Discover Costa Rica's Romantic Side

And then if you're her firsthand experience of visiting all of these absolutely spectacular, luxurious resorts, that really makes you want to go to Costa Rica.

I'm telling you the truth.

Now, I do want to give you a heads up as the audio quality for the interview did not turn out to meet my standards for what I want to produce for my audience.

Now, granted, I'm probably my own worst critic, but I don't honestly know what went down.

I'm thinking it's probably an issue of having a blind guy controlling everything.

And well, obviously, I'm thinking maybe I didn't see that a setting got changed on the computer, the recording software, from instead of recording with my professional microphone to instead just recording off of my laptop's mic.

I don't know.

Honestly, I was kind of baffled.

But you know what?

The content of the conversation with Lisa is what matters.

I'm telling you, I think you're going to fall in love with Costa Rica.

So, before we get to all of that, of course, let's get a quick word from our sponsor, Amaudra.

Hey, fellow travel advisors, uh, I've never thought how awesome it would be to be able to not only offer another hot service to your clients by helping them.

And a Maudre makes that possible.

Hey guys, I am super excited to be joined today by Lisa Sheldon with DWHSA.

Lisa, welcome to the podcast.

SPEAKER_02: Thanks, Kevin.

After a few uh reschedules, we're finally able to do this.

I'm excited.

SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.

I think, oh my goodness, it seems like sometimes you wonder, am I not supposed to have Lisa on the podcast?

I'm like, I'm like, surely the universe doesn't have something against her that I'm not aware of.

SPEAKER_02: So I'm like Yeah, I don't know.

It it's been a challenge, that's for sure.

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01: So so here we are on like our hundredth try, and and you it's finally working.

So yeah.

Well, awesome.

Well, well, Lisa, I wanted to have you on today as we are wrapping up our series on all things romance travel here on the podcast.

And I wanted to have you on specifically to talk about Costa Rica because I know you recently visited Costa Rica for an amazing trip.

And I thought, you know what?

I think you're the perfect person to come on and uh and talk to those listening about the destination and you know, maybe if it's the right place for them.

SPEAKER_02: Yes.

And this was actually my first time to visit Costa Rica.

DWHSA partnered with a really great company called H Pride.

And uh year ago in December, Julio Calvo reached out to me, a gentleman from Costa Rica, who is the founding member and uh head of the diversity chamber of commerce in Costa Rica.

And while his main focus has been LGBTQ travel for many years, he has the page gayCosta Rica.com and has since, you know, he's been uh a destination management company slash travel agency.

He helps with inbound travel and decided that he needed to maybe change the name because he wanted to include more people.

H stands for human and pride.

And while he does still focus on the LGBTQ community, he has reached out and is now focusing on romance travel, adventure, wellness, and and other aspects.

So he put together an amazing itinerary for our DWHSA members that went on the trip with a focus of the, you know, romance travel, destination weddings and honeymoons, and you know, LGBTQ as well.

But it was it was really great.

You know, it was the first time I had traveled during COVID.

They were from the minute you landed in Costa Rica, you knew that they were on top of all the protocols.

They require an insurance policy where you have to, you know, have this policy in case you become exposed to COVID-19 and then had to quarantine for 14 days.

And that policy covers, you know, costs and lodging and things like that.

SPEAKER_01: No, Lisa, I want to jump in real quick and just catch some people up who are not in the industry.

Um, those who are listening, maybe aren't other travel agents or whatever, is a trip like this that Lisa went on.

Correct me if I'm I'm wrong, Lisa, but in the industry, we as travel agents, we a lot of times get the opportunities to go to different destinations, take Sperium for ourselves so that we are better equipped to then, you know, see if it's a good fit for our clients.

And that was kind of like what this trip was all about.

Is that right?

SPEAKER_02: Absolutely, absolutely perfect.

It was an educational trip where we immersed ourselves in the destination.

So it was it was really great.

