Dominical: Pacific surf beauty

Our first time away from our friends, and on our own.  We left Perez Zeledon that morning, jumped on the very packed bus to Dominical, and arrived within about 2 hours down the winding mountain road.  Spent 2 nights in Dominical, met some cool people, and continued on our way.  We spent our first night at Tortilla Flats hostel, which was kind of scummy.  We arrived just at sunset, and the first two hostels we tried were full, so we kept walking towards the beach and found Tortilla Flats.  It's literally right on the beach, so the location is great, but the room was upstairs from the bar, very noisy, and there were bugs in the bed.  At about 4am, the trash men came to empty the dumpster, and the room was instantly filled with the scent of rotting papaya, which is not a pleasant smell!  Our second night was spent right down the path, at Antorchas hostel, which was cheaper, and much better.  Some points of interest in Dominical:

Maracatu: It's a restaurant with a vegetarian theme, serving fresh seafood as well.  They often have live music, and they serve a local Costa Rican craft beer on tap.  

The Refuge: A killer burger joint just down the beach, towards the south.  It's underneath the hostel called Pyramis.  Huge burgers, made with fresh ingredients.  Really a treat, when traveling!

Dominical has a couple small markets, an ATM just up the road on the highway (walking distance), and several hostel options.  You can also camp on the beach.  Infact, most places in Costa Rica you can camp on the beach, but you should use caution, especially if you walk away from your belongings even for a minute.  We witnessed a guy, on his last night in Costa Rica, camped on the beach in Dominical, walk over to the bar for a beer, and when he returned to his hammock and bag, they were both gone.  Luckily his passport was in his pocket, but it was a necessary reminder to us, and all, to watch your stuff!