My husband and I had the pleasure of visiting Costa Rica twice in recent years. Every trip we have thoroughly enjoyed. The people are wonderful and the biodiversity is incredible. We have traveled from to beaches, mountains, dormant volcanoes and the city, capturing incredible views and some of the most unique animals.
On our visits we are intentional about the areas we chose to visit and we usually stay at least 10 days because we do a lot of driving and want to be able to spend s few days in each location. While we have visited some places twice, I will say the visits are not the same.
We visited last in June – arriving arriving and departing from Liberia, the previous time we started in San Jose and ended in Liberia. We rented a car to be able to cover all of the cities we wanted to see, which included: Monteverde, Isla Tortuga, Samara, and Guanacaste.
Monteverde
Prior to our arrival in Costa Rica, I found Feather Hunters CR and worked with Kenneth on planning our tour. He was a phenomenal guide for us to experience the Monteverde Reserve, The Monteverde Cloud Forest, Hanging Bridges, The Monteverde Refuge (night walk) and other spots. While we had visited a few of these places before, having a knowledgeable guide with us made a huge difference in understanding the history, the uniqueness of the environment, finding the animal inhabitants or birds perched up high and getting National Geographic level photos with his telescope 🙂
Monteverde has so many places of interest, the high elevation provides you with views for miles. Lush green hues, waterfalls, clear blue skies and tons of different vegetation. This places has something for your senses. As you walk through there are the incredible views, but beyond that – you can hear so much, birds communicating, water rushing, and all sorts of critters. We find it so calming and speaks to us to draw us into the reserve. What about the smell? You bet there is a aroma – the smell of pure nature.
Night Walk 
Hanging Bridges 
Cloud Forest
Isla Tortuga
When we left Monteverde, we drove down to Isla Tortuga. I had seen posting about Bioluminescence kayaking. It looked amazing and figured we should make the drive, though unplanned, to check it out. Fortunately I was able to get us on a tour and accomodations with Bahia Rica Adventures. The tour started just after sun down. We headed out on the kayaks in the bright moonlit sky, very romantic and stunning, as our paddles moved through the water it lit up. We paddled to and fro lighting up the water and a little bit of water play.
The following morning we did catch an amazing view of the ocean and clear blue sky on our way out.

Samara
We made it to Samara, where we found a spot to stay just a block from the beach. We walked the area and found a few cute spots to eat, have a massage and dinner on the beach. We did a kayak and snorkeling tour. We ventured to a nearby island where we stopped for a snack and enjoyed a visit from the family of iguanas. It was a quick stay but fun nonetheless.
This crew was not shy at all.
Guanacaste
The conclusion to our amazing tour was at an all inclusive resort. We relaxed, enjoyed beachside massages, the pool, entertainment and food and drinks.
As they say in Costa Rica, Pura Vida! (Pure Life)