Costa Rica in two words: Pura Vida
I’d heard the phrase “Pura Vida” before, but it wasn’t until I set foot in Costa Rica that I understood what it meant. It’s not just a greeting, but a way of embracing life with joy and gratitude, something that I was lucky to experience firsthand during this tour.
I spent 10 days exploring Costa Rica with G Adventures National Geographic Journeys: Highlights of Costa Rica. I had never taken a guided tour before, but was confident G Adventure’s small groups, partnered with the unique and immersive opportunities offered by Nat Geo, was going to be a perfect fit for me.
The tour started and ended in San Jose, which is easy enough to get to via connecting flights through Toronto, Montreal, or Houston. The capital city is the largest centre in the country, and although it is very busy and commercialized, it stands as a great starting point to tour this beautiful country.
The tour began with our Welcoming Meeting where I met the group I’d be spending the next week with along with our incredible “CEO”. G Adventure’s tour guides (or “Chief Experience Officers”) are local to the country you’re visiting so they can share more than just their knowledge, but personal stories and experiences.
The next day we left San Jose to drive to our first stop, La Fortuna. Along the way we visited Mi Cafecito Coffee Tour, a local cooperative that supports hundreds of farmers in the region. Here we learnt of Costa Rica’s world-renowned coffee and saw the process the beans go through from growing, harvesting, roasting, and brewing, all to create the perfect cup of joe. Costa Rica only produces arabica coffee, which is the smoother and sweeter bean, after the less flavorful robusta beans were banned in the 1980s. Learning about their history, complex process, and sustainability made every cup taste even better.
After the tour, we continued the drive to La Fortuna. Along these drives our tour guide would stop if he saw any wildlife, and this morning we stopped for a two-toed sloth and a pair of green macaws.
We arrived in La Fortuna, which is a small town backed by the Arenal Volcano. We were travelling in October which is low season, so in the clear mornings you could see the volcano from the town, but by the afternoon the rain would roll in and a fog covered the mountains.
That night we went to a hosted dinner at a local family’s home where we would be learning the art of tortilla making. Dona Mara graciously welcomed us into her home, where she showed us how to mix, form, and cook the fresh tortillas on a wood burning stove. She had prepared us a traditional casado, with rice, beans, plantains, and our tortillas on the side. Dona Mara has been hosting this tour with G Adventures for years, and despite not speaking English, she created a trip highlight by showing us a glimpse of daily Costa Rican life.
The next day we had free time for any optional excursions, so I opted for a tour to the La Fortuna Waterfall. Hidden in the lush Arenal Volcano National Park is a 500-step staircase to get to the base of the falls where once at the bottom you’re rewarded with a stunning sight and the chance to cool off in the waterfall’s pools and take in the natural beauty around.
After ascending the stairs back up, we stopped for lunch at an organic farm, La Finquita. The tour company owns this farm and it is completely self-sufficient using only their crops for true farm to table meals. This lunch was easily a favorite of the whole trip.
In the afternoon, our guide took us on a short hike around Arenal Volcano. The volcano first erupted in 1968 when the volcano was surrounded by towns that believed they were next to a mountain. The area is surrounded with lava rocks from that first eruption and remains active (having last erupted in 2010).
After the hike, our guide asked if we’d want to go to the Arenal Hot Springs which would have an entrance fee, or visit the natural hot river, El Choyin. We opted for the natural river which our CEO turned into an unforgettable experience. Once we got comfortable in the river, he pulled out candle sticks and melted them to the surrounding rocks, then applied mud masks to us, as if we were having our own private day at the spa.
The next day, we headed to Monteverde. To get there we took a bus to Lake Arenal, a boat ride, then another bus into the mountains. Monteverde is a lot less hot and humid since it’s surrounded by the cloud forests giving it cool, breezy weather year round.
Following check-in at our hotel, it was time to face the zipline. (Disclaimer: I’m afraid of heights but knew this was something I didn’t want to miss out on). We headed for 100% Aventura Park where we’d be ziplining across 13 lines including the longest zipline in Latin America. A guide had to join me on the longest line which was probably for the best as I would not have enjoyed any of the scenery if I’d been crying. The experience was amazing though, and I was happy to see the beautiful Monteverde rainforest from that view.
Later that night, we took a night tour of the Monteverde Cloud Forest to see some of their nocturnal wildlife including sloths, possums, colorful birds and insects, lizards, scorpions, tarantulas, and even a kinkajou (see photo below).
The following day we took a guided tour of the Santa Elena Cloud Forest Reserve. The difference between a rain forest and a cloud forest is a rain forest is usually at a lower altitude and will experience some rain every day, where cloud forests are in higher elevations and experience “horizontal rain” or fog that creates constant moisture. It was magical to walk around the cloud forest and admire all the diverse vegetation.
We also visited the Monteverde Institute for a lecture on the history of the area, National Geographic’s efforts to reforestation, and got to pot our own soil that would be used to plant new trees.
Later that evening, our guide invited us to his family home and dairy farm in the Monteverde mountains. This was such a heart-warming experience, and not what I would have expected to see on this tour. We explored the farm, I volunteered to milk a cow, met his family, and enjoyed fresh coffee and cornbread made by his mother. He called this their “little piece of paradise” and I could see why.
The next day we left Monteverde and took a long drive to Quepos and Manuel Antonio National Park, again stopping along the way to see a sloth in a tree and two pairs of red macaws.
That night we took a night boat tour through the mangrove which sounded fun but there was a huge storm that night and we were unfortunately surrounded by heavy rain the entire time. Our light-hearted guides still managed to make it fun and continued to point out the wildlife we were passing by.
The following day we toured Manuel Antonio National Park which is the most popular National Park in Costa Rica. The park is heavily protected and home to an abundance of wildlife including monkeys, sloths, beautiful birds and insects, and deadly viper snakes. At the end of the tour we reached a private beach within the park, and this would be our home for the next few hours. It was a beautiful beach - soft white-sand, clear blue water, surrounded by bright palm trees and forests - I would’ve been happy to plant myself there for the rest of the day.
For our last night, our guide took us to a local restaurant for dinner which he claimed to have the best spicy margaritas and poke bowls (I concur) and played a game of Costa Rican bingo he’d made to test our newfound knowledge. I maintained my bingo streak by winning and enjoyed a spicy margarita as my prize.
On our last day, we took a morning catamaran tour of the Pacific in hopes to see whales, but the weather was not whale watching conditions. It was still a gorgeous day and we enjoyed rum punch and pina coladas, a homemade lunch, and had time to dock, use their waterslide and swim in the ocean. (Another disclaimer: I can’t swim but I will never pass an opportunity to put on a lifejacket and take a waterslide into the ocean).
The tour ended with one final night in San Jose where we shared our favorite memories from the week, one last drink, and said our goodbyes. I was going to miss this… The wonderful people I met, the laughter shared, the food, and the incredible experiences that made each day unforgettable.
This trip reminded me why I love what I do. Travel has a way of connecting us to new cultures, nature, and each other. If Costa Rica has been on your list, I can’t recommend this G Adventures National Geographic Journey enough. It was the perfect balance of adventure, discovery, and comfort, and a reminder of how meaningful travel can be when it’s done with purpose. A truly authentic way to experience and embrace the Pura Vida lifestyle.
Written for Paull Travel by Shaila Sedani, November 2025
