Santa Catalina - Surfer's Paradise

Our plan was to bus it to Santa Catalina from Boca Brava, which is easily an 8 hour day (or more) of travel, on several different buses.  We got word of Brad, the owner at Hotel Boca Brava, heading to Santa Catalina that day, so we were lucky enough to hitch a ride, along with the Polish couple we met on the island.  All five of us crammed into Brad's station wagon, with 2 of our bags tied up on the top racks with some lumber he was transporting.  We stopped in Santiago, at a hardware store, and dropped off the Polish couple, as they were to stay with some friends in Santiago for the night.  We helped Brad tie some new patio chairs onto the top of the car, and we were off towards the beach.  We ended up staying at his other hotel in Santa Catalina that night, called Surfside Inn, that was really nice as well.  Only problem, was our room had no screen on the window, and hoards of mosquitoes were coming in.  We survived the night, and enjoyed cooking in the kitchen he had there.  We headed up the road a little ways, and spent the next four nights at Surfer's Paradise, where we camped right on the cliff for only $5 a night.  The view was spectacular.

We are not surfers, but Santa Catalina is a gorgeous place to visit, and very relaxing.  Keep in mind, that it's fairly undeveloped, and the only stores are 2 small markets, with minimal selections.  Also, there's no ATM in town, so keep that in mind!  There are several dive shops in town, and island trips are popular to book through here as well.  Glad we visited!

Our campsite on the cliff at "Surfer's Paradise" Hostel

The view from "Pinguino's" restaurant 

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!