6 Things I Love About Puerto Viejo and 6 Things I Don’t

I’ve had the opportunity to spend some extensive time in Costa Rica working on marketing projects with an environmental organization called Planet Conservation. It’s given me the ability to really get to know Puerto Viejo, what life is like here, and recognize some pretty obvious pros and cons to living in Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica on the Caribbean Coast. Let’s get into it. Here are 6 things I love about Puerto Viejo and 6 things I don’t.

6 things I love about Puerto Viejo

It is the definition of pura vida.

Costa Rica is know for its pura vida but Puerto Viejo seems to be the definition. For those who don’t speak Spanish, “pura vida” translates to “pure life” in English. This Caribbean beach town defines that pure lifestyle. The people take things at a slower pace. Life just seems simpler, more pure, less stressful. Eat, sleep, beach, repeat.

There’s no pressure from the outside world to look a certain way, stay up-to-date with the latest trends, or wear a face full of makeup. Instead, it’s acceptable to wear shorts, a swim top, and flip flops to practically anything and life moves at a different pace compared to a lot of places around the world.

For this, Puerto Viejo is beautiful. I love the idea of a simple life, always seeing familiar faces, and soaking up life where the jungle meets the Caribbean.

Cycling is the norm.

I love cycling. It’s simplistic, eco-friendly, and healthy. Locals and travelers alike love to get around this way. Puerto Viejo is full of bikes and it’s probably the most common mode of transportation for the area. Plus, once you’re out of the jungle in Cocles and surrounding areas, Puerto Viejo is quite flat so it makes cycling a relaxed, easy way to get around.

Something to note, pretty much all the bikes here only use back brakes and have no gears.

The locals are friendly.

Everyone seems very happy here. They’re smiling, laughing, and enjoying life the pura vida life. It’s nice to experience this openness because living in cities, people can be a bit more standoffish. Something else I love is how you’ll always see familiar faces in Puerto Viejo. On Cocles Beach, I always see friendly faces who have transformed into friends, the same taxi driver always picks us up, and you’ll quickly find yourself waving at many people as you go about your day.

With this in mind, Puerto Viejo can quickly feel like a home.

There are coconuts everywhere.

Do you like coconuts? If you don’t, you will after leaving Puerto Viejo! There are coconuts everywhere here. You can find them fresh along the beach. You’ll just need someone with a machete to slice it open for you so you can drink fresh coconut water then later devour the delicious coconut itself.

You can also get coconuts from vendors around Puerto Viejo. Many just wander the streets waiting for someone to purchase one.

There’s a lot going on.

A big pro for Puerto Viejo is that there’s always something going on. A lot of cafes and restaurants have free movie nights, there’s always a fun night to go to at the bars such as dance nights, ladies’ nights, and karaoke, plus plenty of yoga classes as well as dance and crossfit, too.

Beyond that, there’s a lot of things you can do at the beach such as surfing, slacklining, snorkeling, volleyball, and more. You can venture in the jungle at the Jaguar Rescue Center or explore the surrounding national parks as well.

Amazing coffee and chocolate.

Costa Rica is a major coffee and chocolate producer, meaning there’s so much fresh, tasty coffee to be enjoyed here in Puerto Viejo. There’s a number of specialty coffee shops serving up amazing coffee. Places like Caribeans and others are combined into coffee and chocolate cafes.

In Puerto Viejo, you can also book chocolate tours. You’ll get to learn all about the chocolate making process while you whip up your own chocolate while you’re at it.

It’s a paradise for animal lovers.

I have such a love for animals, so living in Puerto Viejo has been amazing for spotting so many exotic animals I wouldn’t normally see in Europe or the US. Where I stay is nestled in the jungle and there are a plethora of birds, monkeys, sloths, geckos, and animals I don’t even know the names of.

It’s such an amazing perk of living the jungle life in Costa Rica!

6 things I don’t like about Puerto Viejo

Even in “paradise” nothing is perfect, so here are 6 things I don’t like about living in Puerto Viejo.

The heat and humidity is intense.

As someone who worships cloudy, chilly weather, living in Puerto Viejo is difficult for me.  The humidity is extremely high every day, making you instantly feel sweaty, sticky, and far from confident. The “feels like” temperature hovers around the mid 90s to 100+ Fahrenheit (32 to 38+ Celsius) many days of the week.

There are a lot of pot holes and gravel roads.

Though biking is the norm, it can be a bit stressful and tiring with the roads here in Puerto Viejo. Most of the roads, other than the main one, are gravel or destroyed with pot holes.

I stay on a road that goes up to the jungle and I have to get off the bike 3 times each way because the gravel and roads are too bad or too steep to use the bike.

Another annoying thing about the roads here is that there are no bike lanes at all, yet it’s such a normal mode of transportation.

Prices are high.

It’s relatively expensive here for Central American norms. A lot of things are similar to what you’d pay in the US, for example. If you want to buy clothes here, the normal price would be around $60-$70 for an outfit (shirt and shorts). A small sandwich and a coffee would cost about $12. There’s also not a lot of options in terms of shopping, so you don’t have a lot of opportunities for searching around for the best price or variety of items.

There are so many bugs here.

In addition to all the exotic animals you’ll see here, you’ll also find a plethora of bugs – big and small. It’s normal to find spiders, ants, worms, cockroaches, and more in your home. Also, everyone uses mosquito nets for sleeping because the mosquitoes will eat you alive here. Somehow, however, my legs are still constantly covered in bites.

It’s hard to cool down.

The only way to really cool down here is to take a cold shower, hide under a shaded tree, or jump in the pool or sea. Most houses, restaurants, and stores are open without windows or walls. They just have the foundations and the rest is free-flowing. This means there’s no AC, only fans. Of course, there are walls here in Puerto Viejo, it’s just the kitchen and living areas that are typically open.

Sometimes it’s so hot at night that it’s even difficult to get to sleep.

Puerto Viejo is further away from a lot of popular attractions in Costa Rica.

It’s a bit difficult to get around to other places when you’re living in Puerto Viejo because of it’s location on the Caribbean Coast. You’ll most likely need to make the 4-5 hour bus journey back to San Jose to go anywhere else you’d like to go. This makes it difficult for planning trips if you don’t have a car.

And those are my pros and cons to living in Puerto Viejo! What do you think? Do you want to come stay in Puerto Viejo? Let me know in the comments below!