Day 9 - 2/16/2026 San Jose Costa Rica
- sridgway38
- Feb 16
- 2 min read
We disembarked the ship today in Costa Rica in a port town about 2 hours from San Jose. We were loaded into a van inside of the secure port area and bussed to a parking lot outside of the port where after a bit of confusion, we found our private transfer. He ended up being a very nice guy who took us from the port to the Marriot Hacienda Belem. The area appeared to be very industrial and was only 8 miles from the airport, but we were pleasantly surprised as we entered through the registration area into a beautiful resort. The hotel grounds were an old coffee plantation and were surrounded by trees and vegetation and once inside it was impossible to tell that you were in an urban area. There were two pools, beautiful walking paths, several restaurants and a bar, which all offered al fresco dining as well as indoor seating areas.
We didn't have much to do today so we had lunch, and relaxed by the pool. We found a coffee shop inside of the hotel that offered 24 hour service and since breakfast was included in our room, we were able to book to go breakfasts for pick up very early in the morning before our birding tours, so we arranged all of that before having an early dinner and getting some sleep.
