We’re all up early for breakfast, partly because we have a long journey ahead but mostly due to the tempestuous winds outside. I mention this to the hotel owner and she laughs, “That’s nothing, you should have heard it two nights ago. It was like a hurricane!” Jonathan is keen for us to get on the road as soon as possible as there is a strong weather-front coming in from the Caribbean side with a huge amount of rain about to be unleashed on Monteverde accompanied by two days of storm-force winds.

It transpires that we have enjoyed an unusual window of good weather in Monteverde, and when our former travelling companions from Guatemala arrive at Hotel Los Jardines the day after we leave, it’s absolutely pouring down and the strength of the wind means their ziplining fun is cancelled. Fortunately unbroken sunshine awaits us in our next destination of Manuel Antonio, a slice of heaven on the Pacific coast.

To get there we have a five hour drive ahead so Coman and I grab the seats up front next to Wayner, our driver, and are rewarded with the best views of the stunning scenery as we descend from the mountains down to sea level. Trees are in blossom looking beautiful against the clear blue sky as we pass through cantaloupe, watermelon, pineapple, mango, avocado and banana plantations. 

After ninety minutes we join Intercontinental Highway 1, the Pan-American road connecting Canada with Panama and ultimately continuing all the way to Tierra Del Fuego at the tip of Argentina. From there we drive along the coast to Quepos, passing through the small town of Caldera, which boasts Costa Rica’s second most important port as well as the nearest beach to the capital San Jose. Shortly afterwards we stop at Crocodile Bridge and as we get out of the air-conditioned minibus the heat of the lowlands instantly hits us. It’s absolutely scorching, the hottest temperature since we came to Central America, and we slather on the Factor 50 with abandon.

Once we set off again we pass the huge sweeping bay of the popular seaside town of Jaco and the surfers paradise of Playa Hermosa, before palm oil orchards start to line the road as we approach Quepos, the nearest town to the beach resort of Manuel Antonio and its famous national park. Just outside Quepos we stop for lunch at the house of the Rosas family, who Intrepid Travel are supporting by bringing groups to them for cooking lessons.

However it seems there’s a number of tour groups coming through today so instead of a culinary lesson the family rope a couple of our group into throwing pre-prepared veggies into frying pans and feed us as quickly as possible. As we leave, another Intrepid group arrive to take our place. The Rosas are obviously onto a good thing!

It's 3pm by the time we’ve arrived at our lodgings for the next three days, simply entitled The Manuel Antonio Hotel, and sitting right beside the beach. Easily the best accommodation we’ve had since we left San Jose almost two weeks ago, it’s a relief to be able to properly unpack. Coman wastes no time in handwashing a bunch of clothes and stringing them out on our sea-facing terrace to dry, and then we wander down to the sand. It’s a truly spectacular curved bay and the kind of palm-fringed paradise beach that features in TV ad campaigns. We’re not surprised to learn that it regularly also appears in Top 10 Best Beaches in the World rundowns in magazines around the world.

In addition to the fun of swimming and diving in the gorgeous warm seas, which are full of rolling surf crashing into the sand, the beach also boasts absolutely incredible sunsets. To celebrate our first night here Jonathan brings out fresh coconuts that he cracks open with stones before adding rum to the natural coconut water inside to make a truly tropical cocktail. We sip on it as the sun transforms the horizon into a blazing golden vista that’s almost unreal in its fierce colours, changing and deepening with each moment.

The following morning we’re up early for breakfast at a little restaurant called Donde Alex, and then join the rest of our group for a guided walk through the wonders of Manuel Antonio National Park. However those wonders are difficult to spot as, despite being the smallest national park at only 2000 hectares, it is the most-visited in the whole of Costa Rica as it sits by the beach and so is a magnet for holiday-making families and weekending North Americans.

The main routes through the park are absolutely rammed with hundreds of tourists all jostling for position as each of their guides tries to point out the same wildlife as all the other guides. It's a pretty dispiriting experience and despite our guide Hans’ best efforts there’s a real sense that we’ve paid over the odds to stand around with huge groups of other tourists pretending to be enthused at occasional sightings of flora and fauna we’ve witnessed elsewhere.

Nevertheless we do get to see a spiny-tailed black iguana, a common basilisk also known as the Jesus Christ lizard due to its ability to walk on water, a helmet-headed camouflage lizard, a nesting rufous-tailed hummingbird, a nocturnal stick bird, a couple of squirrel monkeys and a green giant false parrot snake.

We learn that the indigenous Quepoa tribe used to use the poison from the red strawberry or blue jeans frog by dipping spines from one of the trees into the dead frogs’ skin and blowing it as a dart through a pipe at prey or enemies. There’s more excitement when a troupe of white-faced capuchin monkeys start to jump through the trees above us and everyone watches them with delight, but the real delight comes when our tour ends and we are able to head off on our own.

Fortunately, having got up early for breakfast we’ve not only been fed, but also managed to buy some fruit and a salad sandwich in bio-degradable packaging, as food is strictly controlled in the park and nothing that can harm animals or alter their behaviour is allowed in. All bags are searched at the entrance and we’re waved through with our natural food but the rest of our group are not so lucky.

Most of them didn’t have breakfast as they were expecting to buy sandwiches at the supermarket by the park entrance. However there’s none available when they arrive, so the plastic bags of nuts and sweets they did buy are confiscated and by the end of our leader-led walk they’re starving and head back to the entrance, their park experience at an end.

As a result, Coman and I get to spend a further four hours by ourselves exploring the outer reaches of the park, away from the guided groups of tourists. We wander along winding trails, blissfully free of people, having the joy of watching a slow-moving three-toed sloth in the trees above us in total solitude. It’s a rather magical moment and very tranquil indeed. We climb up to a number of miradors allowing gorgeous panoramic views of the coast and spend the afternoon swimming in all three of the park’s own stunning beaches, without battling hordes of tourists.

Eventually we leave the park and head back to our hotel, ready to engage with the evening delights of Manuel Antonio.