The Road to Dominicalito

We said goodbye to Santa Teresa and never looked back. Even at 6:30 in the morning, the main road through this surfer town was abuzz with activity.

I guess, in a hot zone, you want to be as active as possible, as early as possible, before the temperature climbs.

We drove for over an hour to the small town of Paquera, where we booked passage on the 9:00 ferry that cut across the Gulf of Nicoya, to Puntarenas. We arrived early because our host in Santa Teresa said that the ferry often was full, and the next one wouldn't sail until noon.

She advised us to book a reservation, in advance, which we tried to do, but because I have set up multi-factor authentication for my credit card, and I was now using a Costa Rican SIM card, with a new number, on my phone, I couldn't complete the transaction. 

We had to just get to Paquera early and hope we could get tickets at the ferry terminal, and we lucked out.

The ferry cut the three-hour drive around the gulf in half and the views of the landscape are pretty impressive. But Puntarenas is somewhat industrial and there's not much to see on the drive along the coast.

Except, of course, periodic views of the Pacific. 

Our first stop was in Dominical, several hours southeast, down the coast, where we picked up our friends, Kat and Jim, who are joining us for our second week in Costa Rica. They had flown into San Jose the night before and hired a driver to get them to the west coast. They had kept in touch with us throughout the drive, and when we discovered that they were about an hour ahead of us, we suggested that they find a lunch spot in Dominical and wait.

About five minures further along the highway is the smaller town of Dominicalito, where we have rented an Airbnb. And I've got to say that the SUV that we rented has saved our bacon.

Canadian bacon.

The dirt road up the hill to the house is treacherous. With all four of us and all of our luggage, I had to place the vehicle in first gear and press the gas pedal to the floor. There was no stopping, no slowing down. It was white knuckles all the way. 

Of course, the adrenaline rush was worth it. The house that we rented is palatial. A giant common area with floor-to-ceiling windows that look out onto a pool with an artificial waterfall. 

Beyond, the hillside is a jungle filled with myriad birds and howler monkeys. The lush forest drops downward, giving us a view of the ocean.

It's paradise.

We're close to three towns, each with a unique beach. Dominicalito's beach is the smallest but in my opinion, the prettiest and seemingly intimate. A few kilometres to the north is Playa Dominical, which is a surfer's beach that runs long.

Playa Dominicalito

Playa Dominical

About 15 kilometres to the south, Uvita has a massive beach, which has a long sandbar that extends outward and then splits in two directions, giving it the appearance of a whale's tail. You have to pay to access it but it's a worthwhile visit.

We're here until Thursday, and then we move back inland.

Stay tuned.