Taryn's Mad Hatter Adventures

7/5/24

We woke up to this amazing view! It was so peaceful at 7:00 a.m.

We weren’t quite ready for breakfast yet, so we decided to take a stroll on the beach until the other families were awake. Our sleep schedules were STILL whacked out!

Walking from our room out to the beach:

30 minutes later, the sun was coming out! We hadn’t seen it very much so we were soaking it in.

The view looking from the path towards the resort rooms and pool:

There were so many interesting shells on the beach!

This was low tide. You can see some rocky formations in the water that you can’t see during high tide. This was important to know if swimming!

Looking back from the beach to the resort:

That white wall is what separates the private property of the resort and the public beach.

Looking back at the resort and this is to the left:

These ladies set up on the beach to give 1 hour massages for $35. They were nonstop busy! They must be good because they consistently had patrons!

I spotted a giant iguana!

It was almost 8 a.m. now and we were getting hungry. We decided to head back to the resort to the complimentary breakfast buffet.

This is outdoor seating for either the bar or you could bring your food here. It was right next to the beach.

FRESH MANGO! I couldn’t get enough of it! And of course my rice and beans.

After our delicious breakfast, we went to get some seats for a beach day. You could go horseback riding right on the beach! You could just approach the men with the horses. I’m not sure of cost, as we didn’t do it.

Another funky shell my daughter found!

Such a variety!

The view looking up from my chair:

Here you can see the chairs that were available. We did pull them up closer to the wall. It was very hot and humid!

My girls knew they wanted to take some surf lessons, as Costa Rica is a very popular surfing spot! We didn’t book anything in advance, but there were several vendors right on the beach or on the street right next to the beach. We gathered pricing from a few different places and ultimately decided to go with Iguana Surf. These four participated in a small group. Everyone was given a rash guard to wear and they were matched up to the correct size board. There were lockers to lock things up, showers, changing rooms, and water.

After everyone had their boards, we headed back across the street to the beach. There were 6 total people in the group. Completely by chance, the other two participants were in the cooking class that our family did when we were back in La Fortuna!

This was the area on the beach where the lessons took place:

They had some instruction before they entered the water.

Everyone was able to get up and catch a wave multiple times!

At some point my oldest daughter’s nail got ripped off. So she had to make a visit to the lifeguard station.

The solution was putting bandages and then a rubber glove on top.

In total, the session was about an hour long.

We thought it was fun and well worth the money! There were also stations that would just rent you the surfboard for the day if you didn’t want lessons. The lessons were helpful though.

After surfing, we went back to hang with with the rest of the family on the beach. It started raining again…surprise!

We decided to head for cover at the resort restaurant and grab some lunch.

Tacos:

Grilled Chicken:

Pizza!:

Everything was delicious!

Since it was still raining, we decided to chill here for awhile and eventually started playing cards. It was a lazy afternoon.

We were going out for dinner in the town. This was the view while leaving the resort!

Our group!

Patagonia Argentinian Grill & Restaurant was just a five minute walk from the resort. I did make reservations through Facebook since we were a large group, and they were very easy to work with.

We started with some bread and drinks.

(The restaurant was open air! They did have several fans going though.)

This was SO FUNNY! My father-in-law ordered the Provoleta (grilled provolone cheese), and he doesn’t really like cheese! He thought it was going to be like mozzarella sticks and was pleasantly surprised when this arrived:

It was a HUGE portion and I think everyone got a dip in.

I was ecstatic when I saw empanadas on the menu! Of course I ordered one!

This was SO GOOD!

Here are a a variety of steaks and sauces:

We were celebrating my father-in-laws birthday! The staff at this restaurant was amazing. The food was delicious. And I would highly recommend if you are in the area!

Overall, our day was perfect. A little bit of beach, surfing, hanging with the family, and a yummy dinner. We weren’t going to let the rain ruin our time!