Nicoya Peninsula

About a month ago, the Canadian government announced that fully vaccinated travelers will no longer need a negative COVID test to enter Canada. I couldn't wait longer and decided to checked out the Nicoya Peninsula during the Easter holiday period. There are few countries not too far from Canada that don't require a COVID test at the moment. Costa Rica was chosen because of the high vaccination rate in the country (85%).

Apr 15, 2022
Liberia - Montezuma

There are many beach towns on the Nicoya Peninsula. I picked Montezuma because of its backpacker's flavor and strategic location. Tropical Tours Shuttles usually has a 3 pm shuttle from Liberia Airport to Montezuma (5 hours) , but I was told that they didn't have the minimum 5 people on this day so I took the Sansa Airlines flight from Liberia to Tambor. It's a small airplane but the view of flying over Gulf of Nicoya is dramatic. It's safer to arrange a taxi in advance (e.g. from the hotel) to get to Montezuma from Tambor airport.

Apr 16, 2022
Montezuma & Cabo Blanco

Although there are a few sites in Montezuma, the highlight of coming to Montezuma is to check out Reserva Natural Cabo Blanco, about 12 km south of Cabo Blanco. Buses from Montezuma to the reserve are not super stable and it's better to take a taxi if pressed on time. Most people will do the 10 km round trip hike to the beach. There is totally 400 meters elevation gain for the entire trip. It took me less than 4 hours with some time relaxing on the beach. As for wildlife, I saw a toad, a snake, two deer (with one baby deer - at distance) and lots of Halloween crabs during the last 2 km to the beach.

Back to Montezuma in the early afternoon, I checked out Playa Las Manchas and Playa Montezuma (north of the town) and Montezuma Waterfalls (the lower fall). The trail to the waterfalls is a little bit technical and should be taken care of carefully.

At 3:45 pm, I boarded the last bus to Paquera.

Playa Las Manchas

Apr 17, 2022
Curú Wildlife Refuge & Isla Tortuga

Isla Tortuga is a beautiful uninhabited island off the east coast of the Nicoya Peninsula. There are many boat tours to Isla Torgua from various locations including Montezuma, Paquera and even San José. Most of those tours are one day tours (usually from 9 am to 5 pm). I didn't want to get to San José too late and preferred a half day tour. Luckily, Turismo Curú has an half day tour (both in the morning and in the afternoon) departing from the beach at Curú Wildlife Refuge for $30 - it's perfect for me. A $15 entrance fee is required to enter the refuge and it was pleasant to walk around refuge - I saw some deer and two capuchins. Curú Wildlife Refuge is very close to Isla Tortuga. The boat first stopped at an area for snorkeling for 45 minutes (I only saw some small fish), then spent about 2 hours at Playa Tropical on Isla Tortuga with some fruits and drinks (most other tours seem to use the main beach with more toursits). I would see the beach is beautiful and quite relaxing but not super seductive as some other places I've seen in the world.

Staff at Curú Wildlife Refuge can help arrange taxi to Paquera or the ferry terminal. Paquera itself is a boring town but the restaurant at Hotel Vista las Islas on the mountain has great ocean views (non-guests are welcome to eat there). The ferry from Paquera to Puntarenas takes over one hour across Gulf of Nicoya. In Puntarenas, the bus station for San Jose is in the center of the town about 2 km away from the ferry terminal. Both taxis and buses are available to take passengers from the ferry terminal to the center.

Boat tours from Curú pass "Rainbow Rock"

Summary

Nicoya Peninsula is an interesting area to check out in Costa Rica, mostly for its numerous beaches. Montezuma is an obvious choice for backpackers. It's also a strategic base to check out two great reserves (Cabo Blanco and Curú) and the beautiful Isla Tortuga.