We travel south from La Fortuna, with no particular destination in mind; simply, we want to be out of the rain. We drive down highway 1, then connect to highway 34. Eventually, we come to the town of Jacó (pronounced hock-oh) and decide to take a break. We eat lunch at a beach restaurant, then walk down the beach, checking out the hotels. They are nice enough, so, what the heck, let’s stay here tonight and find a place farther south tomorrow.
And, since we are in Jacó, on Jacó beach, Hotel Jacó seems to be the most logical place to stay.
Welcome to the Hotel Jacó, such a lovely place.
Okay, it looks crappy in this photograph, but they’ve had some tides and such. It’s nicer inside.
A room with a view.
From the balcony we can see the ocean (that’s the cover photograph for this article), but this is a pretty good view, too.
The Jacó forest.
Looking across the swimming pool, we see dozens of egrets perching in the trees. Notice, too, all the palm trees, because of the ocean.
When the ocean is too cold to swim in.
And this is the pool, at night and slightly out of focus. There are not many people here, for some reason, so we have the pool to ourselves.
Okay, let’s take a look at the beach.
The famous(?) brown sands of Costa Rica.
It is overcast here, but you can imagine how inviting this beach would be if it were warm and sunny (which we hope to see soon). On the other hand, there is no competition for the few beach chairs they have.
Into every life, some rain must fall.
This panorama shows what’s happening west of us. We are not out of the rain yet, but we are still going to have some fun.
North Jacó Beach.
North of us, except for a few ugly hotels, we see the green coastline and the wind-driven ocean mist.
South Jacó Beach.
South Jacó Beach attracts beachcombers and surf-walkers. Yeah, I think it’s a lot more fun when the weather is nice (which it’s supposed to be now, but whacha gonna do?).
Is half a river still a whole river?
There are drainage canals that are useful during the rainy season, but now they don’t quite reach the sea. It’s just a long, shallow, stagnant pond. Good if you are a bug, I guess, but kind of a hassle when you want to walk up and down the beach.
This guy gets it.
Unless you have a horse. Then you can go wherever you want.
The famous(?) Jacó bridge.
Why is this bridge here? Shouldn’t it be over one of those stagnant drainage ponds?
Smile!
Okay, so at least I can pose prettily and have my photograph taken. Don’t I have a pretty smile?
Maybe we should eat something. Food, I mean…
Cheers!
We make reservations, fight the crowds, complain to management about how long we have been waiting, and, finally, are led to our table.
Thank you, Jimmy Buffett.
After a week of eating healthy Pura Vita food, it’s time to chow down and a burger and fries.
Don’t cross my chow line!
There is a lot that looks good here, and I’m not sure where to begin. So I just take a stab at it…Ha ha. I crack myself up.
Back to the basics.
In the morning, we get the standard Costa Rican fare of rice and beans, eggs, and accessories. Not quite as yummy as dinner, but filling.
The beauty mark.
Yes, we have misled you: there are other patrons of this establishment. So cute!!!
Sadly, our stay in Jacó is too short. We should stay longer, but we really want to get where the sun does shine, and this isn’t it. So we pack our bags and again head south.