I’m Christopher Nelson, 37, and I booked Jaco Beach after one too many icy mornings waiting for the train back home. I wanted palm trees instead of bare branches, and that’s exactly what I got. I stayed in a Modern Airbnb Vacation Apartment in Jaco Beach just a short walk from the ocean and even closer to my new favorite morning routine: coffee on the balcony, watching the town wake up.

My week revolved around four main adventures: learning to ride the waves with Surfing on Jaco Beach, tackling the viewpoints on the Miro Mountain Hike, eating my way through Tacobar Restaurant, and tasting a little bit of everything at Pura Vida Gardens and Waterfalls on a day trip into the hills. The surf instructors were patient and fun, the hike rewarded me with sweeping views over the coastline, and everyone at the restaurants treated me like a welcome regular instead of a one-time visitor.

When I wasn’t surfing or hiking, I wandered the beach, browsed Jaco Walk Open Air Shops, and hopped in taxis and Ubers out to Playa Hermosa and Herradura for a change of scenery. One day I took the bus toward Esterillos and Bejuco just to see more of the Pacific coastline; it was cheap, safe, and surprisingly easy to navigate, even with my basic Spanish. Everywhere I went, the backdrop was the same: lush green mountains sliding down toward the beach and wide, warm water stretching to the horizon.

What really struck me was how kind everyone in Costa Rica was. A driver gave me a mini-tour of Tarcoles and pointed out the famous crocodile bridge. A woman in a small shop in Jaco Walk helped me pick out local coffee and chocolate to take home as gifts, and a vendor on the street insisted on giving me an extra slice of pineapple because “you came a long way to be here.” It never felt fake—just genuinely welcoming.

At night, Jaco turned into a different kind of playground: bars with live music, casinos humming with energy, and dance clubs pulsing a block or two off the main road. I went out to a couple of spots for dancing and spent a few hours at a casino just soaking in the atmosphere. The streets felt lively but safe, and I had no problem walking back to my apartment late with the sound of the ocean in the distance.

By the time I headed back to the airport, I’d traded the memory of my cold commute for mental snapshots of sunsets, palm trees, and friendly faces. Jaco Beach didn’t just warm me up physically—it gave me a whole new winter tradition to daydream about when the temperature drops back home.