Mr. & Mrs. Vandebilt + kids

We went on our first day trip today. We decided to check out Playa Conchal – it’s a beach where instead of sand there are just ground up shells instead. It’s near the top of a lot of “must see beaches of Costa Rica” lists and so we figured we should check it out. It is only about 25km away but it takes about an hour and a half to get there. Two hours if you get lost like we did.

We didn’t exactly get lost, we just blindly trusted google maps again. We just cannot learn this lesson. We set out and everything was going fine until we were told to turn onto a semi-paved road that quickly became impassable due to the river running across it. We had to backtrack to the highway, stop and get gas, which woke up both girls and the rest of the drive wasn’t nearly as peaceful. We did arrive though!

We grabbed a quick bite to eat at the neighbouring beach – Playa Brasilito before walking over to the shell beach. The Westin has basically bought the entire beachfront so there’s no direct access. It’s only about a 10 minute walk down the beach then over a little hill where the scenery almost completely changes. I can’t really blame them for buying it.

So far we have basically only seen grey or black sand beaches. The black one was super cool, the grey ones I just can’t get past. Even though I know it’s just the colour of the sand, it still feels dirty to me. But this beach was beautiful white sand and then anywhere the water wasn’t constantly washing over was nothing but shells. The water was super clear and blue and warm enough that I went swimming. The waves broke reasonably hard on shore and the kids had a blast being pulled in and out.

We spent a few hours on the beach before we started the trek back. The sun sets relatively early here and driving is twisty and turny enough by daylight so we needed to head back. The kids were delighted to have a supper of popsicles, fruit loops and cheesies in the backseat en route. Once we got home, like responsible parents, we threw them in the pool when we got home for “tub time”.