Dulce Vida

Playa Guiones has a special place in my heart. Aside from the fact that its overly populated with expats, and therefore highly overpriced, its still a gem, hidden among forest and hillside. There are no street lights here, therefore headlamps or flashlights are a must have at nightfall.
Guiones and Nosara are the epicenter of health and wellness. With the Nosara Yoga Institute at the top of the hill, organic and raw food stores lining the street through town, environmental sustainability at the forefront, you wont see a single piece of trash on the beach.

It was here I attended a karaoke fundraiser at an outdoor yoga center, dedicated to the victims of the Japan tsunami disaster. It was also here, where a deeper love of yoga was awakened in me, with daily classes on the hilltop overlooking the ocean. Its also here that I met people who showed me such genuine goodwill, even offering me theyre homes if I ever decide to come back through Guiones.

Road trip…. new friends ive met in Avellanas, two surfers from the US who’ve come to Costa in search of the perfect waves, offer to give me a lift to my next destination… Nosara (Playa Guiones). Car packed up, boards secure on the roof rack, I say goodbye to the amazing friends ive made here, and we set off for the bumpy ride ahead. Along the way we stumble upon a rocky little beach, and notice several guys in a tree, shaking the branches in an attempt to drop some mangos from the tree. We stop to help them catch the mangos as they fall, preventing them from splattering all over the gravel. 10 minutes later, we’re all sitting on the side of the road with our new tico friends, endulging in the juicy fruit, making small talk in our broken spanish. At one point, one of the ticos runs back to his house, instructing us to wait, he quickly returns bearing a bucket filled to the brim with a different variation of mango, a smaller and sweeter kind, he hands this to us, as a gift, to take for our journey. They stand in the middle of the road to wave us goodbye as we drive off.

an hour further into the drive, finds us sitting in the car, at a dead stop, facing a river which has entirely overflown the “pseudo” road we had been on. there is a bridge to the right … but its barracaded closed. uncertain what to do, one of the guys gets out to walk the river, in an attempt to gauge how deep it is. waist high. Back in the car, staring silently ahead, we wonder what to do. A crowd of school kids in blue uniform have gathered around us by this point, undoubtedly curious as to what we’re going to do next. finally, my buddy says “screw it, roll up your windows, lets do it” the water almost reaching the height of the window, we miraculously make it to the other side. the kids waving at us as i look through the back window.

several miles up ahead, we come across an entirely secluded beach with stretches of dark sand, the perfect waves rolling in. Without hesitation, the car is in park, our rash guards are on, boards in hand….we run for the water. a random cow struts along the beach as we’re chilling in the waves.

The day is wrapped up enjoying some fish tacos and margharitas on the hilltop overlooking playa guiones
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