Surfing, Wildlife and Family Vacations in Costa Rica

In 1998, the University of Nevada student body counted at least three students from Hawaii. One of them was me.

One of the first people I met was a guy named Rory from California, and one of the first things he said to me was, “Let's go to Costa Rica!”

I knew nothing about Costa Rica Travel Excellence, just that Rory, despite being from the inland town of Grass Valley, was a surfing enthusiast.

He figured I must be too, being from Hawaii, and I used to surf, yes, but I wasn't an enthusiast. But I was willing to listen to Rory, who had already gone to Costa Rica once.

All I knew about Costa Rica were nerdy geographical facts I learned in my introduction to Spanish class.

I can still hear my professor saying things such as, “Mexico is part of North America, not Central America, which is considered a region of North America that is home to countries such as Costa Rica and Panamá.”

I also learned the capital of Costa Rica is San José.

I needed to learn more, of course, if I was going to visit the country, so I looked a bunch of stuff up online and found a lot about surfing, wildlife and family vacations in Costa Rica.

I did it again recently, as I never made the trip with Rory but began thinking about it again after Rory sent me a message last year from Hilo, my hometown in Hawaii, which he was visiting as part of his honeymoon.

As I scoured the net, I quickly noticed you can find everything from solo surf packages to all-inclusive family vacation packages in Costa Rica. Making a decision was about to get tough.

How would I choose from so many travel companies and offers? Luckily you always have Trip Advisor.

After everything I've read, I think the wildlife of Costa Rica fascinates me the most.

There are red-eyed tree frogs, white-faced monkeys and scarlet macaws, and that's just the beginning. There are bats and crocodiles and poison dart frogs, and hundreds of other species I would love to see.

Maybe I could do some zip-lining as well. I hear it's one of the best things to do in Costa Rica.

I just don't think I'll be doing any surfing. I went to Brazil recently, to the northeast, and got on the board again, at Porto de Galinhas.

I spent two hours in the water and caught only four waves, a sign that my best days of surfing — which were never great to begin with — are over.

So, sorry Rory, but my trip to Costa Rica is going to be a lot different from yours.

_______

This story was brought to you in partnership with Travel Excellence.