Moon Spotlight Costa Rica's Caribbean Coast by Christopher P. Baker

Author:Christopher P. Baker
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Avalon Travel
Published: 2015-01-15T00:00:00+00:00

Accommodations and Food

No camping is permitted on the beach. You can camp under palms at Camping Manzanillo (tel. 506/2759-9008, $5 pp) and at the Casa de Guías MANT ($8 pp), which also has Internet access.

Budget travelers gravitate to Cabinas Maxi (tel. 506/2759-9073, standard $25 s/d, with fridge and TV $35 s/d), adjoining Restaurant/Bar Maxi. It has six modern, clean, simple concrete cabinas with TVs, fans, bamboo furnishings, and private baths.

The Dutch-run Cabinas Faya Lobi (tel. 506/2759-9167, www.cabinasfayalobi.com, $99 s/d) is a more upscale option in a modern two-story building with black stone highlights. It has four cross-ventilated rooms with stone floors and quaint baths with hot water and mosaics, plus Wi-Fi. They share a simple kitchen and an open-air lounge with hammocks. The owners also rent a “jungle house” called Jungle Dreamz (www.jungledreamz.com, from $180 s/d, 2-night minimum), a cozy two-bedroom bungalow in a lush garden setting.

Epitomizing laid-back tropical sophistication, the thatched S Congo Bongo (tel. 506/2759-9016, www.congo-bongo.com, from $145 s/d) is set in a former cacao plantation (now reverting to rainforest) 10 minutes’ walk west of Manzanillo. Blending perfectly with its setting, it has an adorable, agreeably rustic mood and motif to each of its seven distinct cabins, billed as “vacation homes.” All have batik fabrics, mosquito nets, kitchens, and broad shady patios with sofas and rockers. It’s just you and the rainforest animals. A trail leads to the beach.

Part safari camp, part boutique hotel, Almonds & Corals Lodge Tent Camp (tel. 506/2271-3000 or 506/2759-9056, www.almondsandcorals.com, low season $145-245 s/d, high season $195-295 s/d), three kilometers (2 miles) north of Manzanillo, has a lonesome forest setting a few leisurely steps from the beach. Each of 24 tent “pavilions,” connected by lamp-lit boardwalks, is raised on a stilt platform and features mosquito nets and a deck with a hammock—a touch of Kenya come to the Caribbean. Separate junior suites and suites are even nicer. Each cabin has its own shower and toilet in separate washhouses. Raised walkways lead to the beach, pool, snack bar, and restaurant serving Costa Rican food. You can rent kayaks, bicycles, and snorkeling gear.

The ultimate expression of rusticity, Restaurant/Bar Maxi (tel. 506/2759-9073, 11:30am-10pm daily, $5-15) serves típico dishes and seafood, such as pargo rojo (red snapper) and lobster. The gloomy disco-bar downstairs is enlivened by the slap of dominoes and the blast of Jimmy Cliff and Bob Marley, and the dancing spills out onto the sandy road. The upstairs has a breezy terrace and gets packed to the gills on weekends and holidays, even in the middle of the day. Service can be slow and indifferent.

Want something more personal? U.S. expats Andy and Molly will cook up delicious seafood—they’ll even take you out to sea, or under it, to catch your own lobster or snapper—at Cool & Calm Café (tel. 506/2750-3151, www.coolandcalmcafe.com, 4pm-9pm Mon., 11am-9pm Wed.-Sun.), a cool little bamboo structure in Manzanillo village. You’ll dine to reggae riffs.

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