Why Costa Rica is the perfect destination for a fitness retreat

Our fitness retreats to Costa Rica this April-May are now open for bookings, and we can’t wait to get back to this magical place for a week of workouts in the sunshine, relaxing in our beachfront villa, and exploring the incredible nature that Costa Rica has to offer in abundance.

If you already know that Costa Rica is your bucket-list destination to join us for a fitness retreat, then you can explore what we have in store for the week and book your room here. Otherwise read on to find out why Costa Rica is the perfect destination to go on a fitness retreat.

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1. A fitness retreat needs beautiful locations for workouts in nature

Pristine beaches, rainforest-lined bays and magical wildlife everywhere you look, means workouts in Costa Rica can be an adventure all on their own. On our previous fitness retreats to Costa Rica back in 2021, we often did our yoga classes with monkeys playing in the trees overhead, and one day we’d just finished up an afternoon workout, as a mama turtle pulled herself out the sea and up the beach to lay her eggs.

Our villa for this fitness retreat is located on the Pacific coast of Costa Rica’s Guanacaste region, near the beach town of Tamarindo. Here the beaches are long, golden and quiet, with rolling waves and a salty ocean breeze. Our villa overlooks the ocean and has steps from its garden down to the sand, so for this fitness retreat, we’ll get stuck into both beach workouts, and some garden workouts with an unbeatable view.

2. Fitness retreats with an adventurous side (that’s us!) need lots of incredible places to adventure

Home to lush rainforests, golden beaches, and a mind-blowing diversity of wildlife, Costa Rica is a nature and adventure lovers paradise. Its name literally translates to “rich coast” and it is home to some of the most bio-diverse ecosystems on earth.

Exploring off the beaten track is a big part of our fitness retreats on Salt Escapes, so Costa Rica, with its 28 epic national parks, makes for the perfect playground.

On our upcoming fitness retreats to Costa Rica, we’ll hike through lush jungle to visit waterfalls, where we’ll stop for cooling swims and a chef-cooked packed lunch. We love to give our guests the option to surf on our tropical fitness retreats, so with some surfboards available to use at the villa, and some lessons with local instructors, we’ll make the most of having the beach and some of the best surf in the world, right on our villa’s doorstep.

Our fitness retreat itineraries always allow for plenty of downtime for guests to spend how they wish - whether that’s kicking back by the pool with a book, heading to the beach with new friends, or adding in some extra adventures. In Costa Rica, the opportunities are endless, and close to our retreat villa, you can enjoy zip-lining above the jungle canopy, you can white-water raft down the Tenorio River, and you can kayak through mangroves in the Las Baulas Marine National Park.

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3. A luxury fitness retreat needs a luxurious home-base

There are plenty of luxury villas in Costa Rica that provide the perfect set up for a fitness retreat - beautiful bedrooms, modern interiors that keep in touch with the raw nature of the area, and spacious outdoor lounge areas with spectacular ocean or jungle views. Yoga and wellness is popular in Costa Rica, especially within the diverse beach communities, so you’ll often find villas here have dedicated spaces for yoga practice, fitness activities or massage therapy.

Our Escape villa for our upcoming fitness retreats tick all the boxes. The interiors are beautiful, clean and modern, with fresh, bright bedrooms and a large, open kitchen. The indoor lounge area and dining table are backed by enormous floor to ceiling glass doors that stretch the entire width of the main villa, making those sweeping views over the ocean even more spectacular. Outside, there is a large pool and comfortable sun-beds for downtime, a courtyard with tropical plants for private massages, and a beautiful sandy garden under the trees for soaking up the sunshine whilst getting to know new friends.

4. Fitness retreats are best in destinations where the cuisine is colourful and nutritious

Costa Rican food is often simple, but full of flavour and colour with a diverse mix of influence from different cultures, including Spanish, African and Jamaican. Anything and everything grows in Costa Rica, a place with abundant farmland, sea and jungle, meaning produce is as fresh and as local as it can get.

On Salt Escapes fitness retreats, we try to include as much of the local flavours as possible, so in Costa Rica you can expect breakfast tables full of juicy, ripe fruits, and Gallo pinto, a dish of rice and beans, served alongside fresh eggs and avocados.

For lunches and dinners, expect fresh seafood and tasty grilled meats served alongside colourful foraged veggies, zingy ceviches, and vibrant salsas.

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5. Fitness retreats are best served up with nightly magical sunsets

Sunsets in Costa Rica are like nowhere else in the world. It’s almost a religion amongst locals and travellers to head down to the beach with a drink or two just before sunset, and watch as the sky puts on a show and the surfers catch their last waves of the day. It’s a huge part of life in these beach towns, a place for the whole community to come together, wind down for the night and watch the sun fade behind the ocean. Sunset is the busiest time you’ll ever see a beach on the Pacific coast of Costa Rica!

On Salt Escapes fitness retreats, we love experiencing sunset with our guests. There’s something life-affirming about being on an amazing trip, surrounded by incredible people, watching the sun go down together with a drink in hand after a fulfilling day. In Costa Rica, we’ll finish up our afternoon workout, grab an iced cold drink, jump in the ocean to cool off and soak up an unforgettable sunset each night before we head up for dinner.

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6. Fitness retreats and Pura vida!

Fitness retreats are essentially a week of living a “pure life”, and Costa Ricans have a saying for just that. Pura Vida translates as “simple life” or “pure life” and locals, who call themselves Ticos, use the term for everything from “hello” and “goodbye” to “everything is great”. Pura vida is a way of life for Costa Ricans, and the term embraces the positive spirit and philosophy they live by.

Costa Rica was voted the happiest country in the world on the Happy Planet Index, reflecting it’s aims to promote peace, preserve its land of tropical rainforests and biodiversity, and advance the well-being, education and life expectancy of its people.

In Costa Rica, while work is seen as necessary to earn a living, Ticos treasure leisure above work, and believe that people should enjoy their lives above all. So what better place in the world to host a fitness retreat than a place that promotes well-being, happiness and community over everything. We always aim to send our guests home feeling relaxed, happy and fulfilled, and we believe that spending a week soaking up the magic of Costa Rica, will help achieve just that.

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Keen to join us for a week of fitness and adventure in Costa Rica? Click here to explore what we have in store for our fitness retreat, and to select and book your room. We hope to see you in Costa Rica!