If you’re looking for a good caffeine fix on a long day’s journey across the peninsulas, you’ll find no better place to get your grind than in the Santa Maria area. Santa Maria is in the heart of the Saint’s Centre of Costa Rica and just a skip away from San Marcos, although the stay in Santa Maria will be far better and more entertaining than anything you can do in San Marcos (which is nothing). The area is centered on a huge grassy soccer field and is so quiet that you can hear your heart beating, making it the perfect place to pull up a chair, put your feet up on the table and enjoy some quiet rest and relaxation. Santa Maria and Valle de Dota share the characteristic of being major coffee hubs for Costa Rica, so if you need a good mug of joe, you’ll find the best and freshest Costa Rican coffee grinds brewed up in the local cafés.

Sightseeing
You can visit a local organic coffee production plant and get several samples at the end—yum! If you need to mellow out your buzz, take a hike on the canopy bridge trails above the coffee farms and enjoy an aerial view of this coffee lover’s dream camp.

Getting there
There are several hotels if you need a room and yummy local cuisine to sample.