This trip was by far the most exciting and adventurous trip we have yet been on! Not to mention the fact that my sister and brother in law joined us which made it everything much more exciting! We booked our trip back in February for a travel date in June–bookings were done through expedia.com. We were able to coordinate our flights, hotel, and airport transportation all through Expedia. (Pretty much my go-to for flights) As soon as our trip was booked we were welcomed through email by the resort manager to help us in any way...and that we did! My sister would email him for everything! haha We were emailing him questions like "how is the weather? is it raining every day? if we forget to wear bug spray will we get Zika? is it safe?" Our questions were a bit overboard but we were so thankful for this open communication! And off to planning, we went! Below is a video of some of our favorite highlights and our hopes of capturing Costa Rica's beauty!

OUR ITINERARY :

DAY 1 : TRAVEL - We flew out of MIA landed in Panama City and then to land in San Jose, Costa Rica. Once we arrived we were escorted to pick up our rental car and off we were to UVITA!! Our drive time was about 3 hours and totally 100% safe! Extremely picturesque! My two tips if you are able to find a direct flight take it! Also, some rental car places offer a wifi hotspot we rented one and it was totally worth it! We took that little thing with us everywhere, extremely portable and lightweight too! Once we arrived at our resort we relaxed, napped, ate and sat by the pool for the remainder of the evening.

DAY 2 :

WHALE TALE - We were so eager to begin our day we woke up at the crack of dawn ate breakfast and headed over to Whale Tale for our first excursion - snorkeling/island hopping/whale searching. This was my favorite excursion of all and my favorite beach. This beach was like nothing I had ever seen in my life, when we first arrived the tide was so low. It was breathtaking! I was obsessed with the color of the sand, it was such a deep rich tan and the endless palm trees! The excursion was a dream and my favorite. I am a sucker for boat rides, the ocean was incredibly calm. Like too calm..I'm sure you noticed in the video it almost seemed like we were on a lake, but it was the ocean. Our tour guide kept telling us that we most likely wouldn't get to see any whales and that we might get to see dolphins...well the Lord blessed us because we saw both!! I couldn't believe that I got to see a whale! The dolphins were my favorite they were like little puppies dancing around us–flipping, jumping and swimming all around our boat! The cutest ever!

DAY 3 : MANUEL ANTONIO

This excursion was such an adventure...and the most breathtaking beach! In order to get to the beach you literally had to walk through a jungle! Which was so incredible we were able to see so much wildlife from monkeys, snakes, to everything in between! Mike and Chris were having such a blast and of course Niza and I were too just by seeing their excitement! At one point, I was starting to get a little antsy because I just wanted to see the beach and thought we were never going to get there but when we did, my mouth just dropped! I couldn't help but be in complete awe of God's glory, He literally took my breath away. The water was so clear but it was surrounded by so many beautiful luscious mountains. Visiting Manuel Antonio was totally worth it, the only draw back is getting to the national park, because it felt like walk through New York's Chinatown, so many people are approaching you selling all kinds of different things. Little Tip, you do not need a tour guide on this excursion, just go ahead and purchase your entry ticket that is all you will need.

DAY 4 :

CORCOVADO - If you are looking for wildlife visiting Corcovado is an absolute must! This island is completely untouched and it's beauty is indescribable. As soon as we touched land the captain was warning us to stay clear from the lagoon because that is the crocodiles sunbathing spot....this was extremely hard to do because the lagoon was soo beautiful and the water so clear!!

DAY 5 : EXPLORED UVITA ON A SIDE BY SIDE - Mike's favorite day by far! Mike is a lover of all things tough, rough, and dangerous. We had the option to each get our own fourwheelers or get two side by sides and we were so thankful we went with the side by sides. Niza and I aren't much for riding dirty (haha) but the ride was so rough, we literally would have never been able to drive alone which would have hindered the boys from enjoying their ride. This excursion was like being on the set of a movie, it started off so beautiful and smooth then it started to rain which caused it to get muddy and rough. This excursion also included stopping at some of the most beautiful waterfalls one of them where Chris and Mike went cliff jumping!!

DAY 6 : TRAVEL - Trip is over...next stop Miami, Florida.

***All of our excursions were booked through the Hotel Manager, it was easy convenient and trustworthy.*** We stayed at the Oxygen Villas Resort our trip cost including airfare and hotel was $1800 after booking the excursions and tips trip total came out to $4300. Our trip took place the last week of June - beginning of July so because of the holiday (4th of July) our hotel and flights were on the more expensive side but if you book your trip during the off season it is like half the price!! If you have any other questions feel free to email me or comment below!! xoxo

COSTA RICA ALL THE DETAILS