Rainy Season in Costa Rica's Southern Caribbean, Puerto Viejo & Cahuita 

I"m glad that you had a great time. I love the southern Caribbean zone so much.

Im thinking of going in rainy season, much more affordable for flights and accomodation.

That's so wonderful! I'm glad that you had a good time. Totally agree with you about the black sand beach. Just glorious.

Oh, wow! Retirement is approaching quickly, too. I've stayed near Cocles and it's one of my favorite little beaches.

It was Siqq today n swell should grow tomorrow. Some lighting strikes in the evening Curfew on the sand at 2:30 pm

Haha

That's great! Thanks for the kind comment.

Thank you. As you can probably tell, I love Costa Rica. I first visited to do a Spanish immersion program and it was a life-changing experience. Have you seen Barrio Escalante on the east side of San José lately? One of my friends used to live there in the 80s but they moved out when the area became less attractive for families. Apparently, it was a pretty rough neighborhood for a couple of decades. Now (well, at least pre-COVID), it's alive with restaurants and bars. There is a cool shop that sells delicious liquor-infused ice cream. Young, ambitious dreamers moved in and built something really cool. It's easily my favorite part of Chepe.

@@chifrijojones Unfortunately I have not been back in 2 years; my wife and I had 2 terrible experiences in San Jose, the Turrialba volcano erupted and the flight was postponed until the next day (not a big deal) and a murder occured that same night, right in front of the house we were staying in with a friend. Nevertheless, we are planning to go soon, but stay away from San Jose as much as possible. Shalom.

Hey, thanks for the sub, David. I hope that you enjoy Jacó. For the first years that I was in Costa Rica, I avoided Jacó because I always heard people (ticos and foreigners) talk bad about it. They said that it was overly commercial with a full share of Vegas-like debauchery. When I finally got around to actually visiting, I didn't see any of that. I'm guessing that if a person was looking for it, then could find it, but it wasn't like people were doing bumps out on the street, or handing out flyers like they do in Vegas. I get why people criticize Jacó in comparison to more rustic beach towns. I love them. But, man, sometimes after a long day of adventuring, it's nice to stay in a luxurious condo on the beach, with city amenities and plenty of options.

I think that places like Barva and San Rafael de Heredia are often unjustly overlooked as long-term retirement or relocation destinations. They're higher up the mountain, with nice weather, and on the edge of the GAM, and all of the services and amenities that you get in the city. Now, about the automobile traffic... :-|

Oh, Bill. You have to check out the southern Caribbean. I, at least, *like* almost every part of the country that I have visited. But I loooovvveeee visiting the area around PV & Cahuita. I'd put the Cahuita National Park and Manzanillo-Gandoca park on your agenda. So beautiful and relatively undeveloped.

Thank you. That is so nice of you to say.

@@chifrijojones You’re most welcome.

September is not a bad time to visit. I’m glad that you had a good time. Hope that you get to back soon. ✌🏼

I’m glad that you liked it.

How do you like pacific side and how is it different from Atlantic? How is the snorkeling and diving there?

@@murket99 I like it. I do a lot of fishing there, I don't dive though. I've snorkeled once but the water clarity was not good due to the rainy season. In the dry season it is better bc there isn't as much runoff from the mountains and the clarity better.

Thanks for the kind words.

I hope that you have a great time!

Thank you. I’m gathering a bunch more material next month in order to make more videos about other parts of the country.

“In today’s weather…” 😂 Thank you.

Thanks, Monique.

Thanks, Chelsie! These little videos are fun to make. I've heard great things about Playa Avellanas. I hope to make it up that way in 2021. :-) Pura vida.

love it

I am from east coast US looking to travel to the El Remanso lodge in the Osa Peninsula, thank you for your advice

@Manuel Alfaro great advice you’re absolutely right! I used to live in Cahuita and the locals say best time to visit is September or around when you said, nice tip friend!

That's totally cool, Fraser. I'm glad that you liked Montezuma. It's on my list of locations about which to make a future video.

Ha! Thanks.

It is my pleasure. Thanks for the kind comment.

I can’t even imagine what it was like the 70s. ✌🏼

Black ladies on their rocking chairs on the decks, no paved roads, we had a shack on the beach, all our fruit and Vegs were in the back yard. The four of us were the only white people there for months. The VW van sat in the back yard Rustin till we started it in 1976 and left have not been back since then, fond times!

