Costa Rica

We are back safe and sound from Costa Rica, after about 18 hours of travel with a short pitstop in Orlando. I'd like to tell you that I was massively impressed with the surf, the friendly people, and the tranquility of a jungle setting, but I wasn't. I'm getting crotchety in my old age, and creature comforts are higher on my list. Here's my pros and cons of Mal Pais (where we stayed) and Montezuma (which we visited for a day):

Pros:
numerous surf spots
just chilling with your buds
removal / unplugged from 'the grind'
2 dollar Imperials (la Cerveza de Costa Rica)
Affordable hotel/room rentals
Canopy tour

Cons:
Pissy smelling water. Everytime you went in the ocean, you smelled like piss until you showered. That's because there are three rivers running into the ocean at Mal Pais. The rivers happen to double as open sewers.
Food prices in line with US prices. Our cheapest location had $3 breakfasts and $5 lunches. The nicer locations cost as much as a standard US restaurant.
2 dollar beers. And 6 dollar six packs at the package store. I can find those in the US. Any college town has cheaper drinks.
Inconvenience. It is a journey of significant undertaking to essentially get to the beach.
Random dirty smelly hippy bums.

Next time, Bri and I will just head over to the Outer Banks of NC for a roughly equivalent experience.

Edit: I had fun, the relaxation was great! But you can do the same thing 2 hours away.