Blogs

Hoi An Travel Writing & Photography Retreat
December 9-15, 2018
Hoi An, Vietnam

Do you want to be a travel writer? 

Do you want to improve your skills at this enjoyable craft? 

Do you want some practice using your camera to help tell your story?

Join us at our Hoi An Travel Writing & Photography Retreat in December.  We’ll spend time together inside the classroom learning about travel writing and photography. Then we'll explore the ancient city dreaming up story ideas and making photographs to help y

It’s a simple recipe: Fresh, good food.

The Buddha Eyes Restaurant at Pranamar Oceanfront Villas & Yoga Retreat in Santa Teresa, Costa Rica has that recipe down to perfection.

Now it’s even better. Known in the popular beach town for its fresh, healthy, innovative cuisine, Buddha Eyes Restaurant recently changed its dinner menu to bring back old favorites and give diners new dishes to look forward to trying.

“Over the years, many different chefs had brought their influences to the hotel menu. We wa

Article by Shannon Farley

Renting a vacation home in Costa Rica, especially one at the beach, is a great idea. Stay steps from the sand at beautiful Santa Teresa, Costa Rica in the new beachfront vacation home, Martha’s House.

The two-story octagon-shaped house is just off the beach and surrounded by lush tropical gardens. The house sleeps up to 10 persons with four air-conditioned bedrooms and three baths. Other luxury features include a fully-equipped kitchen, large swimming pool, Jacuzzi, saun

Most people when laid off from their job, especially a high-powered dot-com career, don’t do what Tierza Eichner did. Instead of polishing her resume and job hunting, Eichner took off on an eight-month surfing vacation to Central America, Hawaii and Mexico.

At the time, in 2001, the northern California native had only been surfing about a year. She had tried surfing in her early 20s. It didn’t go well – pummeled by waves, bashed by the board, and leg muscles ripped. Then, in her early 30s, Eichne

Have you ever wondered where those funny names for yoga poses come from?

For example, what is Adho Mukha Svanasana? And how do you pronounce it!

Yoga postures – asanas – are given traditionally in the ancient language of Sanskrit. For more than 2,000 years, Sanskrit has been a classic literary language of India and a sacred language of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism.

Many yoga poses are named after heroes, saints and sages of India and Hindu myths. Others are named after animals and nature – obser

Healthy fruit and vegetable smoothies are awesome liquid fuel for your body. Smoothies provide important vitamins and minerals from nutritious ingredients like fresh fruit, raw vegetables, Maca Root, chia seeds, protein powder, spirulina and coconut oil.

Start your morning, or have an afternoon snack, with one of these quick, delicious and healthy blended smoothie drink recipes from Pranamar Oceanfront Villas & Yoga Retreat in Santa Teresa, Costa Rica. Try these out at home and dream you are on a

Being right on one of the most beautiful beaches in the world in Santa Teresa, Costa Rica, with warm Pacific Ocean, uncrowded white sand and shady palm trees, you may never want to leave your hammock or cushy lounge chair. However, there's also a lot going on in this region of the southern Nicoya Peninsula, so if you should get the urge to be active and adventurous, here are 8 top things to do in Santa Teresa Costa Rica.

Daily Yoga Classes

You can go to beginner and advanced yoga classes every day

Finding your bliss is easy on a Costa Rica beach vacation at Hotel Tropico Latino.

With inspiring daily yoga classes, Costa Rica yoga retreat vacations, and the marvelous natural spa at the beachfront hotel in Santa Teresa, Costa Rica, there is no better way to relax.

Imagine having a soothing massage or relaxing in a yoga class while listening to the rhythmic sound of ocean waves (real ones, not recorded), enjoying cool sea breezes, and looking out at shimmering white sand and the brilliant blue

Costa Rica is celebrating International Surfing Day on June 20 big this year. Costa Rica’s surfing “dream team” made national history on June 7 when they were crowned 2015 World Surfing Champions.

