We headed to Jacó just two hours from San José for a waterfall tour on Saturday. I didn’t know exactly what to expect from the tour, but it turned out to be an amazing trip out of my comfort zone.
We started out walking into the rainforest, where our guide stopped to point out some interesting plants, including this one called “dormilona” or “sleepy one,” which responds to touch by folding in its leaves. Seeing a plant move on its own so awesome that it got me hyped up for the rest of the tour.
We also saw a few of these cute little poisonous frogs.
When we got to the first little waterfall, I started looking around for where the trail would go next. Turns out, it was up the waterfall. If you can see those little yellow rocks, that’s where we walked up. Before the climb, our guide introduced us to a new fruit with a hard shell we had to break open to reach the little seeds inside. On the third waterfall, we stopped to drink some coconut water and take a dip. Since I’m afraid of heights, at first I didn’t think I would take the opportunity to jump from the rocks into the water. But I thought of all the ways I’ve gone out of my comfort zone so far on this trip, and challenged myself to do one more. It was terrifying and amazing.
The first waterfall we saw that day. 
Granadilla, similar to passion fruit. 
One of the steeper climbs. 
At the top, sitting on the edge of the waterfall. 
Our guide was also a great photographer! 
A screenshot from the video of me jumping off the rocks. 
One of the easier climbs, up the yellow rocks.
After this waterfall I really had to face my fears, climbing up some steeper slopes with the help of a rope. I remember our guide telling me on one slope, “If you’re afraid of heights, don’t look down.” After climbing four more waterfalls, we reached our final destination. We took in the view and cooled off before heading down the mountain.
When we got back to the road, our guide invited us all to lunch at a restaurant near town where we had some delicious Costa Rican food.
Stomachs full, we headed back to our place for a nap before our next outing. At 3pm we woke again to catch some waves at Playa Hermosa.
We watched the surfers for a bit before diving into the 7-foot waves ourselves. I had so much terrifying fun yet again, getting half-excited half-scared every time a wave broke over us. The waves were so strong they ended up pushing me into the ground and getting lots of tiny rocks up my nose. Not to worry, I took a break and dove right back in.
We shared falafel, french fries and onion rings for dinner.
The next morning we had breakfast on the beach before catching the bus back to San José.
Between all the fun activities, I had an amazing time with some really great travel buddies. In the words of one of their Instagram captions, “trips to the beach are like oatmeal: they sustain you.”
Pura Vida 