I've dreamt of travelling to Costa Rica for a long time, but Covid postponed my travels. However, as I was getting closer to my 30s and I wanted to celebrate it in a special way, I finally booked my flights to Central America! 🩷
It took 36 hours from my doorstep to my destination in Santa Teresa, the Pacific coast of Costa Rica, but it was worth every hour. I even managed to cure my jet lag within the first night, which was important to me as I only had two weeks for the trip. I woke up to the sound of howler monkeys, and the noise was something I had to google up to make sure they're not gonna come eat me alive.
The yoga scene was something special in Santa Teresa! I stayed at the Believe Surf & Yoga Lodge for the first week of my trip, and they have two outdoor yoga studios with 5-10 daily yoga classes to choose from! I got a monthly pass ($120 + 13% tax) and I could attend as many yoga classes as I wanted. On most days I did two classes, one in the morning and one in the evening, plus my own practice when the studio was for free 😊 All yoga was just hot yoga, as the temperatures were above 30°C and the humidity was around 60-70%! I loved it though. Luckily there were some fans, but sweat was definitely guaranteed.
I feel like I got so much inspiration from all the teachers, I've never been to such creative yoga classes. The styles were mostly vinyasa and flow, but there were also alignment focused and yin yoga. I didn't try the famous yogilates, but apparently it's super intense! I got so many new ideas to my own practice as well as on my own teaching. My absolute favourite teacher in Santa Teresa was Valentina, who taught Vinyasa & Alignment classes, and she also said that her teacher had said: "Ask your teacher who their teacher is". Meaning that every yoga teacher is also a yoga student, the learning never ends 🩷
The best things in Santa Teresa, in my opinion, were the yoga classes, the most beautiful sunsets I've ever seen, and the food! In addition to Believe, there are many other yoga studios in Santa Teresa, where you can just drop in. Drop-in classes are of course a bit more expensive than packages.
Below I have listed some tips that might be useful if you're ever planning on visiting Santa Teresa 😊
RESTAURANTS
My absolute favourite was the Eat Street, and their tacos & burritos!
Favourite breakfast: Banana bread French toast at the El Patio 🩷
Best quesadillas and ice tea at Muchacha - Surf Bar & Restro
I also tried some of the local Sodas (small eateries with traditional dishes) and they did not dissapoint! They were also about half cheaper than the "hipster restaurants".
TIPS
Santa Teresa is a popular nomad town, with many remote workers from the US and Canada. This means that the prices are also quite high! A meal in a "hipster restaurant" costs about 20 USD, and clothes are also from 50 USD up. Drop-in yoga classes are from 15 to 20 USD.
Sunset at 5.50pm, don't miss it! People and dogs gather at the beach for picnic or sunset surf (the dogs swim too!), it's amazing!
If you travel from San Jose, book your shuttle + bus ticket from Bookaway, you'll save about 20 USD comparing to booking through your hotel/hostel. The shuttle can be 10-30 minutes late depending on how many pickups they do, so don't worry if it's late (says someone who went to read all the reviews when waiting in panic).
Renting an ATV can be a hassle, but not all places require the 500 USD deposit, I booked from a place where I just left my passport as a deposit 😊 I can't find the name of the place but it was next to the La Cevicheria!
Pack light and small clothes! This is probably the hottest place where I've ever been, and I've been to some hot places. Bali & Australia don't compare with the heat in Costa Rica, I basically just wore my bikinis and a skirt for two weeks, and I had to buy even shorter shorts for yoga classes!
Pura vida! 🩷
