Montezuma, Costa Rica is paradise.

I called Montezuma, Costa Rica “paradise” more than any other place I’ve been.  It was perfect.  It was a tiny town, not as touched by tourists as other places we visited in Costa Rica.  The beach was so beautiful, and the water was the perfect temperature for swimming. The sunrises on the ocean were orange, brilliant, and breathtaking. It wasn’t expensive.  The weather was hot, but once we stepped in the shade, it was comfortable.  We saw a dozen monkeys.  The people were friendly and from all over the world.  It. Was. Paradise.

I hope you get the chance to visit.

What to do in Montezuma, Costa Rica:

If you find yourself in Montezuma, spend most of your time on the beach.

If you are like me, you will want to spend as much time on the beach as possible.  Montezuma ranks highest on the paradise list because the beach is SO accessible.  From our place, it was a 2 minute walk to the ocean.  There were plenty of hotels and hostels located almost directly on the beach.  I don’t think there are “private” beaches, so you are free to walk and lay wherever you choose.

You don’t really need much of an explanation for this one. Just walk to the beach and enjoy 🙂

But if you’re up for a longer beach walk…

I would HIGHLY recommend walking to Playa Grande beach.  We head out on a leisurely beach walk and ended up walking for an hour to this beach.  Some of the trail is through the rainforest.  You’ll pass a fresh water stream as well.  Follow the surfers, and watch out for monkeys!  We saw about a dozen.  The surf at Playa Grande is good for surfers and great for just floating out in the ocean.  It was so perfect.  We met some girls who were walking to Playa Cocolito (about a 2 hour walk from Montezuma), which apparently has some beach waterfalls that I’d love to check out.  Unfortunately, we didn’t pack water or prepare at all for that type of hike, and Kyle was already over me saying “Please, let’s just walk a little farther.”

One of the many monkeys we saw during our walk.

Eat!

Eat at the local restaurants.  The Bakery Café seemed to be the best option for breakfast.  Their smoothies looked amazing, and their “typical” breakfast was one of my favorites of the trip.  Puggos had amazing sushi and a super friendly waitress.  Since we were only there for a few days, check out this website to see all of your options.

Hike the waterfalls.

Do the waterfalls.  You must.  It’s a very short hike to the trailhead, and a mildly strenuous hike up to the middle, highest falls.  The hike to the lower falls is pretty easy.  I read this blog about how to get to the waterfalls, but we ended up having a local guide us all the way up.  He even showed Kyle how to jump off the middle falls.  I definitely gave Kyle the puppy dog please don’t do this eyes, but he jumped and didn’t die (phew).  It seems that locals like to help people get up there?  We thought maybe he was doing it for money, but he never made it seem that way.  So nice.

Once you’re on the trail, it’s easy to follow. If you go past the lower falls, there are some steep areas that require you to hold onto ropes to get yourself up and down. I would rate it mildly difficult.

He also told us that if you walk a bit north of town, you can watch baby sea turtles make it into the ocean everyday at 4pm.  We found this out at 6pm on our last night, so we didn’t get to see them. I’ve tried to find more information on this online and haven’t found much.  So please ask a local and check this out for me if you go!

Sleep.

As far as accommodations go, there are plenty very close to town.  We stayed at Casa Susen, which could not have been much closer to the beach, and the view from the balcony was excellent.  The owner and her family were very nice and helpful.  We had monkeys outside our window, and there are options of your own bathroom or a shared one.  I would recommend it.

Ok, I am updating this blog in 2023. Casa Susen is somehow only $33/night. I honestly have no idea how it is that cheap. It’s not luxury accommodations, but it was nice. And it’s SO close to the beach. I am going to convince my husband we need to go back ASAP because it seems insane that we could stay in paradise for $33.

View of Casa Susen from the beach.

There are many other options in and around Montezuma.  You can take a bus to Santa Theresa.  Or hike in Cabo Blanco National Park.  You can go snorkeling in the blue waters.  You can take a day trip to Tortuga Island.  I hope to return one day to see more of this place.

If you’re like us and only have a few days.. lay on the beach, hike the waterfalls, relax, and soak it all in.

Walking on Playa Grande Beach

How to get to Montezuma, Costa Rica:

We arrived by bus, ferry, bus.  We were coming from Monteverde, Costa Rica.  We took a 6am bus to Puntarenas – we just asked our hostel owner what to do.  The bus ride took around 3 hours (cost just a few dollars).  It drops you off in town, and I’d recommend getting a taxi from there to the ferry.  It would have been a 15 block walk in the hot sun.  Our bus driver was nice enough to help us hail a taxi, but there were definitely taxis around.

Once you arrive by the ferry, it seems very chaotic, but it’s easy.  Where you buy your tickets is very clearly marked, and there was a long line of people waiting to buy their tickets for the 11am ferry.  The ferry cost $1.50 and lasts 70 minutes.  It’s a beautiful ride across the Gulf of Nicoya.  Make sure you take the ferry to Paqueras, not Naranjo!  Click here for the ferry website.

From San Jose/Alajuela, you can take a bus that actually gets on the ferry with you (you can leave your stuff on it) and will get you to Montezuma.  Here’s the website to book it online ahead of time. We did this on the way back.  We ate a hearty breakfast near the ferry ticket office because we had a ferry ride and a long bus ride ahead of us; I heard that the ferry food is not very tasty.

Arriving in Paquera

Once you arrive in Paquera, welcome to mild chaos again.  Find a bus, keep stating “Montezuma,” and pay the bus driver directly.  The cost should be around $4.  Our bus driver seemed like the most anxious person in all of Costa Rica, wouldn’t answer our questions, and we weren’t even sure we were on the right bus.  Luckily, after a stop in Cobano, we made it to Montezuma/Paradise.

There is the option of flying to Montezuma (Sansa and Natureair both fly there), and this would take MUCH less time.  You could also take a boat taxi from Jaco for $40.  You can also drive and take your car on the ferry. Or just do a 5 hour drive.

Rome2Rio gives all the options for getting here.

Kyle and I, at our happiest.