Thanks, Leo. I’ve worked hard to improve my Spanish. And, yes, funny stuff inadvertently comes out of my mouth pretty regularly. 😂 It’s all good. There was a time earlier in my studies when I struggled pronouncing some “r” sounds. For example, the middle “r” in cargar. No matter how hard I tried when I tried to say something like, “tengo que cargar mi teléfono,” I dropped that middle “r” and it came out,”tengo que cagar mi teléfono.” Talk about people laughing. 😂🤣

I’m going to have to check that out. Thanks for the recommendation.

@@chifrijojones Sure you bet, nice people and killer patty. If you haven't gotten down to Manzanillo or Gandoca yet, both beautiful spots and head to Sixaola where you can pop into Panama for the day, Changuinola has good cheap shopping and Bocas is a short bus and water taxi ride too. Saludos

I haven't spent as much time on the southern zone as I'd like. I've heard that Drake Bay is amazing.

She was a great guide! I hope that all is well with her.

your sister really looks as a happy girl 😄 love from Costa Rica 🇨🇷

her Spanish is perfect too

I enjoy a cold bottle myself with some ceviche (or of course some chifrijo).

@@chifrijojones oh my god definitely chifrijo yes , 👌 on December I will be there 🙏🥂

Hopefully he’s as cute as a sloth.

I’m not at all a meteorologist, so there are many others more qualified to speak about this. However, it’s my understanding and experience that strong deadly hurricanes rarely directly hit land in the southern Caribbean zone of Costa Rica. Apparently, hurricanes don’t form between five degrees of latitude of the equator. Also, northern hemisphere hurricanes almost always move northwest. Puerto Viejo de Talamanca is at 9.6 degrees from the equator. This means that Atlantic hurricanes tend to pass north of the southern Caribbean zone. The likelihood of a hurricane causing you any serious trouble is very low. If indeed your trip is impacted by a hurricane, it will most likely be indirect, from a hurricane that passes to the north. I hope that you enjoy your trip.

It’s almost always relatively warm. Right now, the area has been inundated by significant floods, so much so that the road from Limón to PV is closed. I’m sure that there are places to spend a night between the airport and PV. Maybe someone reading this is aware of a place. For me, if I was flying in to SJO in the afternoon, I’d stay the night near the airport and then depart for PV early in the morning. The sun starts to break around 5:30 and it’ll be plenty bright to drive by 6am. Assuming no road problems (which can be a big assumption) you’ll roll into PV around 11am or so. I love the Caribbean side of CR, but you have to be ready to go with the flow and roll with the punches when it comes to infrastructure. They’re building a new highway which will connect the Central Valley to Limón, that will supposedly make it much easier to travel between the two. It’s not done yet. I hope that you have fun on your trip.

It was the end of June.

In the Caribbean, “rainy” season can seem like the whole year. In Jacó and Manuel Antonio, the rainy is normally ending as we get into December. It’ll probably be over in La Fortuna and the Arenal area. Please keep in mind that during rainy season it doesn’t always rain. It can rain hard and long but normally there is just a nice afternoon shower. And, during dry season, there can be some rain. The seasons aren’t 100% one way or the other. I’m in Heredia right now, and the weather was mainly just cloudy yesterday.

Thank you!

I am not sure about August.

It's one of my favorite foods.

Looks like the owners retired: qcostarica.com/win-a-restaurant-in-puerto-viejocosta-rica-its-for-real/

Most likely yes. You can reach out to them via their website at www.jaguarrescue.foundation/

The East coast, Caribbean side is clear water for snorkeling but is not well developed. The West coast has waves for surfing and more developed but much more expensive and the water is very murky. You can swim on either side. You will need to know Spanish outside of San Jose, and through most of the capital as well. My last time I was there, it has become much more expensive equal to any tourist spot in the US. I won't be going back because most of the charm has been replace with rip offs and thievery. Sorry to report that. The country side is beautiful but be very wary of reckless drivers. Take the big buses for travel not the small more expensive ones. The big buses still pass on blind curves on two lane roads. If you rent a car, be prepared to pay BIGLY. The gas is expensive too.

You should check out my video about Puerto Limón. It touches more on that topic.

email us at info@costaricatravel.tips

@@chifrijojones Thank you. I just wrote you an email :)

That’s probably not feasible. Even before the pandemic, unemployment was high. Now, more than one in five ticos are unemployed. There is also the legal aspect, about which I’m not an expert. Most of the working English-speaking expats that I know in Costa Rica work remotely for companies and organizations in their country of origin. Sorry if that’s not answer that you were hoping for, but it’s the truth as I know it.

That's good to know. I've spent a good amount of time in Sámara but not much in Nosara. Do you recommend it?

Great point.

Right now there aren't any mask requirements except maybe in medical facilities. I just spent a few weeks in the Central Pacific and Central Valley and didn't see hardly anyone wearing them.