The Most

Up and out the door at 7:30 am this morning, we made the drive an hour south to Manuel Antonio National Park. We wanted to get an early start to try to avoid any crowds at the smallest of Costa Rica’s parks but the most beautiful, most visited and most well known. Since it’s the off-season it wasn’t too bad, but I can’t imagine what it must be like during the height of the tourist season. One thing that makes this place so special is that it contains lots of biodiversity and multiple ecosystems -beaches, jungle, mangrove swamp and coral reef.

We drove through Parrita and Quepos, by palm plantations of all trees in rows. Zoe and Darcy thought they would make great places for hide and seek.

At Quepos, we then drove up a steep and windy road to the town of Manuel Antonio, full of hotels, hostels, restaurants and shops. The main road dead-ends at the park, so after we parked and walked down a back alleyway, we arrived at the main gates. Once we entered, we walked down a boardwalk that reminded us of the natural area across from our Outer Banks house in NC.

Along the way, we caught sight of some monkeys high in the trees. We decided not to hire a guide and hoped that we might be able to see some wildlife on our own. By the end of the day, we were actually tired of the monkeys! Throughout the day, we saw many monkeys (holler, squirrel and white-faced), two sloths, many iguanas, a raccoon and a medium-sized rodent called an Agouti.

We followed the trail over the landbridge (tombolo) out to Punta Cathedral and walked up to two overlooks.

There are several beaches within the park and we visited three different spots on two beaches – Playa Espadilla Sur and Playa Manuel Antonio. The views were gorgeous and it was nice to have some shade. The water was a bit cooler than our home beach, but the waves were a bit rougher. It was nice once you got beyond the breakers, but it was hard for Darcy at the shore.

An “Ariel” rock

We were all hot, sandy and salty when we arrived back home, so the afternoon was spent in the pool. We ventured out the beach for another lovely sunset. Then Danny and I went out to dinner at the Pelican Hotel, just down the beach from our place. I got a real-deal Coke that I had been craving!