- [Host] For the next few days,
we're exploring the town of Jaco, here in Costa Rica.
Jaco is known for being a surf spot,
attracting surfers near and far who wanna ride the waves.
Both locals and international visitors flock to Jaco
for its adventure activities like zip lining, ATVing,
parasailing, and horseback riding, to name a few.
Although this party town has a big tourism industry,
we want to show you some of the
lesser known treasures in the area,
including our favorite spots to eat, sleep, and have fun.
And on this road trip,
we're with our four-year-old daughter and my parents,
who have never visited this area before.
(gentle upbeat music)
And we wanna thank Sony for sponsoring this video.
We've been using Sony
since we started creating content online like 15 years ago,
and we've only used Sony.
So in this video we're showcasing
the microphone that we're using.
We've been using it for like the past year.
And that's the ECM-B10 shotgun mic
that's currently on our camera right now recording us.
- [Host 2] Some benefits to using the ECM-B10 mic
is that it's compact and portable.
It doesn't require any extra cables
and it sits high up on our camera,
so when we use wide angle lenses,
the mic doesn't get in the way.
It also has volume controls, noise cut filters
and it gives you options
to capture sound from multiple directions.
(items rustling, clicking)
(zippers zipping)
If you're driving from San Jose towards Jaco,
you're gonna pass by the Tarcoles River,
also known as the Crocodile Bridge.
It's free to see and totally worth seeing
the largest reptiles on Earth in the wild.
- A very popular thing to do on the way to Jaco
is to stop at the Crocodile Bridge.
We've done it a few times before,
but the best thing to do here is to get a smoothie.
And there's one special place that we get our smoothies at
and we'll share it with you.
- It's pretty windy here. (wind whooshing) How's the wind?
- [Host] You can probably put that on.
- Yeah. This is a wind sock.
So this allows us to still have nice crisp audio
even in windy conditions.
So great for filming outside.
(traffic whooshing, rumbling)
There we go.
A little jacket for the mic.
I'm just gonna place that on. There we go.
Probably sounds a lot better now.
(intense mysterious music)
(crocodile growls)
(intense mysterious music)
(mixer whirring)
There's a lot going on in this area.
There's traffic, there's smoothies being made,
there's people selling things.
There's a lot.
But we have our mic set to super-directional.
So you're able to just hear me.
You don't hear the other sounds around me.
And we just got to my favorite smoothie place in this area.
You gotta come here on your way to Jaco.
And I mean, they'll hand you a menu,
but you don't really need it
because you gotta go for the Pura Vida,
which is pineapple, mango and passion fruit,
the sour passion fruit.
So this here is called maracuya in Spanish,
which is the sour passion fruit.
And it really makes this smoothie.
It's so delicious.
But you gotta pair it with something sweet
or it's just like too sour for me.
So that's what that looks like.
And everyone knows what a pineapple and a mango looks like.
So I don't really need to show you that.
- [Host] All right.
- (smack lips) That is so good.
Oh my God. Sweet and tart.
- [Mother] Okay, mom, give it to me,
- Rico?
- My God, so delicious.
- [Host 2] Safe to say
the smoothies were a hit with the family.
Now we have a 30 minute drive
from the Crocodile Bridge to Jaco.
And once we arrive,
we're checking into our accommodation for the night
at Villa Wanderlust,
hosted by a friend we made years ago here in Costa Rica.
Her name is Jai.
She lives in this secret garden
with her two dogs, three bunnies, and a pig named Jakarta.
(chattering)
- [Jai] Yeah, you can like touch his nose and pet him.
He's such a love.
Look at this guy.
Oh my goodness.
- [Host 2] Jai moved to Jaco 20 years ago
with empty pockets and big dreams.
She's watched Jaco go from
an Oceanside village with a dirt road and two restaurants
to a booming hotspot with buildings, hotels
and vibrant nightlife and incredible restaurants.
We're heading to this restaurant later.
Now, back to the pig,
as he is the most popular attraction at Villa Wanderlust.
- [Jai] Good boy, Jakarta, you want to pet him?
Look, hey baby.
- Not only has fur.
It has skin inside.
- [Jai] Look at these cheeks.
Look at these big cheeks.
(smacking)
(upbeat music)
- [Host] We've seen pictures of Jai's villas before,
but they're even more spectacular in person.
She has put so much attention to detail
into every corner of the gardens and the villas.
It's truly an escape in a tropical Narnia.
- [Host 2] What do you think of this place?
Isn't it so magical?
- [Jai] That's also from that store,
- Wow. This is a special place.
I did not expect this when we turned down a dirt road
and then came to this like wood fairy house.
She has enough rooms and beds to sleep over 20 people.
- So my name is Jai,
and we are currently sitting at Villa Wanderlust right now
in Jaco Beach, Costa Rica.
I've lived here for almost 20 years,
and I knew at the age of 13
that I wanted to live in Costa Rica one day.
And at 20 years old, I decided to leave everything behind.
Quit my corporate job, gave everything to charity,
and moved to Costa Rica
without ever having been here before.
And it was the best decision I ever made.
- [Host 2] Tell us about Villa Wanderlust
and how I guess it came to be.
