trip with snorkel opportunity…a no-brainer. Some of our friends chose the zip-lines and had a blast, too. While the snorkel wasn’t the best (should not have followed my guide as he stayed away from the rocks.) But they had noodles to swim with, and a yummy lunch. Open bar the entire trip. We were happy to arrive back at the ship for a wonderful lunch buffet spread (mostly checked out the desserts!) at the fresh air Tropical Bar, along with live saxophone music by our friend and entertainer, Allan.
We quickly headed towards the tender to the beach and met up with our friends who were having a wonderful time. There was a party pirate ship in the harbor there, so, of course, one of our peeps went over to check out the time of opening, and, well, we enjoyed dancing and drinking and…what a fun day!
Day 7 Friday Isla Tortuga
Dan and I and several of our companions chose to visit Curu Private Reserve in the morning from 8:15-11:45 am. Another “wet landing” was required, and our guide was expert at finding the creatures in this wonderful walking trail. Private cars were also able to drive through, but our entrance was from the beach!
Today’s lunch was at the Tropical Bar once again, and they knocked it outta the park. Another quick change into our beach clothes before catching the tender/zodiac to yet another, even more beautiful beach. This time there was a hut with fun local gift shopping, a bar serving all kinds of drinks, and another little restaurant that only took cash. Shortly after we arrived, some of the large catamarans came to sail many of sun-worshippers away, (no roads were noticed by us!) so gradually those on our ship were the only folks left!
Curious were the peccaries (local pigs) who were awaiting this time of the day in the woods beyond. They would eat the entire shell of coconuts that were sold with rum shots at the beach bar or carry them to their young ones in the woods. Folks just left them on the sand where they sat. This was great fun to watch!
There are actually 2 islands that make up Isla Tortuga, about 1.5 hours boat ride from the Nicoya Peninsula on the mainland. You can see that our very short two-boat ride from our ship was glorious way to experience this little treasure of a beach! That’s our ship anchored out a bit from our beach. I am sharing one more fair warning for you about climbing into a zodiac from a beach: We laughed and laughed with an older woman who basically rolled into the raft. I am certain she was mortified, but she and her husband were great sports about it. We had met them aboard during the week, of course, and so she was not offended!
The evening ended sadly after dinner with the final pack before our return home. What a wonderful, adventurous week we all had. I feel confident in recommending Star Clippers to anyone who loves seaside experiences. As always, I would be pleased to share more if you reach out.
Day 8 Saturday Doka Coffee Plantation Tour and flight home
Star Clippers offers both a transfer only and a coffee plantation tour/transfer to the airport in San Jose for those not flying until after 4 pm. We had flights at 3:15p and 3:40p, so I arranged this tour through my Way To Go Tours connection. The same guide who brought us to the resort and to the ship met us right on time at the pier to take us to Doka, just a bit north of the airport near San Jose. Costa Rican coffee is some of the best in the world, as you know, so it was great to be able to buy some as gifts. This tour included our last local cuisine…more beans and rice, of course…and it was really yummy.
Final thoughts. If you are curious about the distance we covered during this 7-night cruise, we traveled a total of 589.8 nautical miles. (1 nautical mile= 1.15 miles). Water toys will be available to you…paddle boards, kayaks, little sailboats, on each beach day the sports staff bring them ashore for your use. If food is your thing, every few hours you will have yet another spread. They do a tea-time each day as well as a midnight snack, which is nice! I lost weight this cruise, as is usual for me, while eating like a queen. It’s all the activity that does that. Remember, I have a desk job creating travel itineraries for you, so I need to MOVE. Grin.
The note below was in our ship’s daily schedule on the last day. (These are always left by your cabin steward in your stateroom when they do your turndown every evening).
” At the last, when you have sailed long enough and far enough, you come to understand that the sea is everything. It is calm and restless, stormy and laughing, many-hued and one-colored, salty and fresh, warm and cold, an enemy and a friend, a help and a hindrance, a tragedy and a jest. Everything! The sea is always everything and the same; and yet the sea always changes.”
Pura Vida! (Pure life), Bobbie