Costa Rica’s team won the overall gold medal in the International Surfing Association (ISA) 2015 World Surfing Games held at Playa Popoyo, Nicaragua, competing against 26 teams from around the world. The medal, along with the Fernando Aguirre World Team Trophy and the International Olympic Committee (I

Walk down the Pacific beaches of Santa Teresa, Costa Rica and you’re likely to see long, empty stretches of white sand, beautiful blue rolling waves, multicolored crushed seashells and interesting rocks and pebbles. What you won’t see so much is trash.

The southern Nicoya Peninsula beaches of Playa Hermosa, Playa Santa Teresa, Playa Carmen and Mal Pais all were honored once again with the Costa Rica Ecological Blue Flag Award by the Costa Rican Tourism Board for being some of the cleanest beache

If you are a Pack Light traveler, you probably often find yourself with extra room in your luggage when you go on vacation. Have you ever thought about using that available luggage space to provide supplies to communities you visit?

The desire to give back or contribute to the place people visit as tourists is a fast-growing movement around the world. Volunteer vacations, or volunteerism, are a very popular way to take a vacation. Another way is to “pack for a purpose” and bring needed school an

Surfing hotspot of Santa Teresa, Costa Rica is a favorite among national pro surfers in Costa Rica. The award-winning beach was in the spotlight April 18-19, 2015 for the season’s fourth 2015 Costa Rica National Surfing Circuit competition, sponsored by ISAW Action Cameras of Australia.  Competitive surfers from all over Costa Rica came to Santa Teresa to compete. 

Surfing in Santa Teresa, Costa Rica

On Costa Rica’s southern Nicoya Peninsula, Santa Teresa and neighboring Mal Pais draw visitors f

When world traveler Susan Money chooses where to stay on vacation, she prefers smaller family-run hotels. Not as small as a B&B, but preferably not a corporate establishment.

“I feel taken care of at a well-run corporate hotel or resort, but I like the friendships you create at smaller family-run hotels,” said Money. “This is especially important to me because I travel alone a lot.”

Money is a hotel owner herself, in Costa Rica. She runs her fabulous beachfront hotel on Santa Teresa Beach – Pran

What do a little black mare and the Virgin of Guadalupe have to do with Christmas traditions in Costa Rica?

One of the more interesting Christmastime festivals held in Costa Rica is the Festival of “La Yeguita” (the little mare) on December 12. Held annually on the Nicoya Peninsula of Costa Rica, the celebration combines traditional native beliefs and Roman Catholic customs.

According to the University of Costa Rica, the indigenous legend tells about two brothers caught in a machete-fight over a

You want to visit Santa Teresa, Costa Rica – named one of the most beautiful beaches in the world with some of the best surfing in Costa Rica. But where is it and how do you get there?

Santa Teresa Beach is located on the Pacific Coast of Costa Rica on the southern Nicoya Peninsula. There are three ways to get to Santa Teresa, Costa Rica:  driving, domestic flight or boat taxi.

Hotel Tropico Latino is a Santa Teresa beachfront hotel at beautiful Playa Carmen. Hotel Tropico Latino specializes in 

In today’s busy world, being centered, balanced and at peace are much sought-after elements. People in seriously busy places are turning to the timeless Eastern practices of meditation and yoga to help them get there.

Yoga has become mainstream; but meditation often still meets resistance. People have different reasons for wanting to meditate – to quiet the inner chatter and find calm, reduce stress, to improve creativity, visualize goal achievement, to banish negative thinking, or to follow a fa

I love a good Inn. When I'm off taking a break, I really don't want to see staff coming and going, I just want a place to relax and get a good night's sleep. And not a kid in sight.

At the Sandpiper Inn, I did just that.  The Gulf was a stroll away--I could hear it from my bedroom window--and it was a quiet and peaceful place to relax and write.  There was a tiny pool, but the temps while I visited didn't merit a cool-off swim; The landscaping was beautiful and several places beckoned me to sit