Beverley Watts visits this Central American eco-paradise on a solo holiday
I’ve never been on a holiday specifically for solos before. Visiting any new country is exciting and meeting new people is all part of that experience, but couples often keep themselves to themselves. As a single woman, placing myself at a dinner table for six tends to throw out the seating arrangement. An extra chair is often squeezed in because partners don’t like to be separated. “Oh, we’re not joined at the hip,” they say. But they are. It’s just habit.
As I embark on my trip to Costa Rica on a Just You escorted tour, I know this won’t happen. I have no idea who I’ll be sharing my holiday with, but I’m confident that I’ll soon make new friends.
Sunshine and high humidity
We first gather in the Club Aspire Lounge at Gatwick Airport and it’s the perfect place to learn each other’s names before our direct British Airways flight to Costa Rica’s capital city, San José. There are 14 of us in total, mostly in our sixties and seventies. We’ve packed waterproof shoes and jackets – ready for a drenching in Central American rainforests – but, as it turns out, are blessed with mostly sunshine. A blazing morning after a night of heavy downpours is a wonderful sight.
This lush, tropical country, wedged between Nicaragua and Panama and bordered by both the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean, is reliably warm. Temperatures range from 70°F/21°C to 81°F/27°C all year round, with high humidity that can make it very muggy. Costa Rica has plenty of exciting sports to offer, but my white-water rafting days are definitely over.
I’m here to enjoy the phenomenal wildlife and dramatic scenery, with volcanoes, waterfalls, hot springs and 5% of the world’s biodiversity – all squeezed into a country smaller than Scotland. We take a looping route to Puerto Viejo de Limon on the east coast, head north to Tortuguero National Park, west to Muelle de San Carlos and Lake Arenal, then south back to San José.
Chocolate is a spiritual gift
Christopher Columbus arrived in Costa Rica in 1502 and was met with fierce resistance from the indigenous communities, among them the Bribri people. The Spanish claimed the country in 1651 and stayed until Costa Rica declared independence in the 19th century. The Bribri have successfully retained their customary way of life and we join the Watsy family in Talamanca, now a surfing hotspot, for a traditional lunch.
Served in a plantain leaf, the meal of chicken, rice and sweet potato is eaten with bare hands and washed down with tamarind juice. The Bribri consider cacao a gift from God Sibu and drink spiced and non-sweetened hot chocolate for ritualistic ceremonies. With Bribri guide Ali, I learn about wild fermentation and how cacao bean grinding stones are handed down through generations.
We have fun marking up our cheeks and foreheads with yellow turmeric and red achiote pigments and, in the frog garden, stay cautiously clear of the tiny poison dart frogs. (I later discover the normally toxic amphibians don’t have the same diet of noxious insects in captivity so won’t develop deadly skins.)
A wildlife wonderland
This is a land of colourful and unfamiliar creatures. Local Tour Guide Diego, who is with us the whole trip alongside Holiday Director Mateo, has a monocular scope to help us clearly see caimans sliding through the mangroves, vibrant iguanas basking on misty banks and shy sloths hiding high in the forest canopy.
In Cahuita National Park, with its protected beaches and lowlands, there’s a unique Caribbean ecosystem. Capuchin monkeys tumble through the trees, unbothered by our presence, but a startled raccoon dashes into the undergrowth and a neon yellow eyelash viper silently sits coiled on a branch.
We reach Tortuguero National Park by boat, one of Costa Rica’s most important conservation sites, and here we sleep in bungalow cabins surrounded by the sounds of nature. Howler monkeys roar and giant cicadas endlessly clickety-click in chorus, hidden in the shrubbery. A Tiger Bromeliad Spider spends the night in my bathroom before I scoop her up in a cup and put her outside. This is the real deal, not a zoo or insectarium, so you might have to calmy deal with the odd unexpected visitor.
Jaguars, which are surprisingly good swimmers, prowl at night and a juvenile big cat is captured on video in the darkness in Tortuguero village just after our visit to shop for souvenirs. (Expect European prices in Costa Rica, this is not a budget destination.)
Community tourism with Planeterra
Tortuguero means ‘many turtles’ and this region is an important nesting site for green, leatherback, and hawksbill turtles. The Sea Turtle Conservancy (STC) actively promotes eco-tourism and is dedicated to engagement, education and habitat protection. We visit the black sand beach where the turtles lay their eggs and see the warning sign to less respectful tourists that ‘baby turtle tours are ILLEGAL’. Hatchlings should definitely not be handled.
Costa Rica began growing coffee around 1779 but then coffee leaf rust affected the industry. Resistant varieties have been introduced and today Costa Rica’s specialty Arabica is rich and full of flavour. Just You’s partner, the non-profit Planeterra Foundation, works to strengthen community tourism around the world and helped to develop the Mi Cafecito Coffee Tour. In a zone devastated by an earthquake in 2009, we taste a quality brew. The cooperative of more than 200 small farmers produces excellent organic coffee on fertile volcanic soil.
Magical butterflies
Around our next base in Muelle de San Carlos, delicate orchids, showy passion flowers and fiery heliconias flourish. Their nectar-rich blooms are pollinated by hovering fairy-like hummingbirds, their wings flapping up to 80 beats per second and becoming tiny blurs that are almost impossible to photograph.
Half an hour’s drive away, La Fortuna Waterfall is just one of Costa Rica’s scenic cascades, with a pool for swimming beneath the 70-metre high torrent. The 500 or so steps back up are definitely more difficult than the climb down. With no time for swimsuits to dry, in the evening we head to Ecotermales thermal spa to enjoy a post-sundown dip in the balmy hot springs and a refreshing local Imperial beer.
Our last stay is besides Lake Arenal, with a striking view of the slumbering Arenal Volcano. Here we take an excellent early morning birdwatching excursion with Callidryas Tours, finding keel-billed toucans, scarlet macaws and so many other flamboyant breeds.
Then we’re ready for an unmissable visit to Mistico Arenal Hanging Bridges Park, with suspension bridges through the rainforest heights. The towering trunks of massive Kapok trees stretch to the heavens and iridescent morpho butterflies flit behind giant ferns. In Costa Rica, these flashes of intense azure blue symbolise magic, wonder and positive change. It’s a lovely message to take home.
Next steps
To start planning your solo adventure to Costa Rica with Just You, call Silver Travel Advisor on 0800 412 5678.
Just You’s 12-day Real Costa Rica tour goes to Puerto Viejo de Limon, Tortuguero National Park and Muelle de San Carlos. Price from £5,049pp from January to November 2026 includes return flights from London to San José, transfers, 10 nights in 3.5/4-star hotels and jungle lodges, select meals and a welcome drink. Your own room is guaranteed and you will be accompanied by a Just You Holiday Director and specialist local Tour Guide.
