If geography was not a barrier, this is how we'd spend a perfect day in Costa Rica...
1
Pacuare Jungle Lodge
Wake up in one of Pacuare Jungle Lodge's open-to-the-elements bungalows and look out across the rainforest from your huge four-poster bed, as the smell of fresh Costa Rican coffee waiting outside your door wafts in and the sound of the river rushes past just a few metres from where you lie.
2
Florblanca
Have breakfast at Florblanca, feet in the sand, in among the palms on the beautiful Playa Saint-Teresa. Sip on a healthy Smoothie of the Day, as the chef whips up banana bread, French toast and sweetcorn pancakes with fresh prawns, avocado, okra and eggs.
3
Nosara Beach
Such a hearty breakfast needs working off so take a short stroll down to Nosara Beach from Harmony Hotel. Grab a board and join the surfers catching the early morning waves. Then it's back to Harmony for an invigorating Yoga class on their scenic platform.
4
Playa Cativo
Just before lunch, amble along the beach to Playa Cativo's organic farm where you can pick your own produce from their selection of vegetables, herbs, passion fruits, guavas, chillies, peppers, ginger and more. Learn to husk your own coconut and drink the juice on the way back up to the lodge where your picks will have been prepared into a zero-food-mile healthy lunch.
5
Lapa Rios
So many hammocks, so little time. Have a post-lunch siesta in Lapa Rios's well-appointed balcony hammock, surrounded by rainforest, bird calls and monkeys...
6
Arenal National Park
What better way to spend the afternoon than swinging through the jungle, a la Tarzan and Jane, on one of Costa Rica's world-class zip lining Canopy tours in Arenal National Park.
7
Poas Volcano
Later in the afternoon, head out from Poas Volcano Lodge to a nearby coffee plantation. Learn how Costa Rican coffee is farmed (with a few tasters along the way), before heading to Poas Volcano to peer into its spectacular crater lake.
8
Florblanca
If ever you look up in a Costa Rican shower, myriad great things might greet you; open to the elements, most Costa Rican showers can be enjoyed with jungles overhead, blue skies, rainforests and volcanoes... I particularly loved Florblanca's open rain shower.
9
Kura Design Villas
Sip on a sun downer (the hand-crafted Passion Fruit Mojito is unbeatable) in Kura Design Villa's cutting-edge, open-air restaurant, where a show stopping fire in the pool keeps you cosy as the temperatures cool.
10
Arenas del Mar
Too many delicious dinners to choose from, but it's hard to fault the excellent lemongrass-infused tuna cooked by chef Adrian Cardas at Arenas del Mar.