- Actually, when I moved to Costa Rica,
it was not easy at all.
I ended up basically living homeless for a little while,
living in a rundown shack on the beach.
I remember sitting here at this table
before I even purchased the house
and I just had this vision of myself hosting people here.
What started out as a two bedroom, two bathroom basic home
now is three villas with 12 bedrooms, 12 bathrooms,
two studio apartments, two swimming pools, and a jacuzzi.
And these amazing animals, the bunnies, the dogs,
Jakarta the pig.
I feel so much gratitude for everyone that stayed here
with us here at Wanderlust.
- This is my first time here and it is a sanctuary.
And I'm really excited
that we just get to spend the night here.
(upbeat music)
- [Host] If this is your first trip to Jaco,
then you'll wanna take this opportunity
to do some adventure activities.
Activities can range from
as short as one hour to an entire day,
and they vary in the amount of adrenaline
you want to experience.
In rainy season, we love to go
whitewater rafting and ATVing,
for getting absolutely soaked.
And in dry season, we like aerial activities
like parasailing and zip lining.
A more relaxed activity would be to do a waterfall hike
or to visit a farmer's market.
And that's where we're headed right now.
There's a lot of vendors around us, a lot of people.
I actually think we should turn it on omni on the mic,
so you could hear all the sounds.
I think that would be neat.
- [Host 2] Sure.
- Kai wants some carrots for the bunnies
back at our rental house.
So that's her priority.
Get bunny's carrots.
Okay, put them in here.
That's good.
- [Host 2] That's enough.
[Host] Perfect.
- For the bunnies.
- [Host 2] You got that for the bunny?
- What I love about farmer's markets is
you get to see what is in season
and it's always better to eat what's in season
because it means it wasn't put on a plane
or a boat or a truck and driven over borders.
It's locally grown, and that's the freshest food.
It's part of why we moved here to Costa Rica.
- I have my collection of goodies from the market.
We got some cheese bagels, fresh bagels,
carrots and dill for the bunny.
An avocado and a melon, just a quick little shop.
But what I love when I travel is visiting markets.
It's one of my favorite things to do.
I'm so attracted to it.
And it's just like the tasting thing, the smelling things,
and also the sound.
And here is extra unique
because it's the sound of like, you know, the typical market
but also cicadas and birds and just like the jungle sounds.
And we put our mic in omnidirectional,
which allows you to not just hear me speaking
but to hear the sounds of the market
while I'm speaking to you.
It's time for dinner,
because we haven't eaten since our smoothies
at the Crocodile Bridge.
So we're headed to one of
our favorite restaurants in the world, Ser.
Their entire menu is plant-based
and each item is incredibly delicious.
It's off the main strip, so it's less busy
but it's just a 30 second walk to the beach.
(upbeat music)
The next day we stopped at Jaco Beach.
(waves crashing)
(dog whining)
I got my best fur buddy here, and we're at Jaco Beach.
You gotta come to Jaco Beach if you're in Jaco
because it's the beach town and it's beautiful.
Right now it's about 11 o'clock.
The tide is way back.
So there's a lot of beach, great for kiddos
and just really nice chill vibes right now.
I'm loving this.
Work it, work it, work it.
What do you think of the beach?
- Oh, it's just perfect.
It's just the symbol of, for me,
the Pacific of calmness, relaxation,
beauty, openness, happiness, freedom.
- [Host 2] It is hard to leave the beach.
So Sia's parents and Kai stayed back
while we drove up a mountain
to find a restaurant at its peak.
(mariachi music)
- Rancho Shadday is a restaurant and hangout spot.
It's a hidden gem known by locals
and a lucky few visitors brought here by tour guides.
From one side of the restaurant,
you'll see rolling green hills
flowing into the Pacific Ocean.
Sunsets must be wonderful here.
- [Host] This restaurant is run by Dona Marta
and we had the privilege of meeting her while we visited.
She's been here for 21 years
and bought it from her father who had it before her.
She gave us a little tour of her kitchen
and everything is cooked using firewood.
- (Speaking in Spanish)
- [Host] Gracias.
- Mucho gusto.
- [Host] (speaking in Spanish)
- I got a cheese enyucado.
Oh yeah.
That's some fried goodness.
- I've had enyucados in other places.
That's the best one I've had.
- [Host 2] Real test.
- [Host] Empanada.
- [Host 2] The Sia empanada test.
- [Host] I love empanadas.
Mm mm.
Oh, that crunch.
Mm. That is amazing.
But the main thing about this place
is everything was made on a wood fire,
so it adds the flavor of the fire and the wood
into everything that's cooked.
(upbeat music)
- [Host 2] And those are insider tips
to how to experience Jaco.
So you can come here and get a local's perspective
of this awesome place.
We wanna shout out Sony again for sponsoring this video.
If you wanna learn more about the mic
that we featured throughout this video,
check out the description box below.
We absolutely love this microphone.
We've been using it for the last year
and we can't recommend it enough.
- [Host] If you want more tips on traveling to Costa Rica,
you can check out this video
where we do Costa Rica for $20 in one day.
- [Host 2] And we'll see you in our next video.
Happy travels.