Our Trip to Nosara, Costa Rica

In lieu of Christmas gifts most years, Justin and I prefer to “treat” each other to an experience of some variety. We always love the idea of memories over memorabilia, so to speak. Plus, after almost 11 years together, we’ve almost run out of gift ideas – ha! This year we decided that it’d be nice to sneak away together late winter, right before all things wedding started getting hectic. 

While scrolling through Instagram one Saturday night, I happened upon a local designer who had just visited Nosara, Costa Rica, and stayed at the most incredible boutique hotel, the Nomadic. I immediately started googling and not only was the hotel beyond lovely, but the town of Nosara checked all of the right boxes and then some. Slightly off the beaten path (check), quiet (check), sleepy (check), with live music and delicious food on various evenings each week (check!)

We found a great flight, and immediately booked our tickets and stay. At that point, things really started to pick up for both of us at work and in life, which meant that we had no time to plan a single thing for our trip. The type A in me used to panic at the thought, but my more zenned out personality has recently started taking over and I loved the idea of really, truly, going with the flow. And Nosara, Costa Rica, couldn’t have been the more perfect place to do just that. 

Nosara itself is the most beautiful little gem of a place. It’s tiny which means you can walk just about everywhere, which I loved. It’s filled with ample beaches (perfect for surfing), lovely restaurants, and the most chilled out vibe of any place we’ve ever been. Everyone is kind, friendly, welcoming, helpful, and it was just plain lovely from beginning to end. And while we don’t often visit the same place twice, simply because there’s still so much left of the world we’d like to explore, we’ve already begun to plan our next trip back. 

Here’s a quick peek at some of the highlights of our trip. I also shared some coles notes, below, so that you can check out where we stayed, where we ate (I only listed the ones that we’d definitely visit again), and what we did (aside from beach bumming it most days).  

{La Luna Restaurant}

{our beautiful hotel}

{champagne on the beach at La Luna}

{surfer’s paradise}

{pretty little details – everywhere}

{the gilded iguana}

SEE

A Monkey Sanctuary
Ziplining
The beach at sunset, every night (everyone goes down to salute the sun each evening)

STAY

The Nomadic

EAT

Robins Ice Cream
Burgers & Beers
Beach Dog Cafe (for the open mic night)
La Luna (make sure you make reservations before sunset)
Al Chile
10 Pies
Olo Alaia (the best iced coffee)
Harmony Hotel

Other great hotels:

The Gilded Iguana
Harmony Hotel