Apr/100
Matapalo Beach On The Osa Peninsula – The Secret Hideaway Of Costa Rica
We had the great opportunity to visit my friends who live in Puerto Jimenez, a cute town on the Osa Peninsula. It's full of expats and I fell in love with it to the point that we were considering moving there for a while. Puerto Jimenez itself is a fairly big town with a population reaching well into the thousand, maybe even 2.
During the trip, our friends took us another one hour south to visit a teeny coastline village. Just the drive over there will give you an experience of a life time. The road was so bad, that were told that during the rainy season the residents (which is about 90% foreigners) have to either stock up for 3 months, or fly into Puerto Jimenez due to floods and total washouts.
Thankfully my friends drive a big bad 4x4 so we were able to tackle some of the rough terrain. That was because at some points cows blocked the roads we also saw sleepy iguanas chewed leaves from the surrounding trees.
When we finally arrived we saw that there is not actual town per say, it's just a bunch of hidden houses and eco lodges all along the rocky coastline with virgin rain forest as the back drop. There is also little foot paths allow you to experience the place way better than driving a car.
We headed to explore since my friend's son and my son in the water all day and my husband helping out by hanging out in the water with them. We snuck onto a few properties under construction with unbelievable views.
The funny part is that we got lost on one of the hiking trails that is supposed to hug the coast, but instead was so rocky that we almost fell to our deaths. However, the beach where we ended up hanging out was deserted, with plenty of shade and perfect for a homemade BBQ.
All the eco lodges offer plenty of tours to the surrounding jungle and take you on tours to Corcovado National Park, quoted by National Geographic as the most biologically intense place on Earth!
Marina K. Villatoro, lives in Central America - Costa Rica and Guatemala for the past decade. She has traveled all over these areas with her family and now she loves to organize vacations to Costa Rica and Guatemala. Contact her for advice and to plan your perfect trip!