Surf and Yoga at Costeno beach
We fell in love with the Costeno Beach Hostel as soon as we found it during a long session of online research.
The place offered exactly everything (and more) we were so desperately looking for! A beach, hammocks, yoga, surfing, social community activities and delicious food. And all at a fair price! Especially finding an affordable yoga place at the beach has been a nightmare up until stumbling upon Costeno beach hostel.
The hostel offers a lot of options to get active, but is a wonderful place to relax and find some peace at the same time. You can either sun bath on the beach, read a good book in a hammock, practice your balance on the slackline, play volleyball or table tennis.
The price per night in the dorm is 12 EUR. At first we were a little worried about the 32 bed dorm, but it’s not as bad as you’d think. If you are lucky with availability you can take the little bungalows instead (14 EUR / person / night) or one of the 4 bed dorms. Also the very fancy beach front accommodations with private bathrooms cost no more than 25 EUR / person / night.
SURF AT COSTENO BEACH
Truth is, Costeno Beach is (at least during the windy summer season) not an easy surf spot for beginners. The waves are either very high or / and very messy due to the wind and strong currents. However, you can rent a surf board for 20k COP for 2 hours or take a surf lesson for 50k COP.
The best surf spot itself is a 20 minute walk along the beach, though some very experienced surfers go also in the water right in front of the hostel.
SUP – STAND UP PADDLING
A very nice alternative is the stand up paddling, which can be done on the river, a 5 minutes mototaxi drive down the road. The hostel charges 30k COP and takes care of the transport of the boards and your drop off and pick up. I’ve never done SUP before and had a really good time doing it. It was mainly the beautiful scenery of the surrounding jungle, that mirrored itself in the river, which made it so special. Don’t forget to bring lots of mosquito protection!!
I’d recommend to do it in the evening to watch the sunset from the beach, where the river almost meets the sea.
YOGA AT COSTENO BEACH
I guess Yoga sessions are offered according to what yoga teacher is available at the time. I was really lucky to meet Pascalle, who held Yoga lessons at least once a day (sometimes also twice) for 5,5 EUR per session. You practice yoga on a little wooden platform, overlooking the sea and surrounded by palm trees.
YOGA RETREAT
One special event was a “mini” yoga retreat that was offered that time too. It is held in the middle of the jungle in a wonderful jungle house, self-build by the owner of the La Brisa Tranquila Hostel (right next to Costeno Beach hostel). The price was 60 EUR and included the transport, 3 yoga sessions, 1 meditation, the night and all the food.
As if the jungle house (including a toilet with jungle-view) would not be enough of a reward for the 1 hour hike, we walked another 15 minutes to a beautiful waterfall for some swimming and meditation. The 36 hours of the retreat felt like a whole week in terms of relaxation. And it was great fun with the group too!!
EXCELLENT FOOD
One highlight of the hostel was the delicious food. There were plenty of options for breakfast, including granola, yogurt, fruits, eggs and the yummy Colombian dish “Cayeye”. The price was around 2 EUR, including coffee. Lunch was about 5 EUR and consisted again of a large choice of different dishes, such as meat, fish and always a vegetarian option. Dinner was one set dish for everyone, plus one vegetarian option. The dinner portion was sufficient, but not too much at a cost of more or less 6 EUR. For dessert we can recommend the banana cake!
All in all we had a very good time at Costeno beach, taking a break from traveling (sounds ironic, but it’s true). And after a week our batteries were refilled for new adventures.