You're greeted at the airport, they pick you up, you know, they have the little signs, they pick you up, they take to your your first hotel.

The focus, like I said, was on romance travel.

We stayed the first night in San Jose, Costa Rica, and it's a big city, but we stayed at a lovely resort, Marriott Hacienda, and then the next morning we, you know, were on the bus and out, you know, into the countryside.

What we did and all of the protocols, you know, they take your temperature when you arrive at the hotel.

Every time you went into a restaurant, so it was, you know, like I said, I felt very safe and comfortable.

Masks are mandatory, that type of thing.

And as we got out through the countryside, the first place we stopped, and it's not too far from San Jose, was a coffee estate.

And Costa Rica does export a lot of coffee.

So it was really interesting, even from a non-coffee drinker's perspective, to see the beans or actually, you know, the fruit growing on the, you know, the coffee bushes, and then their drying process.

And this particular estate usually does the the outdoor drying where they just let it dry outside in these big, huge, they're out actually maybe two feet deep and it's all cement, and they put the beans out there.

But they also have the big machines, the big roasters and dryers that they use.

So that was really interesting.

And because it is, like I said, such a a huge part of Costa Rica, it it was fun to see that and and learn about the coffee.

And so we then made our way over to La Paz Waterfall and Gardens, and then Peace Lodge, and what a beautiful romantic accommodation, you know, stone fireplaces and you know, beautiful canopied four-poster beds, perfect for honeymoons, very relaxing and calm.

And then they actually have, you know, these, you know, it's right by these beautiful waterfalls and gardens.

And they have a, you know, animal sanctuary there.

They had sloth, they had a beautiful butterfly exhibit and hummingbird, and it was just really beautiful.

You know, you'd walk in this butterfly, it was almost like an arboretum, and the butterflies would just come and just land right on you.

And it was a great experience, even though it was raining and it was really tough to get a a good, you know, experience with the waterfalls.

And they had the one of the big hurricanes had just kind of gone through north of there.

It actually went north like to Nicaragua, but they had a lot of outlying bands of rain.

So the the water at the waterfalls, you know, the rivers and the streams were uh, you know, excessively full.

And so the rush of the water was you know, in the waterfalls was was incredible.

SPEAKER_01: Now, when was it that you went there?

SPEAKER_02: This was in November.

We landed November 5th, and we were there for nine nights.

SPEAKER_01: How was the weather that time of year?

SPEAKER_02: Well, it was a little rainy the first two days.

Like I said, we were on Pancho the first two days, and then once we, you know, got a little bit further inland, it seemed like pretty soon the sun was out.

And that was that was great.

We also stopped at a it's called El Silencio, and it was, you know, this beautiful little lodge.

It's on a river, it's up in the cloud forest, and it was interesting because one of the the travel agents that was on the trip, she had actually honeymooned there 12 years ago.

And when honeymooners come there, any special occasion you can plant a tree.

So she was able to go back and see the tree that she and her husband had planted.

Oh, how cool.

Yeah, yeah, it was.

And you know, they've got big, huge fire pits where you can sit outside.

You can it would be a fabulous place for a yoga retreat.

It's all about health and wellness.

They have a lot of excursions that they can do right from there, you know, because you are in the cloud forest.

It was just really a a unique little place.

We then headed to the area right near the Arenal volcano.

And we did arrive late that night, so it was kind of hard to see anything.

But the next morning when, you know, I woke up, I opened up the patio door and lush, green, tropical, you know, surroundings, and through the the foliage I could peek out and I could actually see the Arnol volcano.

And the really neat thing is there aren't a lot of days where you can actually see that.

You know, there's clouds, you know, we were there during rainy season, but it was the most beautiful, sunny, spectacular view.

It was just so cool to be able to experience that.

At that particular resort, they actually have like glamping, you know, where you have luxury tents that you can stay in.

A lot of celebrities stay there, and it was it was really something to type of you know, resort.

