International Living Magazine - July 2018

The Caribbean Coast

By Jason Holland

In towns like Manzanillo, you’ll find some of the most stunning beaches in Costa Rica.

 

All Costa Rica is a land of Pura Vida. But the Caribbean coast takes this relaxed attitude to the greatest extreme. It’s a place where beach bars play reggae as patrons knock back cold beers. Locals slowly ride bicycles rusted from the salt air down the winding coast road. And beach-goers doze lazily in hammocks strung between trees on the beach, pondering a dip in the clear blue water.

Settled by Jamaicans and other Caribbean peoples starting more than 100 years ago, the area still has a strong “island” vibe. The descendants of those original immigrants have retained a unique culture of food (lots of coconut milk and spices), music (reggae and calypso), and language (they speak an island-inflected English and an English creole).

The settled part of this coast starts in the port city of Limón and points south (to the north is a huge wildlife refuge). In towns like Cahuita and Puerto Viejo de Talamanca, and the communities around them like Playa Chiquita, Playa Cocles, Punta Uva, and Manzanillo, you’ll find some of the most stunning beaches in Costa Rica: unspoiled stretches of white, black, and golden sand backed by palm trees and thick jungle.

Like most coastal areas in the tropics, it can be warm and humid—high 80s F to low 90s F most days. But sea breezes also help cut the heat, and temperatures cool down significantly after dark. Pamela Carpenter, 79, moved here in 1989. “I really wanted to live in the jungle… in the tropics,” says Pamela, who worked as a teacher in North Carolina.

“I’m here sitting in my living room looking over my garden; the house is totally open. Hummingbirds fly in all the time,” says Pamela, who has ginger, heliconias, and fruit trees like mangosteen, guanabana, and banana surrounding her home. Like Pamela, most people here live in the jungle, usually within a quick walk or bike ride to the beach.

Businesses are small and locally run: boutiques, yoga studios, and seafood restaurants. Seafood is cheap, as many locals still go out every day on their boats, for tuna, snapper, and mahi-mahi—$6 a pound. Caribbean-style restaurants offering up spicy chicken and rice cooked with coconut milk will run you $5 to $6 a plate.

“There have been lots of improvements over the years and better services,” says Pamela. “But even now, people who come here have to be flexible. You have to be relaxed… and be comfortable with the natural environment.”