Costa Rica Coast to Coast – Naranjillo to Santa Maria

by Alan Cole · Wednesday, May 20th, 2026

Ready for More Hiking and Biking

Sleep didn’t come easily once again. The noise of the river, the rain on the tin roof, and the cicadas, frogs, and crickets was deafening. Everyone else managed to sleep of course, but I’m so used to complete silence that any noise becomes a distraction.

I was therefore up and about before first light. I sorted my stuff out, but nothing had dried overnight, so rather than packing wet kit away and putting on clean clothes, I simply put the wet clothes back on. Body heat would dry them out over breakfast, and they’d be soaking wet again once we got walking anyway!

After a nice breakfast at camp, we set off from Naranjillo with a tough climb right from the start. Today we were hiking 12 km with 1000 m of elevation gain, including what was billed as a “challenging 3 km climb” called Cemetery Hill. We would then cycle 14 km with a further 500 m of elevation gain to the village of Santa Maria.

Hiking through Coffee Plantations

We were surrounded by coffee plantations, and the hillsides were covered in neat rows of plants, some heavy with coffee beans. We passed a coffee processing plant, crossed numerous streams, and enjoyed expansive views across the hills. The sun was shining today, but the humidity was once again high, so I was soon a sweaty mess!

Rainbow eucalyptus trees dotted the edge of the track, and exotic plants and flowers adorned the trailside too. At one snack stop, Doty picked some chilli peppers that would later be added to dinner.

We crossed a bridge and took a short detour to a lovely waterfall where we stopped for a break. I of course changed into my swimming kit and had a swim in the pool beneath the waterfall. The others didn’t join me today — they simply relaxed and rested in the shade.

Towards Cemetery Hill

After a refreshing dip and some food, it was back out into the sweltering sunshine once again for more hiking up and down through endless coffee plantations. Eventually we reached the bottom of Cemetery Hill, which did indeed look pretty steep.

Until now I had just been strolling along, putting in very little effort, but as the terrain steepened I settled into my usual climbing pace and soon left the others behind. I stopped now and then to take photos of ant nests and admire the scenery, but continued steadily upwards at a decent pace.

At the top, where the track met a tarmac road, I stopped and waited in a small patch of shade beneath a roadside tree. Five minutes turned into ten, and I started wondering whether I had somehow missed a turning. The others would obviously take longer than me, but not this much longer.

Eventually I decided I’d better head back down the hill to see if I could spot them. I soon met them climbing towards me. They had stopped for a proper rest partway up, which explained the delay.

With about 7 miles under our belts, that was it for the hiking today.

Biking to Santa Maria

Next we transitioned onto the bikes for a gentle descent into Santa Marcos past house with flowers growing in the gardens. As we entered the town, the rain started once again, but fortunately we soon stopped at a café for what turned out to be a very substantial lunch.

Thankfully the rain stopped while we were eating, so conditions were dry when we got back on the bikes for more relaxed riding along undulating roads towards Santa Maria, where our hotel awaited.

That was Day 2 completed, all had gone well, and I seemed to coping a little better with the heat today and was certainly able to hold my own at both the hiking and the biking.

I’m not entirely sure why we had a hotel rather than a campsite that night, but nobody was complaining.

Cold showers, comfy beds, cold beers, and the opportunity to do some laundry were all very welcome. We had a little wander around town before heading out for dinner at a nearby restaurant, which was included as part of the trip. I had a pesto chicken pasta dish which was enormous and must have contained an entire chicken!

It was then off to bed, ready for what promised to be a long day tomorrow, including a notoriously difficult 14 km climb on the bikes that nobody else seemed particularly excited about.