The Background

Over the last 42 years, I have had the opportunity to visit some of best beaches in the western hemisphere and experience pristine environments that are now mega resort destinations. After attending summer school in Guadalajara at the age of 15, some 42 years ago, I spent much of the following years traveling to “hidden fishing towns” like Puerto Vallarta, Manzanillo, Mazatlan, Cancun, and Cabo San Lucas as well as packing all over the Caribbean.

My first encounter with most of these “undiscovered areas” let me experience jungle to the ocean, open air palapa restaurants with sand floors on the beach, cobblestone or dirt streets, and small but charming country hotels. Cancun and Cabo had only a couple hotels at the time. They were all incredible environments and I have had a lot of fun over the years making memories in them.

If you have been to any of them lately, they are still beautiful but you know that there are miles of wall-to-wall mega resorts with everything that goes with them.

The world is “getting flat” very quickly now. It took all of human existence to reach 2.5 billion people on the earth when I was born. Now in less than one lifetime there are around 7 billion with estimates of 9.5 billion before my lifetime expectancy is up. I have been trying to accept the possibility that the age of “tranquillo” environments had become extinct.

I have been most fortunate to discover something as beautiful as any place I have had an opportunity to visit. Costa Rica is a “bit more of a hike” to get to than San Diego, Cabo, or Cancun, but well worth it if you appreciate some of the best biodiversity, people, and beaches left on the planet.