Backpacker´s Guide to visiting Manuel Antonio

One of the paradises that Costa Rica offers you is Manuel Antonio Park, you should definitely put it on your travel list.

Manuel Antonio is located 170 km. from San Jose, on the coast of the province of Puntarenas.

How to get here?

Well guys here we bring you a quick guide of Manuel Antonio, so you don't feel alone when you get here

1. Uber is legal and very cheap in Costa Rica !! Take an uber to the Tracopa Transport Terminal. We stayed at Selina Hostel and took the 6 am bus. so the uber cost us very cheap 1350 colones ($ 2.4). There are many schedules to leave until 7.30 pm. We recommend that you go to http://horariodebuses.com/ES/cr/ this page helps us a lot to know the schedules of public buses on our trip to Costa Rica and Panama.

2. At the Terminal, take the bus to Quepos, it costs 5020 colones ($ 9) and takes 3 hours. Buses leave every 30 min. but there are some hours that don't, so check the website!

3. When you arrive in Quepos, there is a bus that takes you to the center of Manuel Antonio, it is very close between 30 - 45 min. and it costs 340 colones ($ 0.6). Guys along the way there are many hotels and hostels so stay tuned for your whereabouts and let the driver know! Here we give you a traveler tip, download the maps.pe app and when you have WiFi download the map of the country where you are. So do not have internet anywhere in the world if you have the map downloaded you can put the site where you are going and you will know where to go or in this case where to get off the bus.

You can also rent a car in San José. Here the rent is very cheap and the more days you book, the price is lower. We do not take it because we are under 25 years old and that is why they charge you more than the rent. Although we do not rent the car we find out a lot about this, here we leave what we found:

• Costa Rica is a tropical country because there are roads that you can find mud and mud, so we highly recommend that you rent a 4x4 although it is more expensive than other cars. Seriously guys are not stingy there are places where a small car can not stand.

• We found that public transport is very cheap, but there are routes that do not exist these buses, or they take a long time (such as Santa Teresa - Tamarindo), so if you do not have much time to lose we recommend that you rent a 4x4 truck.

• The rental price for 15 days was around $ 190. If you are under 25, it will be $ 200 more for the 15 days. And well it is sure it is something complicated so it will be about $ 300, approximately.

• Remember to rent the truck at least two weeks before, believe us it is cheaper.

You can also take the shuttles that are all over Costa Rica, they are more comfortable than public buses, faster and more direct but they are much more expensive. The shuttle from San José to Manuel Antonio is $ 65, and you can take it from Selina de San José.

What things to do in Manuel Antonio?

We tell you that there are many things to do in Manuel Antonio, the vegetation is impressive and the beaches too !! Unfortunately we only did two things that we will tell you here: The Manuel Antonio Park Reserve This place was our favorite in Manuel Antonio and is the one you should put as a priority! It is super simple to get here, you just have to take the public bus to the center, which runs every time and will cost you 340 colones ($ 0.6). When you arrive, ask where is the entrance to the park (If you are not shy, ask how much you can !!), here you can buy your ticket that is $ 16 and tour the park, everything is marked so it is impossible for you to get lost, so don't worry be happy. They can take a guided tour that will cost them more, around $ 25, and well the difference is that the guides know where the animals are and make you see. But the truth is that animals are free, so it's a matter of luck if you approach. We took it without a tour and well we didn't see any animals, but we heard many who saw monkeys and others.

You can enter the park from 8 am - 4 pm. Yes guys 4 pm does not mean they close the entrance, it means they literally throw you out of the park at 4 pm, so go early! The park is not very big but it has many roads so it took us 4 hours to go through it (almost running because we were late ...), we recommend that you travel all the roads and that in the end you will relax at the beautiful beach !! The beaches to visit are Las Gemelas, Espadilla Sur, and the one we liked the most was Manuel Antonio Beach, it is really beautiful. There are other beaches outside Manuel Antonio Park where you can visit: Playa Espadilla Norte and Playa Biesanz, these are very nice too.

Campesinos Ecolodge

This place is very unpopular, most tourists do not go to this place, but we researched a lot and saw that we would very much like to visit this special place !! Los Campesinos Ecolodge is a hotel in nature 1 hour from Manuel Antonio, and is known for an impressively long suspension bridge at an intimidating height (127 meters long and 40 meters high). Here you will also find waterfalls with green crystalline waters. How do we get there? As it turns out, it is not very easy, there are very few agencies that offer it and it costs $ 125, come here. If you have a car, then feel lucky, since it is only 1 hour away and that if there is a part that is unpaved. Well, we got a taxi that charged us $ 80 for 3 to take us and bring us to this place. We got the taxi with our beautiful friend Faber who works at the Selina Hostel. You can also find taxis in Quepos and negotiate the price (always). The entrance fee is $ 8, and for $ 10 more you can have lunch here, lunch is buffet and it is the typical Costa Rican married, beans, rice, salad, chicken. We really liked the food, but for $ 5 you can get married very rich in Manuel Antonio.

Where to stay?

There are many hotels and hostels here. We stayed in our faithful Selina, this hostel is beautiful, its view is towards nature, really amazing !! But it is not facing the sea. It cost us $11 per person per night (the cheapest room), but this price varies by season and days. We found some friends who stayed in a beachfront hostel called Hostel Plinio. We recommend that you use the Hostelworld app, here you will find many lodging options, although this charges a commission, sometimes on the same hostel page the price is cheaper.

Where to eat?

Well guys, in Costa Rica the food is expensive, typically we spend between $ 10-20 per day. Depending on where you eat, your expenses will be, if you prefer restaurants, their prices are around $ 10-30 per dish. There are also Sodas! They are the typical places in Costa Rica where they serve the so-called "Married", this is a dish where you get a meat, beans, rice and salad; definitely at least once you must try it !! And the cost is around $ 5.