SPEAKER_01: Did you actually get to go inside any of those?

The glamping?

SPEAKER_02: Yeah, we got to take some, you know, they aren't like tents with steaks, they are like pretty, you know, solid structures or more like little cottages, but it truly is called, you know, they call it the tented area.

But it was yeah, total luxury.

It was I've camped before and not like that.

SPEAKER_01: Yeah.

SPEAKER_02: No, that's what room service is for.

SPEAKER_01: That's wonderful.

That's now now like this property, is it very much in amongst the vegetation?

You know what I mean?

It's not yeah, yeah.

Okay.

SPEAKER_02: Absolutely.

I mean, we would, you know, we took golf carts.

We had to take golf carts.

I stayed in the villa section, and you know, the golf cart was going over a bridge that went over a little river.

The foliage was just, you know, it was just canopied with with foliage.

Just, you know, amazing.

SPEAKER_01: That sounds incredible.

SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah.

And really a lot of Costa Rica was like that, you know.

That's that's the really cool thing.

It's something different.

If you've done the beach vacations and, you know, just want something different where you just want to maybe go and get away and relax, that this destination is is truly for that.

And like I said, for honeymoons, destination weddings, it's perfect because it's something different.

Everybody, you know, a lot of Americans, they do Mexico or the Caribbean.

And Costa Rica is kind of a combination of both, and but just really a great alternative if you're looking for something new and and exciting and different.

We continued throughout, uh, heading towards the the west coast of Costa Rica.

We saw a lot of great resorts.

You know, I would say Costa Rica's not really known for their beach destinations.

Like any Pacific Coast destination, sunsets are great, but you know, the sand is okay, but it's not that white sugar, you know, powdered sugar sand beaches of of Mexico and the Caribbean side, but definitely lots of activities to do.

There was we went to a little town that was big for surfing, you know, because it was on the west coast, uh it's a huge surfing community there.

We saw some really unique properties.

Casa Chameleon was amazing.

It 21 villas, all with a private plunge pool.

You know, food, it wasn't an all-inclusive resort, but food was very competitively priced and what I would consider inexpensive for the category of resort that that was.

It was great food.

And, you know, if you're not into the the all-inclusive alcohol, unlimited alcohol thing, it's a great place for honeymoons or weddings, things like that.

It's up on a cliff and it overlooks, you know, the ocean and this little bay, and it it's it's just amazing.

SPEAKER_01: That's that sounds incredible.

SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it was.

We really were lucky to be able to stay there, and um then we continued to the actual coast.

We went to the Manuel Antonio area of the Pacific Coast, and then we we saw this really unique property.

It was called the Casita Villas or Villa Cali Villa Calitas.

It has it almost felt like you were in a castle.

They had smaller little villas up the hillside from it.

But this particular property had, and sadly, because of the weather, it was very foggy, and literally our heads were in the clouds.

We were high enough into the elevation where it was just you couldn't see down below, you could just see what was basically in front of you.

But it's it's really hard to describe this property because other than it's almost like being in a castle, you know, just the architecture and things, and they have this huge area where this massive tree kind of stands as a backdrop and it's perfect for you know destination weddings.

And a lot of the villas have private plunge pools.

And we saw again a lot of resorts, secrets and Marriott that are more, you know, what we would consider mass market.

But then again, we did see the the little boutique hotels where you're up in the clouds, the hillside, you're you know, they're built into the hillside, and you know, you're on these curvy little roads that go up into up to the property.

SPEAKER_01: I was gonna ask, how was it as far as as traveling around Costa Rica, as far as the roads and stuff?

Was it was it rough roads, you know?

SPEAKER_02: No, no, no.

Infrastructure there is really good.

SPEAKER_01: Okay.

SPEAKER_02: Infrastructure is good.

There are, you know, like I said, very small, you know, they're they're narrow, curvy roads.

You know, we uh had a few people that have motion sickness, so you know, there were lots of people using the the the wristbands and sitting up front and and things like that.

