In late February 2026, my family and I took a trip to Costa Rica. Unlike the previous trip I had gone on to Costa Rica with the soccer team, this trip was completely different. With a new location within the country, new activities and a new group dynamic, it was interesting to see how different trips can be, even if you go to the same country.
This trip was different from a normal vacation. This is because my grandma, aunts, uncles and cousins all were able to come along. My grandma organized the trip as a way to connect the family and spend more time together.
We started the adventure in Denver. After a long flight to Liberia, we hopped into a tour bus and began the drive to Nosara. The next morning, the adventure began. We hopped out of bed ready to explore the new area. My three cousins and I walked down to the beach and took a surf lesson. Nosara is a world-renowned beginner-surf destination, due to its consistent beach breaks and safe currents. After a few hours of learning the basics of surfing, we decided to rent surfboards for the whole trip. This led us to surf every day. I started out with a 7’4” long board. This was perfect for the small three-foot beach break. Throughout the whole trip, there was not a day I went without surfing. Surfing the ocean is way harder than it looks. The hardest part was by far knowing where to be in the ocean and which wave to go on. Finally, on the last day of the trip, I tried a 6’4” short board. This was a whole new level. WIth the smaller volume, it made the board much harder to pop-up onto and paddle. With this new smaller and more advanced board, I only caught one good wave, but it was by far the best ride of the trip.
Even though surfing was a big part of the trip, it was far from the only thing we did. Another big highlight was the zipline trip. We all loaded up into the back of a large, olive-drab tactical truck—similar to an Oshkosh M1078 or LMTV—that had been modified with seating for passengers, and began the ascent up the mountains. After crossing rivers, and seeing baby monkeys in the trees, we finally made it to the start of the zipline course. It was my first time ever being on a zipline, so I had no idea what to expect. After getting the safety talk, we took off on the first of 13 ziplines. Throughout the trip we did solo, duo, trio, and quadruple ziplines. The highest zipline was over 200 feet high, and the longest was half a mile.
Throughout the trip, we went on two boat trips. The first one was a six-hour fishing adventure. We took a smaller dinghy boat out to the fishing boat, and then took that bigger boat about 30 minutes into the deep ocean. Once in the correct spot, we started trolling and casting rods off the front and back of the boat. During the whole six hours, we only managed to land one 20 inch tuna. But we did see thousands of dolphins, spinner dolphins to be specific. They get their name because they are able to jump up to 10 feet into the air, and spin up to seven times. This was my favorite part of the trip.
Overall, the trip was an amazing experience. Although the adventures and activities were very fun, the best part was being able to spend time with my cousins and grandma, it was an experience unlike any other. I was able to learn new things about my family and all about Costa Rican culture.
