Here’s why EVERYONE should go to Costa Rica for a bachelor party.
Ok, so after several shots of tequila at the bar, and some wisdom from Uncle Google, we decide to have the bachelor party in Costa Rica three months before the wedding.
Next step was getting our sh*t together, but no way we could have done this without professional help!
With a little more research, we quickly discover that Jaco VIP is the most respected company to use for planning a bachelor party vacation package in Costa Rica. They have an amazing staff of concierges, chefs and managers, but I’ll get into more of those details later in this article. Below is one of their promo videos that can give you an idea of what it’s like:
Dates are set. Now to book the villa.
We decide on 4 nights over a long week-end. Within a few days there’s already 12 of us confirmed with flights, and at least a couple more stragglers that will probably want to join last minute.
I’m not sharing a bedroom with any of the animals in my motley crew!
First important decision is made, that we must each have our own bedroom with a large bed and air conditioning. Definetely not a hotel. We want to be together with a living room, kitchen and the feeling of being in a mansion fit for a hip hop video.
More details expected of the villa:
- Beachfront (or at least within a short walk)
- Large private swimming pool
- Daily chef service
- Someone to clean up after these monkeys
- Close to the party action.
Here’s where Jaco VIP really began to show some muscle.
They have an amazing selection of vacation rental houses that they manage in Jaco, and recommended a 14 bedroom villa right on the beach called Casa Blanca. The house was fantastic and included two swimming pools, a jacuzzi, grass volleyball court, pool table, foosball, ping pong etc etc…
We pre-arranged for there to be food waiting for us at the house, a chef to prepare us breakfast and diner every day, and daily cleaning service. All of which was very professional. We then added to the itinerary a zip line canopy tour, a full day for some of the guys to go sport fishing, and an afternoon on a private party boat (which was a highlight for sure!).
We arrive at SJO airport at around 1pm and there is a JacoVIP concierge girl (super cute, friendly & perfect english) waiting for us at the airport. She calls our private bus curbside and within a few minutes we are on our way to Jaco.
After a brief check-in at the office, they bring us to the villa. Wow! Better than the photos. Casa Blanca is super clean, the beds are comfortable and the beach front view is incredible. Sunsets into the ocean, some surfers during high tide, and a couple of decent places to grab a cold beer within walking distance.
Private Chef Service at the Villa:
We had two different chefs while we were there, both fantastic. I figured the food would be good, but was next level. These chefs could have worked in 5 star restaurants back in the US. I will likely have to write a separate article only about the fresh tuna and the various ways that it was prepared.
I can never go back to eating tuna from a can.
5 of the guys went sport fishing on the second day. They caught a bunch of sailfish, one blue marlin, and a yellow fin tuna that was cut into filets on the boat and the guys brought back to the villa. That evening, our chef prepared the fresh tuna in a wide variety of ways, including sashimi and sushi rolls, grilled on the bbq, and pan seared. DELISH!
The rest of us went on a zip line canopy tour. The guides were amazing and the tour is alot of fun. I didn’t get to see any sloth or monkeys during the tour, but we did see lots of scarlet macaws and a couple of toucans. A couple of the guys hiked up Miro mountain (a short walk from the villa), and saw monkeys in the trees there.
The Party Boat
also deserves a separate article. This was the best daytime activity of all. The boat was not a huge luxury yacht (we were aware of that in advance) but was perfect for us. A 50' cruiser with plenty of deck, an indoor cabin with AC, and a bathroom. The DJ was great, the staff was great and the beers were cold :)
This was a private tour, only our group, and a couple of locals that we met while there and invited to come with us. We were 20 people on the boat, plus the boat crew, and never felt cramped. The captain was cool and we did a little fishing, with a lot of drinking, dancing and jumping into the ocean. We set off at around 12:30 and got back at around 5:30.
Nightlife in Jaco is hot.
I had read plenty about it online, and heard some stories from a friend, but it was 10 times more intense than I expected. Jaco is a small town, a couple miles long, nothing in size compared to a city like Vegas or Miami, but wow do they know how to party!
Our concierge set us up with a vip table and bottle service at Republik Lounge and we loved it so much we went back a second night. The DJ had the dance floor packed all night, and the bartenders were quick.
Jaco is hot, and pretty casual for the most part, but almost everyone in the club looked sharp. We mostly wore jeans with flip flops or tennis shoes, and a nice graphic t-shirt or short sleeved collared shirt.
Is it better and cheaper to do everything on your own, or to use a vacation planning agency?
As for what to do and where to go, it’s not complicated, but too much trouble to figure it out within a few days while on a vacation. We would have probably wasted half of our precious time searching around town and arguing about it.
With a bunch of drunk guys in a foreign country, having an itinerary and a concierge was definitely the way to go.
After reading many blogs and reviews around the internet, we decided that it would be better to use a professional vacation planning agency. There are some smaller companies in the area, but we booked with Jalynn at JacoVIP and she set up everything for us. Highly recommended.
Every step was professional and transparent. One of the guys in our group is a real cheapskate and loves to compare the cost of everything everywhere… For what it’s worth, he said the prices were “totally fair”.
So why should EVERYONE go to Costa Rica for a bachelor party? What about the ladies?
We happened to be a group of dudes that have known each other for many years, and we had a blast. We drank, and ate, and laughed, and swam in the ocean, and partied like rock stars… all the same things that my female friends love to do too !
It doesn’t matter if someone is getting married or not. Find any excuse to get together with some friends and go to Jaco Beach for a vacation.
