Costa Rica · Pura Vida · Walked ✦

Costa Rica

A country that abolished its army and spent the money on national parks and schools. Pura vida isn't a slogan — it's civic policy, and you can feel it from San José to the Santa Teresa surf.

The CreativesThe Legends

Our Take

The country that chose
parks over armies.

Costa Rica made a decision in 1948 that explains everything you'll feel there: it abolished its military and spent the budget on education, health, and eventually the national park system that now protects a quarter of the country. The result is a nation that runs on 'pura vida' — pure life — said as greeting, thanks, and philosophy.

Santa Teresa, on the Nicoya Peninsula's wild tip, is the reward at the end of a bumpy road: a dirt-street surf town where yoga decks face the break, sunsets stop all activity, and the jungle walks right down to the sand. It's one of the world's five Blue Zones — people simply live longer here. Spend a week and you'll understand why.

Give San José its evening too: the Central Market's organized chaos, Barrio Escalante's restaurant row, the gold museum's pre-Columbian glow. It's the honest, caffeinated heart of the country — not just the airport city.

~5%

Of the planet's biodiversity lives in this one small country — monkeys, sloths, toucans, and morpho butterflies included. A quarter of its land is protected.

1948

The year Costa Rica abolished its army — and redirected the budget toward schools, healthcare, and the parks. "Pura vida" is what peace dividend feels like.

What We Do There

Six moves, jungle to surf.

Santa Teresa Sunset

The nightly ceremony: surfers silhouetted on the last sets, bonfires sparking up, the whole dirt road drifting to the sand to watch. Nobody schedules anything at 5:30. Neither will you.

Learn the Break

Santa Teresa's beach breaks are world-class but forgiving at the edges — take the morning lesson, ride your first white water, earn the smoothie. Board rental culture makes staying at it easy.

Montezuma Waterfall

An hour around the peninsula's tip: a jungle hike to a three-tier waterfall with a swimmable pool at the base. Go early, wear real shoes, let the howler monkeys provide the soundtrack.

The Nicoya Slow Morning

Blue Zone living, participatory edition: fruit-stand smoothie, yoga deck or hammock, a walk on Playa Carmen before the heat. Longevity, it turns out, is mostly good mornings repeated.

San José Central Market

A century-old maze of spice stalls, sodas, flower vendors, and coffee counters. Eat a casado lunch at a counter, buy coffee beans from someone's grandmother, practice your "pura vida."

Barrio Escalante Evening

San José's restaurant quarter — craft kitchens and cocktail rooms in converted houses. The pre-flight night done deliciously; the gold museum's glow that afternoon if time allows.

Where To Base Yourself

Pick your Costa Rica.

Santa Teresa · The Point

Playa Carmen / Santa Teresa

Jungle-chic hotels and villas where the garden path ends on sand. Wake to howler monkeys, board waxed by 8. The road is dusty; the reward is the point.

San José · The Smart Night

Barrio Escalante

Boutique stays in the restaurant quarter — perfect for arrival or pre-flight nights, with the city's best dinners downstairs.

What We Eat

Casado, ceviche, coffee.

The Staple

Casado at a Soda

The national plate — rice, beans, plantains, salad, your choice of protein — at a family-run soda (local eatery) for about $7. "Casado" means married; so are you, to this lunch, forever.

The Coast

Ceviche & Whole Fish

Nicoya's catch, lime-cured or grilled whole, feet-in-sand service. The beach shacks with plastic chairs and no menu are almost always the right answer.

The Origin

Coffee at the Source

Costa Rican beans fuel half the world's cafés — drink it where it grows. Pour-overs at origin taste like the whole supply chain apologizing for what you've settled for at home.

Costa Rica

The country that choseparks over armies.

Six moves, jungle to surf.

Pick your Costa Rica.

Casado, ceviche, coffee.

We'll hand-build yourCosta Rica trip.

The country that chose
parks over armies.

We'll hand-build your
Costa Rica trip.