In the first few days after arriving in Costa Rica, Harmony and Randall were excited to plan a road trip north to the Nicoya Peninsula to visit Randall’s brother in Playa Negra. Every time I saw Randall, the question was always the same… “when are we going to Guanacaste? Tomorrow?”

Within a couple weeks, we managed to get it together to get out of Jaco – trust me, making a plan come together in Costa Rica is a lot harder than it is in the states. Things just move a lot slower here.

The five of us (Randall, Harmony, Kalana, Erly and I) headed out at about 5:00 am so that we could make it in good time for the boys to get some good surfing in by early afternoon. Funny enough, the 4-hour drive ended up taking us 8 hours because we opted for the scenic route along the Pacific coast of the Nicoya Peninsula.

First stop was Playa Samara, a beautiful golden beach that circles a tranquil bay. This is a place I could see myself retiring in… well, maybe not but it’s a fun thought anyway. After getting our feet wet in the calm waters, we jumped back in the car and kept heading north.

It’s a lot dryer in this part of the country and soon the smooth highway yielded to rocky dirt roads that kicked up a sandstorm behind every car. Needless to say, we were choking on dirt in no time. The roads were so incredibly bad that I wondered how anyone in this part of the country maintained a normal life. Huge potholes, rivers without bridges (there was some 4x4 action through the waist-deep water), and big rocks made driving a serious task.

Working our way up the coast on the western shores of the Nicoya Peninsula, we stopped for breakfast at Playa Pelada before our final stretch to Playa Negra. Since Randall’s brother works at the restaurant on Playa Avellana, we quickly found a hotel and headed about 20 minutes north up the coast to spend the day there. Basically the restaurant and the surf spot in front of it are the main, and only, attractions of Playa Avellana. Small as it may be, I strongly recommend this spot – it was beautiful.

Obviously, my big-city mentality was working against me when I thought that I could just hit an ATM in Playa Negra to get some money. Turns out, none of these northern Costa Rican beach towns have ATMs…..or banks for that matter. And most restaurants don’t accept credit cards. We had to take a 40-minute detour to Tamarindo to find an ATM, and it was a strong possibility that the ATM wouldn’t even work. Luckily, it did…and I got to check out the most expensive town in Costa Rica. Honestly, it was just alright. I definitely prefer the lush, tropical foliage of the central coast to the dry, dusty landscapes of the north.

After a few days of rough roads and dry heat, it felt great to get back to the semi-paved roads and humidity of my idyllic home base in Jaco. Despite the traffic, brown sand beach, drunk sport fishermen and prostitutes, Jaco is a great spot and I’m always happy to come home.

February 27, 2006