Vamos A La Playa

After 5 days of sightseeing, we headed for a couple of days on the beach. We left Monteverde at 9:00am on Thursday. It took us four hours to drive to Guanacaste and check into our hotel, the Paradisus Playa Conchal. The road out of Monteverde was ridiculously bumpy, as reported before. I got to sit in the front passenger seat and see that we were traveling, on average, about 20 kilometers per hour. We traveled that way for about an hour and a half. Our drive called it a road massage. Then we hit asphalt and it was smooth driving all the way to Guanacaste.

Paradisus Playa Conchal

Guanacaste is on the Pacific side of Costa Rica and it is gorgeous. The Paradisus is a gorgeous, all inclusive resort with 6 restaurants and a host of activities. I didn't actually know much about the place when we booked it, but the travel agent recommended it, so we agreed. When they say all-inclusive, they mean it. All the meals even alcohol), room service, and activities are included. There isn't even tipping when you order room service. The activities include kayaking, paddle boating, deep sea fishing, snorkeling, diving, ziplining, horseback riding, and ATV rides. There's yoga, water aerobics, bird watching, cooking classes, even kids programs. There are off property excursions that include ziplining and nature tours that are extra, as is the golf, but so far, we haven't spent a dime extra, except for the Internet cafe. The rooms are gorgeous with two sitting areas, a flat screeen TV and balcony. The bathroom even has a toilet and bidet.  CJ: mama, there are two potties in here!

We hit the beach in the late afternoon. The beach is beautiful.  The sand was nice and smooth in one part, rockier and full of shells in the part next to the cliffs. The water is clear and blue-green, warm as bath water, with no jellyfish.  CJ is totally my son when it comes to the water. We walked to the beach and within a few minutes, he was entirely drenched, rolling around in the water, running into the surf.

We were beat afer a half day of travel and beach time, so we ordered room service (which was excellent and CJ got his salmon, which he had been pining for all day), then hit the hay early.