It reminded me a lot when I had traveled to Fiji because their roads are very narrow, okay.

And you know, sometimes you have to kind of pull off to the side to let the other vehicle from the other way pass.

They do drive on the right side.

SPEAKER_03: Okay.

SPEAKER_02: It's not like they drive on the left, like in you know, some of the Caribbean islands and in the UK and stuff like that.

But, you know, again, experiencing the water views, and we stayed at a another resort called the Parador, and they have a huge wildlife sanctuary there.

So you were able to walk around on the trails and see sloths in the wild howler monkeys.

One of the girls saw tarantula, the birds, the macaws would fly over the two cans.

And it was really cool because there was actually like a resident sloth that slept up in a tree right near the the main pool area.

We had one day where we were had free time, and we were in the pool the afternoon, and all of a sudden somebody said, Hey, look at the monkeys, and the monkeys were running along the balconies of people's rooms.

SPEAKER_03: Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_02: Climbing on the roof and just hanging out.

And one of the girls went into her room and could sit there out inside the room and film the monkey out, you know, right on her patio.

And um just really cool.

So great experiences that way.

SPEAKER_01: Wow, I was gonna say, I mean, truly unique experiences that you just don't get anywhere that you go to.

That's pretty awesome.

SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it is.

And uh again, whether it's wellness travel or for romance or adventure, we did an aerial tram that went up the mountain.

We went to this place and it was it was great.

They they do zip lining, they have huge zip line, I guess, lines that you would take.

SPEAKER_01: Did you do it?

SPEAKER_02: No, no, no, we didn't do it.

I took the aerial tram up and no one actually ziplined.

No, okay.

Just the beauty of it all was was just amazing.

There's a really unique little restaurant in the Manuel and Tony.

Area called El Avion.

And it's an old, like huge, I would say a military plane, like a C 130 that's been converted into a bar and restaurant.

Oh, how cool.

Yeah, one of the gals was a uh former flight attendant.

So she was, you know, you could take pictures sitting up in the cockpit.

It was just really neat, you know, a different experience.

But you know, you can do the rainforest adventure, they do ATVs, you can, you know, do the zip lining.

They were they had just built this huge platform that would be gorgeous for a very small destination wedding overlooking the some of the zip line routes and and things like that.

You take this tram, it holds six, seven, eight people, and you go up and it it as it's going up, you can see the the little river or stream coming down, and like I had said, because of all the rain, the water was just really rushing.

You know, you could see waterfalls.

It's about 900 meters out.

SPEAKER_01: Wow, it just sounds gorgeous.

SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it is.

And it's you know, in Costa Rica, the people were amazing, so friendly.

And because we were there probably the first week that the country had really opened up to tourists, we were at some of the places that hadn't even been open since March.

SPEAKER_03: Oh wow.

SPEAKER_02: They were thrilled to see us.

When we did the the tram ride up the mountain, we were the first tourists that had been there since the second week in March.

So not only were we treated like royalty, but they were just so appreciative that we were there.

We were just doing a site inspection at the W hotel in the Central Pacific Valley.

And the Bellman was thanking all of us so much.

And really, he he even teared up thanking us and telling us to, you know, send our clients back there.

They'll welcome them with open arms.

They were just so excited to have us there.

SPEAKER_01: So just yeah, I just wanted to say, I mean, that I think that truly speaks to just the importance that travel has.

I mean, we everybody I think thinks of traveling, it's a vacation, it's you know, a luxury for people to get to do.

But, you know, I mean, these people at these destinations that we visit, I mean, they rely on tourists coming there.

I mean, that's yeah, that's how they're a livelihood.

Exactly.

And so, I mean, it's just it travel, I mean, yeah, it's it's a nice, it's a luxury, but it also, I mean, it serves of vital importance to the entire world.

And, you know, and that's why I think, you know, so many people all over the world are so ready to get back to being able to travel, you know, and the world the world needs us to be traveling.

