I fell in love with life at the Wipeout Hostel in Playa Hermosa, Costa Rica!

 It was a rainy day when I got the email from my local surf group to come be apart of a pot luck gathering. As we were all talking about places we wanted to go surfing, one of the youngest members mentioned she was getting ready to go on a backpack surf and hiking trip by herself for her 25th Birthday. It was her coming of age celebration. One of her Mentors who is the President's wife of the organization was worried about her going alone and was saying she wish someone could go with her. 

 I told her, I've always wanted to do a "Hippie Backpack Trip" in another Country but the age range of my friends being in their mid to late forties like myself at the time was near impossible to get them to participate in that kind of thing. 

Typically, my group likes 5 Star Hotels, fine dining with attire for brunch, mid-day for touristy excursions, evening and clubbing for the night. Don't get me wrong, I used to pack up two luggage's with clothes and enjoy doing all those things too. Her Mentor knew I was self-employed and traveled quite often, asked if I could go with her then she would pay for my Plane ticket right away and I could give it back to her at a later date. 

I needed to get away to preserve my mental health and explore other locations outside of the US to live. We would be traveling on the Pacific side of Costa Rica for 2 1/2 weeks with only what could fit in our backpacks.

 Only our first 3 days were planned then we would wing it and go with the flow to wherever the wind or inspiration took us next. The mission was to have as much of a local experience as possible, taking local buses, boats, eating at local restaurants called Sodas and supporting local businesses which are typically not always in the same location of the main touristy areas. Can you imagine the excitement I felt with finally being able to do this kind of adventure! I was completely blown away 

Landing in San Jose, Costa Rica is the capital  and largest city there that everyone arrives in first  before going to different parts of the Country or you can also fly into Liberia. Getting off the Plane with our backpacks, no baggage to claim, heading out the door, walking across the road to take their local buses  was super cool. We stayed at one of their local hostels for the night that was a popular favorite for Tourist around the World on a blog we had read, it was about $17

The next morning we took a bus heading towards Playa Hermosa where we met up with two Dudes who owned the Wipeout Hostel which was designed for surfers. My surf Sista who I was traveling with had already made arrangements to stay there a couple of days as our starting point. They had just opened their business and wanted People to stay there in exchange for an honest review. Both of them are surfers, one is a local Tiko, the other Martine from Venezuela. We drove to the grocery store before heading to the spot where we met up with their girlfriends to buy a few things. In case you are unfamiliar with hostels. They are designed to bring and prepare your own meals as well as share a room 2 to 10 People depending on which one you go to.

Fortunately for us, even though there were 4 bunkbeds in our room, we didn't have to share with anyone else. We were actually the only guest there at the time.  Most Hostels also have rooms that two People by themselves for a higher price but certainly less than what you'd pay for at a regular hotel because of the communal accommodations. 

Some are separated by gender, others are co-ed which is not my particular preference.

In fact, a week later on this trip as were visiting other cities, we ran into that situation at this beautiful looking hostel. When we asked to see the room, we realized it was co-ed.  When I tell you we made a you turn up out of their so quick, moving on to another one down the street walking extra fast was easy when carry just a backpack. 

Anyways, there are two Playas Hermosa's in Costa Rica, we were on the Central Pacific near Jaco, the other is between Playa Panama and Playa del Coo in the Guanacaste Province. Hermosa means beautiful in Spanish.

 It's known for it's black sand beaches that was formed from volcanic rock, scuba diving, snorkeling, surfing, horseback riding, marine fauna  and black butterflies which had me running down the road almost screaming  because all I saw was a black swarm with neon green specks of fluttering coming my way, I had never seen anything like that. 

Once I could tell what they were, I was so mesmerized by their beauty. This screenshot of one I captured was a video of me talking to it when it was dying because it got clipped by a car on it's wing so  I was doing a ceremonial prayer for it. You can see on the left, the wing was broken.   

Visiting the open markets were fun because they had all the local fruits and vegetables to purchase.  I am mostly plant based so organic fresh produce are the superfoods I for first. It's especially cool to try new fruits and vegetables that I've never tried before. The host were into plant based meals, yoga and that whole "Pura Vida" (pure life) lifestyle so we appreciated that so much that we had the same interest in common.

I would say Playa Hermosa is one of the more quieter sides, feels less touristy which we both absolutely wanted. It felt like a home away from home. People carrying on with their usual day, the air was fresh and the Ocean views were in the distance slightly covered by the trees until we headed for the Hostel. 

This was the view from our bedroom which had a Pool deck in the backyard. The Wipeout Hostel had a quiver of surfboards there to use, they offer surf instruction if needed and will take you to all their local surf spots. The rooms were spacious and clean. Let me emphasize spotless clean because a lot of Hostels aren't this clean and this place set the standard for how we judge them now, lol. Once you get this, nothing less will ever do. 

We felt very comfortable like as if staying at a friends house. We cooked in the evening together, shared lots of laughs and our stories. It was the experience I really wanted learning about other individuals journey, especially in entrepreneurship. It's important that we inspire and learn from one another. I also enjoyed the Coffee they had there, honestly I've been looking for it online forever. 

It's the best Coffee, I believe I've ever tasted. It was so fresh and I didn't even need cream for it. That's never happened so if you know where or how I can find it please let a Sista know. The Chilera as well tasted so good on my beans and rice. I noticed they pretty much serve it along side every dish in the Sodas there as well  and it's awesome. I have not been able to find either one here in the US. 

The Hostel was surrounded by beautiful trees and you could here all the amazing sounds of different birds singing in the background. 

They took us to a few surf spots showing us around which they are known for having really good breaks. Unfortunately, although it was very beautiful, I was not a fan of paddling out in dark water caused by the hue of the greyish black sand.  So we ended up just enjoying a refreshing day at the Beach.

 The beach breaks there I would say were mostly for short boarders so it wasn't a big deal if I rode some waves or not, it was so nice to be there and feel relaxed and shedding off all the stress my life had appeared to be before I left. 

Life was good at this point. I was more than happy to be getting to tap out  and into this grand moment in time to feel weightless and whimsical. Only being present with that moment in time. The few times I did look at my phone there were these motivational messages that popped up on my feed and this one really carried me through the trip .

The evenings were warm as we did Sun salutations while we watched the sunset with with the Owners Girlfriends who were Yoga Instructors for the Hostel. We watched horses pass us by walking along the beach letting us know it was just a normal day in paradise. It made me realize that life is still good and I fell in love with it all over again. Simply divine. 

Have you been to Jaco, Costa Rica? You might like this post https://www.creativelycultured.com/2022/12/i-lost-my-mind-in-jaco-costa-rica-but.html