I was told by several people that Jaco is the place to go in all of Costa Rica. It’s the closest beach town to the international airport in San Jose. There’s swimming, surfing, tropical flora and fauna, many people visit Jaco and it’s growing quickly. I am excited to see what it’s like. I am traveling with my friend Maya, who also loves Jaco. I met Maya six years ago at a bar at the top of a favela in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. She became a integral part of our painting team for Flutuarte, a ‘floating gallery’ we created by painting sixty fishing boats in a harbor in the oldest neighborhood in Rio. Maya is a great friend. She is caring, generous, independent, well traveled. She worships the beach.

We arrive and I quickly learn that there’s one dusty, main strip to Jaco beach, and it doesn’t take long to get through it. The center feels blazing hot; cement abounds. There is a smattering of restaurants and bars, and the shops are filled with swimsuits, sarongs, ‘harem pants,’ hammocks and bowls carved out of mango wood. They are the kind of stores that all sort-of feel the same and carry similar products. To its merit, there is a really cool abandoned restaurant at the edge of town, at the top of a lookout, at the end of a shaded hiking trail.

The abandoned restaurant at the edge of Jaco

Maya and I explore a new outdoor development called Jaco Walk, with perfectly poured concrete, polished coffee shops, restaurants, boutiques and fountains. My heart drops. I miss a sense of culture here beyond what feels like a culture of shopping, yoga and surfing. The mall-like feel of Jaco Walk, to me, was a sign I didn’t want to follow into the future. But we look at land around Jaco just to get a feel of what was out there. That’s the reason I’m here after all, to explore the idea of creating a space to facilitate art, music and community in Costa Rica, and it’s all part of the research.

We’ve been in Costa Rica for just a few days now and already, a dulling sense of disappointment and doubt begins to creep into my mind. It feels bad. I can tell immediately that I wouldn’t want to spend more than a week in this beach town… let alone a huge chunk of the rest of my life. If this is one of the most popular places in the country, Is Costa Rica the right location for what I want to create?

I feel reality pouring in through the cracks in my dreams. But hope remains…I’ve heard from many people that the next stop on our list is lush, beautiful, has incredible beaches and is very different from Jaco. Maya tells me that it’s her favorite place in all of Costa Rica. I feel optimistic as we pack our bags into the hot, sandy car, and begin our trip down the Pacific coast to Manuel Antonio.