SPEAKER_02: So yes, it does.

And you know, it it does.

It just opens up a whole new world, a community of friends.

You know, a lot of the resorts and properties and businesses tried to keep as many people on as possible during the shutdown, like the the rainforest adventure that we went on.

That's when they built that big platform.

They had their staff work on that.

And the Andas resort tried to keep as many people on as possible.

So they painted and polished and updated and refreshed rooms and and things like that.

And so they were really excited that we were there.

They weren't even actually opening, they were opening the week after we were gone.

Again, the staff was just amazing and and thanked us for for wanting to come and visit it and make sure we go back home and tell all our clients and and friends and family to to come down there.

And I DWHSA is looking at putting together another educational fam trip for this, a familiarization trip.

And again, like I said, we immerse ourselves into the destination.

We stopped at a little, you know, like convenience store on the highway.

SPEAKER_03: Okay.

SPEAKER_02: It was really funny because one of the girls, and and they're very environmentally conscious there.

The recycling and it's illegal to kill any wild animal and things like that.

And she bought an iced tea and it was in a plastic bottle.

And they asked if it was to go, and obviously it was, you know, we had all you know exited the bus and all gone in there.

And um they they poured the the bottle of the iced tea into a plastic bag, put a twisting tie on it, and handed her a paper cup.

And that was her to go.

She couldn't take the plastic bottle with her, but she could take that plastic bag and the paper cup.

And so we have a lot of fun pictures of her trying to drink out of the plastic bag, you know, pretending she was drinking out of the plastic bag and trying to pour it in the cup, and um, you know, just little fun things like that that we got to experience.

We stopped in another little roadside place, and it's something we'd probably call a tourist trap.

They had like a little buffet lunch there and places where you could sit and eat, and then they had a huge gift shop, and you know, everybody was buying their little stuffed sloths and sloth Christmas ornaments and t-shirts and things like that.

But, you know, and and the even the staff was, you know, where are you from?

And you know, we're so thankful that you're here, and you know, and the the saying in Costa Rica is pura vida, P-U-R-A, and then V-I-D-A.

And it it's just an all-encompassing phrase, you know, thank you and welcome and enjoy the the country, and you know, everything was pura vida, and uh it's it's just a welcomeness that you feel, and uh it's just a a really neat saying, and um it really does kind of sum up the whole trip.

It was it was amazing.

I I can't wait to go back.

And one of the girls on the trip, her and her husband actually stayed a little bit longer and they ended up buying a home down there.

SPEAKER_03: Really?

SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

So they had been looking at Costa Rica.

They had been there before, but then she had this opportunity and uh to see a little, you know, a couple more areas, and then her husband flew in uh a couple days later and she they ended up buying a place down there.

I think they close on it next month.

SPEAKER_03: So wow, that's awesome.

SPEAKER_02: Yeah, so we all said now we have to go back and have a housewarming party down there.

SPEAKER_01: Any excuse to get back to Costa Rica.

That's great.

So now, out of all the places that you guys visited, the different resorts, the different properties, even the different sections, the areas of Costa Rica, if somebody's listening and maybe somebody is thinking about their their honeymoon or a destination wedding, were there any properties that maybe stood out above the rest that you would immediately think, ooh, this is the property for you?

SPEAKER_02: Uh absolutely.

Casa Chameleon is one of them.

That's the one with the 21 villas and uh the you know the private plunge pools in each property or in each villa.

Nayara, that's the one where you could look out, you know.

We were lucky enough to be able to see the Arnold volcano.

Yes, you know, the springs resort.

Then there's like secrets and dreams.

Dreams is a great property that's over on the Pacific coast side, perfect for families.

So if you have families attending the destination wedding, it would be a great location for that.

And actually, you can fly into the airport called Liberia.

Okay, and it's closer to the west coast.

So San Jose is closer, I think, to the eastern side of the country, kind of eastern central.

