On our journey through Nicaragua, one of the places we were most excited about visiting was San Juan del Sur.
It is a small town located right on the coast, and the whole area is surrounded by stunning beaches and great surfing opportunities.
As such, we were keen to stay somewhere that capitalised on these stunning views and offered up-close access to the water so that I could make the most of the waves.
Well, form the get-go it seemed as if Costa Dulce would be the perfect place for us ...
Costa Dulce is an ecolodge/retreat located on the slopes of the hill overlooking the gorgeous blue ocean below.
Over the years, it has been built to include a number of bespoke huts each one unique in some way, and making the most of those views.
It is situated by Playa Escameca and just so happens to be the only property with direct access to that beach!
As such, the beach is very rarely busy.
Before we dig a bit deeper into the specifics of our time here, I’m going to go ahead and say that we truly loved our time here.
The views and access to the beach really did stand up to expectations.
In fact, the secluded and private nature of the entire resort really helped to make us feel as if we were disconnecting properly from the outside world.
I had ample chance to surf, relax and to eat great tasting healthy food.
All in all, we left feeling relaxed, rejuvenated and a lot healthier than when we had arrived.
They offer a few key packages at Costa Dulce, each one tailored more towards specific activities that you want.
Such activities include daily yoga classes, surf lessons and paddle boarding.
Aside from this, there’s plenty more to do, such as taking long walks down the coast to explore nearby beaches, as well as simply relaxing and unwinding in the warm weather and peaceful atmosphere.
They also do a certain activity every day, in order to give you a deeper insight into what life is like in and around Costa Dulce.
This could include things like trips to a nearby area of land that they are reforesting, as well as day trips to San Juan del Sur.
I tried to make the most of these activities, choosing to do yoga and surf on most days.
Every evening you can check out the turtle hatchery, and if you're lucky, you can watch the baby turtles being released into the sea.
Without a doubt, the biggest surprise we had when staying at Costa Dulce was the quality of food we were given.
I am not lying or exaggerating when I say that it is the best food I have ever eaten over a period of 5 days.
Every single meal is prepared from scratch, using homemade ingredients.
Every meal is healthy and unique in its own way, which I honestly never thought possible when having to make so many different healthy meals.
By the time we left, we genuinely felt healthier and more alive than when we had arrived, and I believe this is because we cleansed ourselves of all the junk food we’d been eating in the weeks running up to our stay.
As mentioned above, every room here is bespoke in some sort of way, and the room we were given was called “The Nest”.
As you can see from the images, it offers up completely unhindered views down and out across the ocean.
The rooms are what I would call “open”, seeing as the bathroom has a mesh, see-through window (don’t worry, no one can see in) and there are no big heavy blinds in the main room.
Instead, the windows here are covered in mesh as well.
As such, when you fall asleep at night, you do so listening to the sounds of the waves lapping on the beach.
It allows you to feel more in sync with nature and to start to disconnect yourself from the worries and concerns of everyday life.
We ended up spending a lot of time speaking to Tyson, the man behind Costa Dulce.
Originally from Canada, he has spent more than a decade living in Nicaragua and slowly building Costa Dulce into the wonderful resort it is today.
However, what we found most intriguing is that the mission for Costa Dulce doesn't end at simply bringing in more guests and making money from the business.
Instead, he is re-investing in a number of unique and inspiring eco initiatives, designed to make the business more environmentally friendly and to do a lot for the wider community.
For example, they are looking to drastically expand a programme which sees them buying up large areas of deforested Nicaraguan land and replanting trees in order to help combat the effects of climate change.
At the same time, they hire local citizens and are aiming to build a micro-community that supports the livelihoods of dozens of local small business owners and families.
He has big plans for the future and it’s great to know that the money you spend when staying there is being put towards worthwhile programmes.
In my opinion, Costa Dulce is best suited towards those travellers looking to slow down a bit and enjoy at least a week or more in one location.
As an ecolodge/retreat, everything you need is right there at Costa Dulce.
This includes your food, your daily activities, your WiFi and even a bar on the beach.
There is very little need to leave and go elsewhere, so it’s perfect if you want to slow things down and disconnect for a week or so.
What I also loved is that there was a real variety in the other guests there, including both the ages and the countries of origin.
It is not suited towards one specific gender or age range, but instead is a warm and homely environment for anyone looking to detox
As you can tell, Cazzy and I genuinely loved our time at Costa Dulce.
But I just wanted to finish up by reiterating a point we have made in other posts we have written about Nicaragua.
Which is that the country is a very safe and inviting place to visit, despite what the international media might be portraying.
Yes, the country went through some political turmoil in 2018, but this has mostly died down and has had almost no effect on foreign tourists.
As long as you steer clear from any political demonstrations, then Nicaragua is no more dangerous than any other country.
In fact, by choosing not to visit, I believe you are missing out on the chance of discovering one of Central America’s most diverse and beautiful countries.
And if you do choose to visit, then staying at Costa Dulce would be a great way to do it!
If you are interested in booking, then I recommend doing so on …
**Once again, thank you to the team at Costa Dulce who hosted us during our stay. As always, the views expressed in this post are 100% our own**
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