Costa Rica - Arenas Del Mar

After all of our adventure so far in the volcano & the cloud forest, we headed towards the rain forest & the beach in Manuel Antonio:

Of course it was raining when we got there but we could already tell this was going to be our favorite place! It is a smaller resort with less than 50 rooms & it is spread out over a mountainous rainforest. In fact, it was so spread out that they had golf carts that take you everywhere, including the drop off/reception area to the open air lobby:

We stayed at 2 sister properties, Senda & Arenas del Mar, so they upgraded us for free. We were on the 2nd floor of our villa & our friends were on the 3rd floor above us:

Our resort had access to 2 beaches, 1 private & 1 public so our room overlooked the public beach. We had amazing view with a 180 degree wrap around patio. This is the view from our side of the room:

The girls room is on the other side & they had a view overlooking the ocean:

We arrived late in the afternoon so after we settled in, we decided to stay at the resort for dinner that night. They were having a movie night for the kids & they had Disney Plus so they let the girls pick their movie, order dinner & after they were settled, Bryan & I had a dinner date by ourselves:

The next morning, we woke up & the rain had moved on. It was a gorgeous morning & we were so excited to start our day at our new resort. One of the other things I really liked about our room, is that they actually had the bed facing the ocean so you could lay in bed & actually see out. Do you know how many times I gripe about hotels because they always put the bed on a side wall facing the tv. On this particular morning, we woke up to the girls playing uno out on the patio. Not a bad way to start the day!

We headed downstairs & ate breakfast (which was also included!) in their open air restaurant which had amazing views! Literally, we would see sloths & monkeys while we were eating!

The food here was absolutely amazing - it is actually a certified gluten free resort so there were things here that we don't usually get elsewhere. Bryan was excited to have the fresh coconut water & fruit every morning:

We didn't plan much on this part of the trip since we had already done so much. We wanted to hit the beach & relax:

We headed to the private beach first which is kind of in a cove, smaller but has a ton of waves:

As soon as we got settled in, the girls grabbed boogie boards & headed out. They spent hours riding the waves:

Bryan & Sadie loved the waves & went pretty far out but Sophie was a little timid & stayed closer to shore:

It was cloudy most of the morning, but it never rained & then finally the sun came back out for the afternoon. We spent the entire day down here - playing volleyball, swimming in the pool & enjoying a few tropical treats:

Later in the afternoon, we signed up for a tortilla making class:

It was complimentary at our resort so we were excited to try it! The teacher, Ana, is a local who prepares all of the meals for the employees at the resort. She does not speak English so we also had a translator:

We used corn flour, salt & water for the main ingredients but her secret ingredients were queso blanco (white cheese) & sour cream. Two ingredients my family loves!

We all made our own & then we enjoyed the fruit of labor, hot & fresh off the griddle:

We had so much fun doing this & I have a feeling we will have to make our own tortillas at home now that we know how!

Our friends had done an excursion this day so we really hadn't seen them, until after this class. We met up with them at the lobby pool where the kids & the dads played a serious game of baseball in the water:

Then we all cleaned up & headed into town for dinner. Since we did private transportation for all of our transfers, we didn't have a car, but our friends did so we all piled in to make the short trek:

There is one little corner where most of the restaurants/bars/shops are and it's really not that far, but it is so mountainous it would be too hard to walk so we took turns putting kids in the trunk. Ha! This night we ate at:

It was a small little bar/restaurant upstairs with a view I believe, but it got dark so early there that we never made it to dinner before the sunset. This place was happening & kind of crowded but somehow they got us a table & squeezed the kids in at the bar:

I call that a win for all of us! Double date for the adults & independence for the kids!