Costa Rica Prolog: San Jose and Jaco, 5-8/11 2025

5 November — Wednesday

The plane from Lima lands in San Jose at 15:30. After some trouble in immigration — I did not have a return ticket as I did not know how long I would stay — I’m officially in Costa Rica. First impression, much cleaner than Peru 🙂

While on the bus from the airport to downtown San Jose, I talk with a local callled Rafael. He says, as everyone does, that San Jose is super dangerous, especially at night and that I should hurry to my hotel when we arrive. So I did.

6 November — Thursday

Today I have several medical appointments at Clínica de Biblica — it is required by my new employer. Apparently, I will have to come back tomorrow for my blood tests and urine test. They told me to fast for minimum 8 hours before the blood test, so I did. I fasted for 20 hours which apparently was too long, no more than 12 hours, which they did not tell me. And they did not tell me that for the urine test I have to collect 24 hours worth of urine. Great.

The other tests (vision, hearing, cardiovascular, etc.) went much better. So far, I’m in perfect health.

Then I get som bad news, my not so clever father, who was suppose to meet me in Costa Rica tonight, was not allowed to board his flight as he had not filed for a US transit visa. Instead he will arrive on Sunday night. Now I have to come up with something to do for two days. I decided to hit the beach at Jaco two hours west of San Jose. It is probably very touristy but easy to get to by bus, and I do not have time to plan something more elaborate.

The rest of the day I walk around San Jose. I visit some parks, get a long overdue haircut, purchase a book and camping gas, and as a proper tourist I visit Walmart to buy some groceries — finally some proper food, such as my favorite, beef tartar. I also speak to a lot of locals. They all tell me that San Jose is shit and that I should get out of here immediately. Duly noted. I, however, kind of liked San Jose, and I do not like cities.

7 November — Friday

I’m back at the hospital with a gallon of fresh piss and ready for some blood tests. It takes the nurse a good 20 minutes to drain my body of blood, so many tubes to fill.

I then make my way to the bus station and hop on the bus heading for Jaco. The journey takes about 3 hours. Costa Rica is beautiful, but at the same time very closed off. Private property signs everywhere, barbed wires, fences, etc. Honestly, I’m a bit worried that it will be difficult to explore nature, but we will see.

I check- in at the hostel and spend the rest of the afternoon on the beach. The water is incredibly warm.

Jaco is the Americans party and play area. There are tons of luxuries hotels and expensive tours, zip-lining, ATVs, fishing, rafting, etc. You name it, they have it. And I mean it when I say it is really expensive. It also seems to be a very popular spot for amateur (judging by the body composition) triathletes.

8 November — Saturday

Today I’m will spend the morning exploring the coast and forest north of Jaco. From the hotel I follow the beach, wade across some rivers, and climb some cliffs along the coast, and suddenly I’m all alone in paradise with my own pristine beaches.

I keep following the coast until it becomes too difficult/dangerous at which I climb straight up into the rainforest. I quickly come across an old and overgrown road that takes me to far end of the Herradura beach. While following the road I spot wild monkey and multiple birds: parrots, turkeys (?), birds of prey, and more.

At Herradura beach I stop for a bath before following the road back to Jaco. Not entirely sure whether my little exploration was legal or not, but who cares.

Back at the hostel I have about a 30 minute break before I must leave for my surf lesson.

I do not know if the fact that my hip is now feeling much better is the only difference from my time surfing in Huanchaco or not, but wow, surfing feels so easy now. I’m riding wave after wave after wave. And the waves are much bigger than the ones in Huanchaco, especially at the end when the instructor takes me to the biggest waves — the power, the speed, amazing! I absolutely nail 3/5 of the big waves, and boy does surfing feel as the best thing in the world when I do. I feel the need for speed.

The big waves come with the downside that it is a lot of work paddling back out to sea. Juan’s dock and roll teachings came to great use. Despite this session feeling awesome, it will be difficult to surf on my own. How to spot a good wave, when to duck and roll and when to not, etc., I still must learn. As of now the instructor tells me what to do, I do everything myself, but I follow the instructions to the letter.

Lastly, surfing in Costa Rica surely is more beautiful than surfing in Peru. The surroundings seen from sea are spectacular.

After a couple of hours of surfing, I go back to the hostel, spend 2 minutes preparing my favorite dish — another reason I absolutely love beef tartar — and go for a walk to a trailhead called El Miro.

The trail is a simple climb to an overlook, nothing special. During the climb I again spot some wild monkeys.

I finish the day by viewing the sunset. My father will arrive late during the evening, and early tomorrow the road trip begins.

During my four days in Costa Rica, it has been quite apparent that the country seems to have a homeless problem, unfortunately.