Wild beaches, reggae, jungle adventures and a bicycle accident I could have avoided. Here are six things to do in Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica, from wildlife encounters to the wild Caribbean coast.

Five hours into the rainforest, my feet looked fifty years older, my shoes had surrendered, and the monkeys may have been throwing shit at me. Then I heard the sea.

Puerto Viejo changes completely as you move south. I stayed in Playa Chiquita, but the right base depends on how wild you want to go.

People come to Tortuguero for wildlife. I crossed one more river and found an even wilder side of the Caribbean. Here are the experiences near Tortuguero that stayed with me long after I left.

Most travellers go straight to Tortuguero. I found Parismina by zooming out on Google Maps, then followed buses, a boat and a little faith into a village with no roads, few tourists and far more life than anyone seems to notice.

This is the real route I took after avoiding the bus route through Limón: scenic, strange, full of jungle, howler monkeys, crocodiles, a fallen tree, and one passenger with a machete clearing the way.

But then something about him started to feel… off.

It wasn’t what he said, it was how he said it. The way he kept lowering his voice mid-sentence, like there was no real reason for it but he felt there should be. The pauses, slightly too long, like he was filtering his own words before letting them out. And the constant glances around, quick but frequent, like he was checking who was listening even though no one was paying attention. It felt like he was trying to be discreet, but in a way that made the whole thing more obvious instead of less. Like someone playing a role they hadn’t quite mastered.