The Villa is located in Playa Jurel in the Guanacaste Province in Northwest Costa Rica (Pacific Ocean side). The Pacific side of Costa Rica is famous for its beautiful beaches, stunning hillsides, volcanoes, rainforest, scuba diving and fishing. The villa itself is located in Bahia Pez Vela just outside Playa Hermosa, a small beach community with many restaurants and tourist services. Other beach communities located nearby include Playa del Coco and Playa Flamingo, among several others. The villa is located only a 25 minute drive from the Liberia international airport. The Villa is a short driving distance from the Monteverde Preserve, an excellent place to go for a river tour where you can see an amazing wildlife habitat which includes monkeys (howlers and Capuchin), crocodiles, macaws, in addition to many other bird and animal species. Seeing these sights in person puts the shows on Animal Planet to shame.

The Arenal Volcano and surrounding rainforest are an incredible sight. The volcano is active and you must stay 5M away in distance at all times. It is unusual in that it continues to erupt, spewing mud and lava, but only on one side. On clear nights, you can see the bright lava coming down the volcano.

Just outside of the Arenal Volcano is the rainforest area. This area is a great place to go on a canopy tour, horseback riding, and whitewater rafting. We can tell you from experience that nothing beats flying down a zip line in a harness at 30 - 40mph from 150 ft. in the air for a distance of 100 yards or more. There is no better way to see a rainforest than during a canopy tour. It is a safe and exhilarating experience which provides life-long memories, especially for those who previously never thought they were capable of this activity. Many of the canopy tours require travel by foot and/or horse so you get to appreciate all the scenery. Don’t forget to take a moisture-protected camera as you will not want to miss the photo-op of a lifetime when you come flying down a zip line and land on a platform over a hundred feet in the air.

If you feel you wish to spend a couple days in the rainforest, there are very inexpensive hotels in the vicinity so you will not have to make the full trip on multiple days. The trip takes approximately two hours as you must drive up to a high elevation. We have a guide service to recommend which will make your trip both easy, comfortable, stressless and informative. The Guanacaste area also possesses some of the finest scuba diving and sport fishing in the world. There are scuba trips available for every level of experience in addition to dive training for those who wish to become certified. There are golf courses within a short driving distance of the complex. Sport fishing boats can be acquired at several local beaches. Prime fishing is during the Green Season

Activities  

In addition to ecotouring, the Guanacaste area also possesses some of the finest scuba diving and sport fishing in the world. There are scuba trips available for every level of experience in addition to dive training for those who wish to become certified. There are golf courses within a short driving distance of the complex. Sport fishing boats can be acquired at several local beaches. Prime fishing is during the Green Season.

The Villa is part of a 25 unit complex all owned by Americans and Canadians. It has access to an amazing complex pool next to a restaurant which serves traditional snacks and meals as well as local cuisine. The pool is only a few hundred feet away. Only a hundred feet from the pool is a private beach. The beach is buttressed by cliffs on either side which provides not only extremely calm water, but also easily accessible snorkeling. As you will notice from the photographs, Costa Rica’s Pacific beaches are famous for their black sand. The sand has the consistency of talc and, surprisingly, remains cool to the touch even on the hottest days.

The Villa’s name is #8 La Gaviota (which means “seagull” as each villa is named after a different bird species). The villa is two stories and has three bedrooms in addition to two and a half baths. It is extremely spacious and can sleep up to 8 people when the sleeper sofa is also used. Other amenities include:

• Central air conditioning (Don’t underestimate how many hotels in Costa Rica do not have this)
• Hampton Bay fans
• Full kitchen with stove/oven, refrigerator, dishwasher, microwave, blender plus eating and cooking utensils
• Washing machine and dryer
• Double bed in master bedroom suite which has a balcony
• 4 single beds
• Pull out double bed
• Cable TV and VCR in living with second Cable TV in master bedroom
• Dining room with elegant long table
• Patio furniture
• Gas grill
• Spectacular view of Papagayo Peninsula, the Four Seasons property and Michael Jordan’s home
• Only steps away from Pool with Club House, restaurant, and full-service bar and private beach (open 7 days a week)
• Gated community with 24 hour security

Services Which Can Be Arranged:

• Daily Maid Service
• Cook
• Tour Guide
• Grocery Delivery
• Nanny