We had a great time at the Bahia Pez Vela Resort villa 11. The resort is gated with a guard, beautifully landscaped, 2 great pools, and an unbelievably good restaurant. It is hard to believe that a resort this nice can be only accessed by lousy roads…but that just adds to the Costa Rica adventure. We owned/operated a home on VRBO for several years so feel qualified to tell you that the people who own/operate this home on VRBO are real Pro’s. I will cover some topics that might benefit someone trip planning.
Villa 11:
Ideal. The home was clean and in great condition. All the beds & couches were comfortable and the patio furniture made for great outdoor living. The complex is built on the side of a steep hill. If anyone in your group has mobility issues, only consider the 6 homes fronting the beach. Villa 11 had easy access to the pool/restaurant and the beach. We followed the recommended policy of turning OFF air conditioning in rooms that were not occupied and it worked great…the individual units cooled a room instantly. The home has everything that you would have in a beach house—sand toys, snorkel gear, board games, cooler, beach chairs and umbrellas. The kitchen was a very comfortable place to cook. Everything was in excellent working conditions.
Restaurants:
PapaGaya Pura Vida. This is the resort restaurant open for lunch/dinner. Excellent. Quite gourmet. Excellent service. Beautiful setting. Fairly pricey but worth it. If you planned to stay in the Guanacaste area, I would skip the car rental and use taxis.
Father Roosters. 5-minute drive & on the beach…in fact the tables are all outdoors on the sand. Food was very good. Less expensive.
La Caveja Pizza. Really good pizza. Very, very thin crust. The crust is so thin that a large may not be enough for 2-people. Inexpensive.
Beach:
The black sand is like powder. The hotel provides food/beverage service at the beach. The resort staff will carry down beach lounge chairs or a table/chairs for you. The water in December was chilly but comfortable. The tides are probably in the 4’-5’ range. You can hike on the rocks and explore the adjacent beaches when the tide is low (wear sturdy gym shoes). Snorkeling is best at high tide. The visibility was only about 10’-15’ but we saw quite a few fish and one small moray eel. There were some tiny jellyfish that stung but not very frequently…suggest wearing a long sleeve sun shirt in the water.