On Saturday, March 20th, a small group of us from the Honda CB 500 group took an overnight trip to Coyote beach. We met at the Atenas toll booth at 5:10 a.m. and caught the 7 a.m. ferry in Puntarenas to Paquera.
I just love the little beachside road from Santa Teresa to the entrance of Manzanillo beach.
We had lots of fun riding on the beach before turning off the small road that goes towards the Rió Ario.
The river was low! Yay! (And I wonder why I sit when crossing rivers when overall I am much more comfortable standing up on gravel. Hmmmm. Crossing smaller streams I always stand. Food for thought!)
The Bongo river was also low, of course.
Here’s a video of me crossing it. Personally, I am glad it was so low! Hahaha!
We first went to Playa Coyote, then had lunch in San Francisco de Coyote, and, finally headed over to Costa de Oro, where we had rented a simple beach-front cabin. It was nice to spend the afternoon at the beach, under the swaying palms.
We enjoyed the sunset and then had tons of fun playing with the bonfire. Lots of laughs.
On Sunday, we headed over to Carrillo. I was happy to share these up and down gravel routes that I normally do alone with others.
We first went to San Miguel beach then continued. The viewpoint above Punta Islita beach is a great place to stop and take in all the beauty of the coast.
In the center of lovely and quaint Islita town, there is a box on a tree where Red Macaws nest. There were two there, peeking their heads out regularly. These must be the two that were just babies when I was last there. Adorable! Such a delight to see.
We rested at Islita beach for a while, where my friends ate home-made ice cream from a local lady.
At Carrillo we stopped again. No rush, just enjoyment!
I then led them to Highway 21 through Hojancha. I love this route! I don’t think they were as excited as I was to be on it, but I certainly enjoyed it! It’s one of my many favorites. Lots of easy curves, isolated, with nice views. A great deal of it is now paved, in parts. The rest is easy white gravel.
We veered off to ride through Costa de Pajaros and visit Playa Blanca beach, which was too crowded for my taste. I must admit I prefer riding to beaches during the week, for just this reason.
It was a fun trip, and I hope to do it again next summer, making sure we go to Montezuma, which we missed this time around. In fact, it would be better to take an extra night to head up to the northern beaches to do what is known as “The Monkey Trail.” Fingers and toes crossed!
RIDING IN COSTA RICA: FEEL THE BEAUTY. KNOW THE LOVE. LIVE THE POWER.
Riding in Costa Rica 
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