This week’s travel dream: Finding la pura vida in Costa Rica

If you’re young and ambitious, don’t ever set foot in Santa Teresa, said Dave Seminara in The New York Times. This tiny town on Costa Rica’s Pacific Coast is “no longer the undiscovered surfer’s paradise it once was,” but even after a decade of strong growth, it’s still quiet, beautiful, and remote enough to inspire dreams of dropping out and embracing what the locals call la pura vida—and you might call “the good life.” Young dreamers who did exactly that have remade the town. Today the main dirt road is “lined with eco-friendly lodges, yoga retreats, and trendy restaurants serving organic food.” Supermodel Gisele Bündchen owns a home nearby. But Santa Teresa’s “frontier-town vibe”remains alive and well. “There’s an addictive, intangible quality to the place that isn’t easily defined.”

The easiest way to get to Santa Teresa—-flying into San José and then hopping a short flight to Tambor—still involves a 17-mile drive on a mostly unpaved road. But “you aren’t going to find the world’s most unspoiled beaches located conveniently off the interstate,” and Santa Teresa’s are well worth the detour. The “consistent, year-round” waves are considered by surfers to be the best on the Nicoya Peninsula, and you can find another gorgeous, deserted nearby beach almost daily. We did: On any given afternoon during our family visit, we could reliably be found stretched out on a patch of white sand—just steps from dense jungle, transfixed by howler monkeys playing in the trees or mesmerized by the thundering waves.

A great debate is currently raging about whether the road through town should be paved. The dust kicked up by increased traffic inspires pedestrians to cover their faces with bandannas or surgical masks, and it’s been blamed for causing severe respiratory issues. Opponents of paving claim the project will transform Santa Teresa the way tourist development transformed nearby Tamarindo—now nicknamed “Tamagringo.” But the paving seems needed, and the urge to preserve bodes well for the future of this dropouts’ haven. For the next decade or more, “Santa Teresa will be just fine.”

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At the eco-resort Florblanca (florblanca.com), doubles start at $350.