Playa Coco

Having only had a drive through Playa Coco on our tour, we thought it would be fun to head there on New Years Day and have more time to explore. The resort has a shuttle that costs $8 per person round trip. It's about a 20 minute drive away. The shuttle runs every couple hours starting at 10am and last ride back at 10:20pm. The driver does ask when you'd like to be picked up though so they don't have to make the trip if no one is heading there or coming back.

Playa Coco is a very long stretching beach and had a lot of boats moored off the shore. It was busy with lots of locals spending the first day of the new year at the beach. You could get the sense that spending the day with family and friends was important. There were many signs that having a picnic or BBQ at the beach was the thing to do.

The main road in and out of Playa Coco is lined with souvenir shops and restaurants. It does not take very long to walk the strip and very quickly it becomes evident that the shops all carry the same or similar items. Hand painted plaques, wood carved items and hand manufactured pottery vases were in abundance along with the typical t-shirts and beachwear options. We walked around for a it before heading back to the grocery store to pick up a couple more coffee bags and a bottle of Cacique/Guaro; the main ingredient to the Costa Rican caipirinha. A 750ml bottle cost only $13 CAD and that's only because our exchange rate currently sucks!!

We decided to have dinner out and Z really wanted to try a seafood restaurant much to my chagrin. But when you're visiting a coastal place the seafood is in abundance and so it only makes sense. We ate at a restaurant called Papagayo Seafood restaurant where Z enjoyed a red snapper catch of the day and I devoured the most tasty chicken breast cooked in a white wine, butter parsley sauce. Both dishes can with a starter caesar salad and steamed vegetables and mash potatoes as sides. Even after all my original protests of eating there I must say it was the right choice! The restaurant had a good ambience as well with outdoor seating on the second floor giving a great vantage point of the main street.

Across the street was a gelato shop and considering we had not really indulged in much dessert during our stay we decided it would be wrong not to indulge in some gelato. We were so glad we did....and actually wished we had more! The gelato was true Italian gelato completely comparable to what you find in Italy. We both had a 2 scoop cone; I had pistachio and coconut and Z had creme caramel and passion fruit. All four flavours were to die for, so amazingly creamy and full of flavour.