Costa RicaCosta Rica

The Beach and a Massage from Heaven

Destination: Manuel Antonio

We got another great night of sleep here at Hotel Verde Mar. Since the hotel is right near Manuel Antonio, with all its little shops and restaurants, Rayna and I decided to take advantage of it. We walked to The Marlin for a light breakfast and then headed back to our hotel and then the beach.

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How nice to be able to walk to the beach from our hotel. We stopped at the front desk for extra beach towels, and noticed that they also provide their guests with boogie boards if they want! Further, there is a small library guests can borrow from.

A short walk past the pool and over a raised walkway led us to the beach. Already bright, sunny and warm, we found a good spot to plant ourselves and all our gear for the day, and took the first swim. Feeling brave and full of energy, Rayna headed out on her surf board first, while I watched (well, actually, I fell asleep in the sand).

After she had had a go at it, I decided I would give it a whirl. Well, what seemed like hours later (really only about forty minutes) I came back in bruised, battered and burnt! That was enough "surfing" for one day, as far as I was concerned (and if you want to be technical, there was no surfing involved).

The morning gave way to the afternoon without our notice and soon it was late in the day. We reluctantly packed up and headed to the hotel to shower and get ready for our second spa treatment!

Spa Shangri-la was just as lovely as when we left it Friday, except today there were no clouds in the sky. Rayna and I switched it up this afternoon, so she got a pedicure and I got a full-body relaxation message. Yeah, it was just that, complete utter and total relaxation from the very first touch of the therapist's magic hands to the last. Lasting about a full hour, I melted into the table within the first minute and did not resurface till the end, and let me tell you, I was a changed woman afterwards! I cannot believe I went this far in life without a professional full-body massage. Life will never be the same again!

For our last dinner, we went back to Bamboo Jam because we remembered that they had a menu that looked delicious. It was. I had their Thai chicken dish which was, I think, the best dinner I had all week! What is more, just as we were finishing, around nine, a salsa band began to play, and man! could they play. So much energy, so much fun, and it was not long before Rayna was up and dancing. It was a wonderful start to the evening.

Convinced that we really had to do it up our last night (my next to last night in Costa Rica) we decided to go back to Arco Iris in Quepos with our friends. We had such a wonderful time, and since it was a Tuesday, it was not overly crowded, so we had plenty of space to dance, and dance, and dance!

The Beach and a Massage from Heaven in Pictures

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