The Manuel Antonio national park have beautifull beaches, lush jungle and a lot of animals!
During a semester in San Isidro, you get a lot of changes to explore the beautiful country. Costa Rica is known for its precious beaches, lush rainforests, and breathtaking waterfall, but nothing of this is to be found in San Isidro. Luckily, the most stunning places is just a cheap, short bus trip away, which make it easily accessible. The long weekends make the semester a perfect time to relax, explore new places and enjoy.
The destination after the hike to Nauyaca waterfalls
Nauyaca Waterfalls is said to be the prettiest waterfall in the entire country, and this can be found 40 minutes from San Isidro. I went on a day trip, and it was very pretty. The hike was a good one, we spent around 1,5 hours hiking one way. The view at the destination was priceless, and we could cool down in the fresh water and swim in the waterfall. This trip is absolutely recommended as it is so easily accessible from San Isidro, and the bus costs 14 kr each way.
The opportunies for surfing is to be found just one hour away from San Isidro, at Dominical/Dominicalito!
As speaking of day trips, I also took some day trips to Dominicalito to do some surfing. The people there are very kind and helpful and the waves fit both beginners and intermediates. The bus trip takes about an hour to Dominical and then there is another 10 minutes bus ride to Dominicalito. This is very well recommended if you stay a weekend in San Isidro!
The beach in Manuel Antonio was shared with a lot of wild animals, here an iguana.
I also took a weekend trip to Quepos and the national park Manual Antonio. This is just a 3-hour bus ride from San Isidro and the bus goes directly. The city of Quepos is smaller than San Isidro. A visit to Manuel Antonio is a must when living just 3 hours away. The park was amazing, and we saw a lot of animals like monkeys, iguanas, wild boars, deers, crabs and sloths. The beach inside the park looked like it was in a travel magazine with its white sand and turquoise sea.
Additionally, I participated on the arranged trip to Santa Teresa. This was a more touristic place with more western restaurants and shops. I understand why it is touristic, as these beaches are very beautiful and big. There are also many hip bars, clubs, and restaurants. We spent the days at the beach and hang out in hammocks under the palms. It was a very good weekend get-away.
Another weekend worth to mention is the trip to Puerto Viejo on the Caribbean coast. The culture was very different, in terms of food, music and people. The beaches were also calmer, and we got to rent bikes to ride them along the coast. Here we also visited a wild animal rescue. The rescue held wild animals that had been hurt as a result of human activity, some sloths had been electrocuted and had amputated their arm. The center set the animals free after they are done with their treatment. It was a very cool experience and we got to see many animals close, without getting the feeling of them suffering like they might have done in zoos.
I also spent some days in the capital, San José. We went to the Jade Museum and the National Museum. It was some good days to learn about the history of Costa Rica. San José also have some possibilities to find some nice shopping and we spent one evening at the mall.
Hiking Cherro Chirripó is hard, but there is so much beautiful nature and it´s worth it!
The last weekend trip I want to mention is the climb of Cherro Chirripo, the highest mountain in Costa Rica with its 3820 meters above sea level. Many students from this semester have hiked to the top and the experience was very good. It is usual to spend one night at the basecamp before doing the last hike to the top. It was a though hike, but very worth it, and all my friends made a personal record on height meters.
As you can see, there is a good variation in weekend trips to take during your semester in San Isidro. Every week you have the possibility to go on adventures and explore the beautiful country!
– Ingvild