Manuel Antonio

Amazing sunset from Hotel California in Manuel Antonio
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Got up early and drove up to Paquera to catch the ferry across the Gulf of Nicoya to Puntarenas.  The ferry ride was about 1.5 hours, and we enjoyed the view by sleeping in our car the whole trip.  Once we were back on solid ground, we continued out journey down to Quepos/Manuel Antonio.

Along the way we stopped at Playa Tarcoles, which was small and nothing special.  We tried to swing by Punta Leone, a swanky resort that the Lonely Planet recommended, but they wouldn't let us in.  That was fine with us, because we stumbled upon Villas Caletas, which was an amazing resort situated on a mountain peninsula jutting out into the ocean.  We had a drink there and soaked in the gorgeous panoramic view and refreshing ambience for a short while before pushing onward.

Awesome view from the refreshingly unique Villa Caletas resort
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Next up was another LP recommended resort, the Marriott Los Suenos, which also was a letdown.  Then it was on to Jaco, a fairly touristy Tamarindo-esque surf town.  We checked out the shops for a second and paid a local entrepreneur to watch our car, which set us back a good $0.20 plus a $0.20 tip (even though he kept walking away).

We drove through Quepos, but it didn't look very nice, so we stayed south of town at the Mono Azul (Blue Monkey), which was good, though it was a little musty.

The following morning we checked out Manuel Antonio, one of the most well-known national parks.  We paid a guy $2 to push us across a lagoon in the boat at the entrance to the park and he made hilarious boat engine sounds the whole time.  Once in the park we hopped on with a tour guide named Mop - highly recommended and worth the money because we wouldn't have seen hardly any animals otherwise.  We ended up seeing lizards (Jesus Christ, spiny, and iguanas), several birds, sloths, monkeys, coatis, a porcupine, a king toad, and several others.

After our tour we hung out on the beach and it was absolutely postcard-worthy... one of the best beaches we came across.