By Katie P., Guestblogger from Coronado, Costa Rica Independent Teen program
This past weekend I ventured to Jaco, a popular beach along the Pacific Coast. I had heard that I was going to a dirty, dangerous, very touristy area but these are not the words I would use to describe Jaco. I absolutely loved it there! My three new friends and I just wanted to go to the beach and this was the closest beach we knew. The ride seemed to take forever and finally through the bus window I saw a bright building with the word ‘HOSTEL’ that matched the mental picture I had of an Internet page and we darted off the bus. After relieving ourselves in the bathrooms at KFC we began with our master plan of cheap living. Two stayed back while my friend and I approached the hostel to ask for a room. Amazingly they had just one room left for $15 a night. The owners were a cute couple from Hungary and they seemed extremely chill. They took us on a tour of the hostel and it was small, colorful, and perfect.
We took the one room intending to sneak our other friends in that night. However after hanging out at the hostel and with other guests we decided to just ask them if our friends could pay and stay and we would crash four in one bed. The owners were so friendly and relaxed that we just didn’t want to jip them. In response, the guy owner told us he had actually made a lot of the furniture in the hostel, including the beds and he wasn’t even sure if the bed would hold four people, so he offered the pull out couch for a lower price. Perfect!
On Saturday we checked out the beach, which was kind of rocky and dirty, although the water was nice. But honestly the best part about Jaco was that hostel. The swinging bar stools, the clock that reads ‘Who Cares,’ the free Internet, open kitchen, and best of all the rooftop. My friends and I wanted to take a lunch break and headed upstairs to the rooftop. As we rocked back and forth in the provided chairs under the sun tent and listened to the eclectic selection of music, other guests began to join us. This was my first time staying in a hostel and I absolutely loved it. Everybody there was so chill and interesting.
This weekend, the hostel rooftop represented Hungry, Holland, Canada, Ireland, and the USA. About 15 of us were hanging out all afternoon and then the owners told us to come downstairs at 4:30pm to go to an overlook and watch the sunset. There was not much of a sunset that night but it was just so much fun talking with all these different people and hearing so many different stories. Later that night we went out to experience Jaco nightlife. When leaving on Sunday, it was neither the beach nor the parties that I enjoyed the most. It was the people.
Click for more information on AmeriSpan’s Independent Teen program in Coronado, Costa Rica.
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