Our Airbnb in the Costa Rica Jungle

Cabo Matapalo has dozens of gorgeous vacation home rentals, but mostly multi-bedroom houses with a price tag to match. We had a hard time finding something to rent for our week visit, just the two of us, that wouldn't totally bust our budget. I'm used to using the popular sites like Airbnb, VRBO, booking.com, etc. and it was slim pickings. (Once we arrived, we later realized most of the rentals are operated on a private basis with their own website.)

Options that I considered on Airbnb spanned from $70 - $200/night with a really wide range of amenities. The higher end could get you a pretty nice spot with a pool, whereas a lower end could get you a very basic bare-bones rental. As always, I wanted to find something cheap but still nice (Goldilocks!)...

And then I found this listing that I couldn't stop thinking about. I had never seen anything like it. Part of it intimated me, but the other part of me was excited by the uniqueness. Shaun and I will normally go over our Airbnb wishlists and contemplate options and pricing and budget a few times before we ultimately book a rental, for any given trip. Every time we met to discuss this Costa Rica trip, I kept bringing up this one listing as an option... and quickly shutting it back down for one reason or another... but one day we really sat down and weighed our options with determination to finally book somewhere. We must have been in a "YOLO" mood because we booked that special Airbnb!

So what's so unique about it?

It has no walls. This beautiful A-frame structure is literally open-air living with absolutely nothing between you and the wild jungle. Don't get me wrong, we go camping a lot and I love being in nature, but even camping you have a tent to protect you! This is fully out in the open, which was the intimidating part. But the reviews were phenomenal (one person even stayed there for their honeymoon and compared it to a 5-star hotel!) and the price was right ($85/night) so we decided to give it a try.

See the full Airbnb listing here.

The Pros

Let's start with the good. We're in the middle of the jungle! The open land surrounding the house is endless and we'd spot monkeys and macaws literally from bed. The first morning I was surprised to wake up to what sounded like moaning zombies - it was howler monkeys (see below). These monkeys make a sound like a gorilla but are quite small in comparison to their yell! Read more about all the wildlife we saw, here.

The property grounds were beautifully kept with flourishing flowers, palm trees, greenery surrounding the bungalow. It was extremely private, we had a private gate to enter our property and you can't see any nearby structures or neighbors at all. There's even a private walking trail down to the beach, just a 3-minute walk or less!

The house itself was well-furnished with a built-in couch, hammock, and dining table to relax at. A full-size fridge and gas range stovetop and oven provided full cooking capabilities. The bathroom was about 50 yards away in a separate mini structure, but I didn't mind the distance. It was very simple with a toilet, sink and open air shower! Upstairs is a loft bedroom setting, and thankfully the bed area has a zipped up mesh screen and a mosquito net around the bed to provide a sense of barrier between you and the bugs while you sleep. This was actually the make-or-break detail about the Airbnb listing that I inquired with the host about before booking. A previous review mentioned the screened off sleeping area, but there were no photos to confirm. If the sleeping area had no barrier, I couldn't have stayed here.

The Cons

The not-so good stuff... We're in the middle of the jungle! I expected exposure to critters and bugs, of course, but I definitely underestimated the extent of our cohabitation. When relaxing at night, the sun would set fairly early, around 6pm, so we'd be in the dark for majority of the evening. We'd have to be strategic with what lights to turn on, given the bugs and mosquitoes will of course flock to the light. So we'd have a light on in one corner to purposefully pull them away from where we're cooking, for example. We brought bug spray, so it wasn't too bad. The more unexpected creatures were the toads, crabs, and bats.

The crabs would take over the floor of the house for the entire night. You could move something off the ground (like Shaun's surfboard) and discover a handful of crabs huddled underneath, quickly scurrying away as soon as they were caught. Eventually, I'd have to relax with my feet up (the hammock is genius) because I was scared to step on a hidden crab or that they'd come pinch my toes. At one point, we counted 25 crabs in the house. And those were just counting the ones we could visibly see at that time. There was a few toads that would come out every night, but they wouldn't do much but hop around and hide in the corners.

My bigger problem was the bats. Remember the mesh screen that divides the sleeping loft? Well upon waking up our first morning here, we discovered that's where six bats sleep everyday (they're nocturnal, so we wouldn't ever see them in the loft at night). I have a strange and irrational fear of bats and now I was forced to sleep 4 feet away from them. It was dreadful! I would scream every morning when I'd crawl out of the mesh screen, praying for my life that they wouldn't blindly fly into my head as I ducked (they came extremely close every time!!)

I will say though, this constant close encounter to the bats may have helped my fear in a weird exposure-therapy kind of way. Once we were inside the mesh screen and they couldn't get to me, we could look at them just an inch from their little faces - like looking close up to an animal at the zoo through glass. It was trippy!

Other Things to Note

The entire Airbnb is solar powered, which is amazing from a sustainability standpoint! But it would be a bit sketchy on a cloudy day. If the solar panel was not in full sun for most of the day, the power would definitely begin to poop out on us. We knew this coming in though, previous reviews had mentioned it and the need to keep the fridge closed to reserve energy, etc.This also translates to the wi-fi. There was wi-fi at the Airbnb, but it was extremely spotty and dependent on the solar panel energy. It would work enough to scroll Instagram and post a bit, but not for too long. I usually work remotely when we travel, but I took work completely off for this trip knowing it would be a better experience unplugged.In the photos below you'll see there is another bed, a small twin size bed, in the upstairs open area. It's advertised to sleep up to 3 guests using that bed, but it is unfortunately NOT behind the mesh screen wall. So if you book this spot and plan for your 3rd guest to sleep in the twin bed, be informed that that person will be sleeping with the bats :)

Lastly, this Airbnb is on the beach Playa Sombreros, which is about a 15-20 minute drive from the epicenter of Cabo Matapalo, so you'll have to factor that driving (on the bumpy roads) into your day!

In Summary

This place was rad! It was an experience to remember and I cherish the memories of our week in the open-air jungle. I'd recommend it to anyone interested in this kind of experiential accommodation, if you are not deterred by the crabs and bats. Next time we come back to Matapalo (hopefully 2022!) we're looking at renting a studio closer to the main surf breaks near Playa Matapalo.