And this way you could fly into Liberia and it wouldn't be a three-hour bus ride.

It might be about an hour and a half.

So it cuts the the travel time.

So that's another option to fly in and out of Liberia.

Again, uh we just saw just a snapshot of what the country offers as far as different types of properties.

And the next DWA to say educational trip that we take, we're gonna go back and see probably 14 different new properties just because there's such a you know a variety there, and we're actually gonna go more towards the Caribbean side this time instead of the West side.

SPEAKER_01: That's that's so awesome.

SPEAKER_02: No, whatever it is that you want, Costa Rica can accommodate you for it.

SPEAKER_01: So that's great.

And I and I I definitely feel like from listening to you, it's definitely a destination for somebody who truly wants to get outside of just the resort and actually truly experience the destination.

Oh, yeah.

As opposed to just wanting to do, you know, all inclusive in the Caribbean where you never leave the property.

SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah, absolutely.

You I mean, to go there and not go out and experience it is really that's sad because you're missing out on on so much.

And well, like I said, when we stayed at the Parador, they have the wildlife, you know, reserve right there, and you know, you can go down walking the trails and and things like that.

But you really do want to get out and experience, you know, they have everything from cloud forest trips and the the adventure stuff, zip lining and ATVs and all that, and then they have more cultural things as well.

So you definitely want to experience outside of the resort too.

SPEAKER_01: Fantastic.

Well, I don't know.

I'm sold, I'm totally ready to to to plan a trip to Costa Rica, that's for certain.

So so awesome.

Well, well, Lisa, I want to thank you so much for uh being willing to come onto the podcast and and share with everybody about this incredible destination.

SPEAKER_02: Oh, that it's my pleasure.

And it was, you know, like I said, if you've never been or maybe you've only gone to Costa Rica and it's been several years, go back.

And like I said, there's new resorts opening up.

And for whatever reason you want to go, if you just want to go and lay on your balcony and and read books, but be able to look out and see the foliage or the the volcano or or the Pacific Ocean, there you can do that.

Or if you're busy and and you know you want to go out every day hiking and in the rainforest and things like that.

Or if you just want a family beach vacation, you can do that too.

It it certainly has something for everybody.

I I can't wait to go back and experience more.

And if you don't already, if if you aren't a travel consultant, if you are a consumer, look for a consultant that you can work with.

The association that I run, co-founded, and you know, am president of, we are all about training agents to better handle their clients when it comes to romance travel.

We want you to have a great experience.

And for those agents, if you you know have any more questions, you can always contact me, Lisa at DWHSA.com.

And thank you, Kevin.

I know it's been ages.

We've been trying to get this done and personal issues that came up for me.

I'm watching my grandchildren a lot, especially with COVID and their daycare situations fluctuates from week to week.

So it was been great to actually talk about this.

And I wish you well with everything you're doing with your podcast, Kevin.

SPEAKER_01: Well, thank you so much.

And I don't know, I know I know you've got a couple of feet of snow outside of your house.

So hopefully thinking of this maybe warmed you up a little bit.

SPEAKER_02: It does, it does.

And you know, there were days when we were in Costa Rica when it was so extremely hot and humid, and it was like, one of these days, I'm gonna be wishing I was back here, and I think today is one of it.

SPEAKER_01: So well, that's awesome.

Well, well, Lisa, thank you so much.

And for everybody joining, I hope you uh made me think of Costa Rica for your next vacation.

Awesome.

Thank you.

Hey guys, just Kevin, I wanted to pop in real quick.

So what do you think?

Costa Rica sounds pretty amazing, doesn't it?

Hopefully you weren't too bothered by the poor audio quality of today's interview.

I promise I'm gonna do my very best to make sure that doesn't happen again.

But you know what?

When dealing with technology, uh, you never know what's going to happen, blind user or not.

So, anyways, uh again, I hope you enjoyed the conversation I had with Lisa today.

And you know what?

Or just an awesome thing.