This property was everything it was advertised to be and more. Nick sent us fantastic directions to the property. We flew into San Jose, but Nick’s recommendation to fly into the local airport would save a lot of time and driving. We enjoyed the 5 hour drive through the country, and it helped us to see how the little village of San Buenas was a typical Costa Rican town. We do recommend renting a car with 4wheel drive to get up the hill from the town. Walking down into the town is safe and a wonderful way to see real life. The hike back up is a little steep. Only one of us did this several times.

We were close to beaches and the rainforests, yet safe on top of a small mountain in a beautiful house with all the amenities of modern life AND a pool in an amazing jungle setting. The groundskeepers fixed the small problems that we encountered (leaking toilet). The only problems that were unfixable were lack of hot water in the kitchen and no internet. Being unplugged was awesome, and Ponderosa, a restaurant with wifi, was only 15 minutes away. We boiled water to use for washing dishes, which was an easy fix.

There were lots of movies there, and a good TV on which to watch them. There is satellite TV if you really want to know what is going on in the world, but it was more fun not to.

The groundskeepers were a great help, but they speak no English. They took us on a hike in the jungle on one occasion, and found monkeys for us to see on another. They were also a font of information.

We went south about 45 minutes to Sierpe to catch a boat to go on a rainforest adventure in Corcovado National Park. The restaurant down there also had wifi. We also went on a mangrove tour another day from there.

The beaches are within 15-30 minutes of the house. We spent time at Playa Ventana, Ballena, and Hermosa. The water was warm and none of the beaches were crowded. All the beaches were north of San Buenas, which took us close to the Mega Super in Uvita where we bought food for cooking. When we went south to Sierpe, we bought food in Palmar Norte. The fruit and vegetable “store” there was particularly nice, and the bakery had both awesome baguettes and a sweet bread (pan con leche dulce) that we bought for Christmas breakfast.

This little piece of paradise was an amazing place to go for Christmas with our 3 grown sons, and we will without a doubt rent this house agin.