Destinations in Belize, Costa Rica, and the Caribbean
Arenal is high on many lists of must-visit spots in Costa Rica. This was our third trip to Costa Rica and our first time here. We spent two nights and enjoyed the hot springs and the van-boat-van trip to Monteverde. It looks like there are lots of things to do here, if you’re into that.
Since we spent 6 days on Aruba at the beginning of our trip, we planned to spend our last 3 days at the beach. Period. And that's what we did.
The Bocawina Rainforest Resort is a painless way to get a taste of the rainforest. It's easy to get to, the lodgings are comfortable, the food is superb, and the staff are friendly and welcoming. And it's not expensive, as many eco-lodges are. We spent 3 nights there.
Bonaire is beautiful and beautifully laid back. Though there's not much to do if you're not into scuba diving. We spent 8 days here and planned to do some snorkeling, but didn't find a spot to our liking. (We're pretty finicky.) We could have spent a little less time here and still been happy.
We weren't sure what to expect here. It turned out to be a little more touristy than we thought, which wasn't a bad thing. It's not a cute town but it has what you need. We enjoyed our four nights here.
I said I would feel like I was on vacation when we were walking to the village down a dusty dirt road along the beach and that’s exactly like it happened. Cahuita is pretty close to our ideal beach location in this hemisphere. We spent six nights here. We think we could spend a couple of weeks here.
We enjoyed Caye Caulker immensely. We spent the six days we were there in flip flops and swimsuits and while we had lots of great food, none of it was fussy or required dressing up, and it wasn't hideously expensive.
This gateway to Corcovado National Park is one of our rare repeat stops ... because we missed Corcovado the first time! It also has one our favorite places to stay. We spent four nights here.
Getting to Drake Bay is an adventure in itself. We took a taxi and then a boat ride down the river to get to this gateway to Corcovado National Park. And one our favorite places to stay. We spent three nights here on this trip.
Gros Islet is in the more developed area of St Lucia. There were lots of conveniences but thankfully not any high rise hotels. And a long, beautiful beach. We spent 8 nights here.
We found Guanica itself unremarkable but lots to see in the surrounding area. We spent four nights here.
We love laid-back relaxed beachy islands, and Jost Van Dyke is a great example. A beautiful white beach and a collection of great beach bars.
Manuel Antonio is a small village right outside the national park of the same name. It's a good base for exploring the park. We spent three nights here.
Montezuma is a laid-back beach town with great dining options. We enjoyed hanging out here for five days doing not a whole lot.
This was our second visit to Montezuma and our first time staying in the village. It seemed noisier and trashier than last time. That could be down to staying in town rather than up in the hills. And we definitely didn’t miss the steep hill. We spent four nights this time.
Ojochal is tiny little village with great restaurants and a manageable drive from the beach. We spent five nights here.
We spent two languid days wandering Old San Juan. It's an odd swirl of history, foreign culture and language, and US brands. We loved it.
We thought Caye Caulker was laid back until we got to Placencia. Placencia is if anything even more sleepy than Caye Caulker. There seemed to be more tourist-oriented stores here. The crowd here trended older than the Caye Caulker, and the restaurants more mainstream. We spent 6 nights here.
Sámara is a place we could return to and spend more time. The beach is good for walking and there are some places with umbrellas and sun loungers to rent. And if we got bored – which we didn’t during our six nights here – there are distractions nearby.
This was our second visit to Santa Elena, and while it wasn’t as surprising and exciting as it was the first time, we enjoyed our three night return visit. The cloud forest is like nowhere else we’ve been.
Santa Elena is a bustling little village amidst the cloud forest reserves in northern Costa Rica. The cloud forests are like nothing we've seen before and we hope to see a quetzal.
St Lawrence Gap is a compact collection of hotels, restaurants, and bars near beautiful beaches on the south coast of Barbados. We loved our 10 days there.
