On a Tuesday afternoon in Dallas, I was hunched over my laptop in a gray cubicle, half-listening to a meeting that could have been an email, when a photo of Jaco Beach popped up on my phone. Dark sand. Long waves. Green mountains rising right behind town. I’m Anthony, 36, and within an hour I’d…
My name is Patricia, I’m 55 and live in Seattle, and I went to Jaco Beach because I needed a change of scenery in the truest sense. Years of gray skies and long workdays had worn me down more than I realized. Friends kept telling me about Costa Rica—about the warmth, the kindness of the…
I’m Emma, 41, and my husband James, 44, and I decided our anniversary gift to each other this year wouldn’t be something that sits on a shelf—it would be a trip. We’d both been curious about Costa Rica for years, and when a friend mentioned Jaco Beach as a spot that blends romance with easy…
My name is Jacob, I’m 29 and live in Chicago, and Jaco Beach had been on my “someday” list for a long time. I’d see photos of its long dark-sand shoreline and that backdrop of green mountains, then go back to my commute on the L and tell myself I’d get there eventually. This year,…
Sometimes a weekend is all you need to reset your entire perspective. I’m Madison, 27, from Toronto, and I booked a last-minute escape to Jaco Beach after a stressful stretch at work. The goal wasn’t to check off a list of extreme adventures—it was simply to breathe, explore a little, and soak up some sunshine.…
I’m Brian, 45, and this trip to Jaco Beach was something I had been hoping to do with my son Tyler, 22, before he officially launches into his own adult life. Busy schedules, college, work—it all gets in the way. But when he suggested we take a father–son vacation somewhere warm with adventure and good…
I’m Sophia, 25, and this was my first solo international trip—something I’d been promising myself I would do for years but always found reasons to delay. When I finally hit “book” on my ticket to Costa Rica, I didn’t know exactly what to expect. I chose Jaco Beach because it looked like the perfect mix…
If you had told me ten years ago that I’d be wandering along a Pacific beach in Costa Rica at sunrise, birdwatching and sipping strong local coffee, I might have laughed. My name is Charles, I’m 61, from Philadelphia, and my idea of vacation used to be “whatever conference was in a warm city.” This…
Sometimes you don’t realize how much you need a break until you’re already on the plane. I’m Ava, 32, and my husband Michael, 34, and I flew from Los Angeles to Costa Rica because we wanted a romantic getaway that wasn’t just “sit by a hotel pool and scroll our phones.” We wanted real scenery,…
The trip didn’t really start at the airport for me; it started in our group chat back in Houston. I’m Logan, 28, and after months of trading surf clips and “we need a vacation” memes with two of my college buddies, we finally committed to a week in Jaco Beach, Costa Rica. None of us…