Tranquilo Backpackers

Thank You Travel Blanket for the great review, that basically decided it for us!

Okay, here goes. Tranquilo Backpackers has to be the best place to stay in Mal Pais. If you're looking for something super laidback and relaxed this is the place to go. Lots of the people here are surfers who wake up early in the morning so sleep time is around 11 at the latest each night.

“Great place to relax”

Tranquilo Backpackers

Thank You Travel Blanket for the great review, that basically decided it for us!

Okay, here goes. Tranquilo Backpackers has to be the best place to stay in Mal Pais. If you're looking for something super laidback and relaxed this is the place to go. Lots of the people here are surfers who wake up early in the morning so sleep time is around 11 at the latest each night.

They have a ping pong table and hammocks everywhere which I loved. Be aware though that if you aren't looking for a somewhat sorority feel with a lot of people this may not be the place for you.

It suited my boyfriend and I well though as we just needed a place to sleep and hang out when we weren't on the beach!

So definitely recommend this place and would stay there again.

“MAL PAIS: Costa Rica's Best Kept Secret”

Tranquilo Backpackers

This is for all the younger travelers out there that are planning on going to Costa Rica...

There is so much to see and do in Costa Rica, but the greatest spot in Costa Rica is on the Peninsula de Nicoya on the very south-west tip. It is a place called Mal Pais. It is here where you will spend most of your time.

Getting here is simple. Get to Puntarenas and take the ferry across to Paquera. Grab a taxi and say, "Mal Pais." The taxi will bring you to a tiny town that is a dirt road located along the beach. It is here that this fairly isolated, tiny community thrives. You will stay at Tranquilo Backpackers... the best hostel in Central America. (And yes, I have been to Mondo Taitu in Bocas... and this one is better).

Once you are in Mal Pais, there is so much to do. I recommend renting a surf board and go surfing. This is one of the best spots in all of Cost Rica to surf. So you can surf, or swim, and lay on the beautiful beach all day. Then at dusk, watch the spectacular sunset with all the other on-lookers on the beach.

Another great thing to do is rent a quad (for dirt cheap) and go ripping up and down the deserted beach just north of Mal Pais. Jump dunes and do donuts...park the quad by the water and jump in for a quick dip...then go ripping up into the hills.

There are sweet little restaurants there too, or you can go to the grocery store that's right beside the hostel and buy your dinner. Tranquilo Backpackers has a great kitchen to cook your food. Another plus about the hostel (other than its style and atmosphere) is that every morning there is a free pancake breakfast!

The nightlife in Mal Pais is great. There is a bar called Tabu that is right on the beach. It is a tribal themed bar and occationally you will get some dancers to come and to tribal dances. There is also a bar down the road that is the Mal Pais Surf Camp. Once a week they hold huge parties there... it even has a mechanical bull!

So trust me, people, you do not want to miss out on Mal Pais. It is extremely laid back, and at the same time it is wild.

“Stinkendes Wasser, Zimmer ohne Fensterscheiben, Wanna-Be Surfer...”

Tranquilo Backpackers

Uns wurde Tranquilo Backpackers im Lonely Planet empfohlen. Was wir dort sahen, war aber alles anderes als empfehlenswert. Stinkendes, wenn nicht so gar verschmutztes oder giftiges Wasser; Zimmer, deren Fenster offen waren (keine Fenster, nur Vorhänge), unfreundlicher Service. Da gibt's in Santa Teresa 2km weiter für den gleichen Preis mehr Luxus und besseren Service (z.B. im BeachBreak, direkt am Strand).