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An Amazing Day at Tortuga Island

Tortuga Island is an INCREDIBLE island off of the coast of Puntarenas, in the Puntarenas provice. 

It is a private island.  Although locals live there, no one is allowed to spend the night.  Everyone who comes is part of a one day trip.  

Think white sand, turqoise water, pina coladas and hammocks in the shade.  I was dying when our boat left at 3 pm because I could have stayed HOURS longer!!!

Important Information:

*You can only get there by boat.  The first boats leave from Puntarenas around 8 am.  It is about a 45 minute boat riade.  You can not stay the night, so it is just for a day trip!

  • Cost: This depends on how many people go in your group!  Access to the island is free, but you have to pay for your boat ride over.  We went with a group of 8 adults and it was $40 a person.  You can also go on an expensive Catamaran with a live band/hot tub/food, but that is about $150 a person.  Maybe in another life haha. 
  • Hours: Boats take people over at 8 am and bring you back to Puntarenas at 3 PM.  You will arrive back to the dock by 4 PM.  
  • Age: This is a family-friendly trip for all ages!  
  • Best Time of Year to Go: Dry season (December-April) 
  • What to Bring: SUNSCREEN!  Towel, cash (although they do accept credit card on the island), cooler with drinks/food, sand toys, hammock
  • How far from San Jose: Punta Arenas is a 2 hour drive west of San Jose.  The boat ride is another 45 minutes. 
  • Other things in the Area: Isla San Lucas (used to be a jail.  Super creepy stories there!  You pass buy it on your way.  You can stop if you want), Punta Arenas.  
On the boat ride over! So excited!!! (Most of us haha)

We woke up early on Dan’s day off of work (May 1 is Labor Day here in Costa Rica) and drove with some work buddies 2 hours west to Punta Arenas.  Punta Arenas is a small little town with not much going on.  On the way we stopped and bought some fruits at a stand.  

Parking is $5 a car and it is smart to leave your car in a lot all day.  It is hard to find parking and it is just safer to leave it with someone! 

Make sure to arrive early in the morning to find a place to park! We just drove around and asked a few people. We ended up parking literally right next to the dock. Beckham enjoyed eating dirt while we got everything out of the car haah.
My parents call this ëlastic shot in the panty hose" hahaha

I could LOVE ON A BOAT.  I love love love loveeeee being on boats.  I get super motion sick but I don’t seem to on boats!  I love the feeling of being on the water and feeling the ocean spray on your face.  It’s my top 5 I FEEL ALIVE feelings!  

Beckham was not happy about the boat at first.  He screamed, “NO RAPIDO!!!” 

SO MANY DELFINES!!!!!!!!!!

Apparently dolphines really like this water!  We saw at least 15 and I almost cried because it was the most beautiful things seeing them leap up out of the water around us.  They were swimming in their pod together and it was so beautiful. 

Apparently the dolphins all go and sleep in the bay up north.  Wouldn’t that be cool to see?  

Beckham LOVED the dolphins. He had such a fun time waving to them!
Beckham decided he likes boats. The rest of the week he kept telling us how he went on a bote rapido!!!
Pulling up to the island. Does it make you want to ugly cry??? SO BEAUTIFUL!!!!

The boat ride over was about 45 minutes and our captain pointed out all of the different islands on the way.  There was one shaped like a woman laying on her back!  Tortuga Island is apparently shaped like a turtle with it’s shell coming out of the water!

On the way over we saw sooooo many dolphins.  When we pulled up I died!  Look how beautiful it is!  

It looked kind of dry because we were going at the end of dry season, but I’m glad we did because we had the whole day with no rain!  And it still wasn’t enough time! 

Things to Do on the Island:

  • Hike: There are a few trails that lead you to cool lookouts but I didn’t have time to check them out.  Leave a few hours for that!
  • Volleyball: More people usually arrive in the afternoon and a volleyball game happens. 
  • Banana Boat: $5 a person.  It’s not that intense, but still super fun!
  • Snorkeling: $10 a person (whether you bring your own gear or not).  This is an hour trip and super fun, though I’ve definitely done better snorkeling!
  • Lay out: Renting a chair/umbrella costs $5
  • Shop: Little trinket/t-shirt shop on the island! 
  • Jet skis: I don’t know how much these cost but it looks so fun!
  • Swim: The water is incredible.  There is a roped off swim area and the water feels perfect!  VERY SALTY, though!
Trying my backflip. Another fail haha.
Dan getting out of the water after snorkeling!

We have some awesome friends who watched Beckham so we could go snorkeling.  It was a really fun trip, though I have definitely gone places with better marine life! 

It was fun to practice diving deep.  I decided that day that I officially want to learn how to SCUBA! 

Beckham and his bestie Saul waiting for their dads to get back from the banana boat.
Dan was a little disappointed how casual the ride was. It was only $5 though, and they had a good time! The captain flipped them about 5 times 🙂
Besties playing in the sand 🙂 I seriously want to teach Beckham to swim so he doesn't have to wear his life vest everywhere!
2:45 PM, most of the boats had already left. We were stalling haha.

We had an INCREDIBLE day and it definitely passed too fast.  But I guess it’s better to be dragged away from some place than to be dying to leave. 

I remember when we stayed on Perhentian Islands in Malaysia and we felt like we were shipwrecked.  We were dying to get off the island hahaha. 

We had such a fun, fun time here and I would love to go back!  If I could do it again I would make sure I got a hike in and I would get a soccer/volleyball game going.  

The low point of the day was packing up Beckham.  He got so sunburnt (we officially decided to buy zinc oxide because no matter HOW MANY TIMES we reapply sunscreen he gets blisters at the beach here)!  He was burnt and poopy and sandy and tired and just ready to be done.  

Cleaning a child up after a beach day is kind of the equivalent of going to hell and coming back haha. 

I was so not ready to go. SOOOO not ready. I wanted to stay on the beach and watch the sunset! Maybe live there?
Carlos bought one last pina colada before boarding. I took a sip when he wasn't looking and found out that it had rum in it. NICE!
We had the best captain. I sat by him on the way back and talked his ear off with questions. Dan always makes fun of me for that, but I seriously love talking to the locals! They know everything! He said he can take us to San Lucas (the penitentiary island) next time!
I asked the captain if he could stop some place deep so we could have one last dive in the ocean before we left. He said yes. HE WAS AN AWESOME CAPITANNNNNN.
Everything is better with people. Name something. It's better with people.

It was just an incredible day.  I was running on an extrovert high from being around people all day.   

Half the group went home and the other half stayed to watch the sunset and grab some dinner before we headed back .

Calle de Los Turistas is the street right along the waterfront.  There are a ton of seafood shops.  Everything is delicious!  

I asked the waiter about 340 questions in order to find the best meal for me. I don't even remember what fish this was called but it melted in my mouth and I died. IT WAS AMAZING. Everyone had good food, though!
Feeling in love after a perfect day with friends. I love living in Costa Rica.

I would totally recommend Tortuga Island.  We spent about $125 for the whole day.  That included gas to get there, parking, our boat ride over and back, snorkeling, a banana boat ride and dinner. 

We did not buy any food on the island but if you want to, it’s $5 for a typical Costa Rican casado.  

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