New Year's Rockin' Yoga Retreat - 12/29/18 to 1/5/19

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* Triple – three separate beds, private bathroom, feels spacious – particularly with the great outdoors a few steps from your front door. (limited availability)

Snow Bird – $1450 ($250 deposit paid by April 22, 2018)

Early Bird – $1550 ($250 deposit paid by October 1, 2018) 

Regular Rate $1700

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* Double – Share a Queen size bed with your partner, or 2 separate beds, private bathroom.

Snow Bird – $1550 ($250 deposit paid by April 22, 2018)

Early Bird – $1650 ($250 deposit paid by October 1, 2018) 

Regular Rate $1800

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* Single – The room, and private bathroom, is all yours!(limited availability)

Snow Bird – $1850 ($250 deposit paid by April 22, 2018)

Early Bird – $1950 ($250 deposit paid by October 1, 2018) 

Regular Rate $2100

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Register for Snow Bird or Early Bird Pricing and get on the payment plan, starting at $160/month!

Still have questions? No worries, we’d love to help! Email: rachel@heartthreadyoga.com or call 607-222-1726

“Sean, Jess, and Juju really made their resort feel like they were opening up their home to us. That’s exactly what I wanted going away on a long trip away from my family. I’m happy I stayed at their lodge instead of at a fancy resort 🙂 They were so kind to accommodate extra rides for us, and even bought us ice cream!” – Kathleen  

Additional Activities: 

We know that some people want to lounge around, read a book, and rest on vacation, while others want to explore the favorite activities of the locals, so we’ve added these adventures ‘a la carte’ – pricing is approximate, and may vary slightly closer to the trip:

All day White Water Rafting Adventure – $120 (highly recommended)

Ocean View Zip-lining – $70

Pressure Point, Swedish, or Deep Tissue Massage – $60/hour

“This retreat will change your life. It is the perfect combination of yoga, meditation, and fun. The teachers are awesome – they teach for all levels. The activities are great, but you don’t have to do them if you want to spend the day at the beach or getting a massage. The food is delicious and healthy. Vida Asana is a great jungle retreat. I give this retreat an A+” – Nicole

**Frequently Asked Questions:

1) What should I bring to Costa Rica? Multiple bathing suits, yoga clothes, sun dresses, light shorts, etc, yoga mat, sunscreen, sunglasses, camera, a book, water shoes, baby powder. One jacket to leave and return in! Pack light – temperatures will be high but not too humid as “winter” is their hot, sunny & dry season. Dress is very, very casual ALL the time!

What you won’t need – hair drier or hot iron (humidity will ruin it anyway, embrace the beach look), high heels

2) Do I need a passport? Yes!!! If you don’t have one start this process now – USPS Passport Website. It can take up to 6 weeks to receive your passport, and sometimes longer. If you wait until the last minute you will have to pay $$$ in extra fees to expedite. If you already have a passport, check the expiration date – they will give you a hard time if it is expiring within 90 days of your travel plans to/from USA

3) What are the best websites to use for buying my flight? Orbitz, Travelocity, Expedia – you can even set up automated emails to be sent to you with low prices from your destination to San Jose (SJO). Spirit airlines posts very cheap flights, but take our advice and don’t book with them – after all the extra fees for bags, seat assignments, and being packed like sardines it is not worth it. Also, remember that you just need to get to the SJO airport – it doesn’t really matter where you fly out of! So if you have a friend in a major city, or there are multiple surrounding airports, check with all of them! Once you sign up for the retreat, we will of course share any amazing airline deals that we find with you!

4) When should I arrive? We will meet at the San Jose, CR (SJO) airport on Saturday December 29 by 1pm, and then take the private shuttle together to Vida Asana, which is 90mins away in Playa Hermosa, near Jaco. Try to take the first flight out of your home airport that morning. If you arrive much later than the group for any reason (including major flight delays/cancellations, weather, etc) you will be responsible for getting/paying for a cab. They are easily found and reliable but the trip to our retreat center (Vida Asana) would cost around $90. There are also a couple of ride share services, Easy Rider and Interbus, that cost around $35. They leave the airports around 3 times/day. We are more than happy to help setup any additional cab services that might be needed. Additionally if you would like to arrive in San Jose the night before (Friday 28th), there are many great, safe, clean, fairly inexpensive accommodations near the airport where you could stay, and then meet us at the airport by 1pm on the 29th to catch our group shuttle.

5) When should I schedule my return flight for? We will have another private shuttle that takes our group back to the San Jose airport (SJO) on Saturday January 5. Try to schedule your flight to leave around 2pm if possible – if there is a really great deal on a flight out of somewhere that leaves a little earlier, let us know so we can share that info with others(!), and we will try to accommodate, but as a general guideline try for a flight in the early to late afternoon. We need to leave Vida Asana 4 hours before the first flight of the group back, so if everyone books their return flight around 2pm or later, we can leave Vida Asana at 10am 🙂

6) What will the weather be like? Hot, sunny, and dry, between 85-95 degrees during the day. This is Costa Rica’s dry season so we shouldn’t be bugged by mosquitos much, if at all. Nights will be breezy and around 70-75 degrees.

7) How much free time will I have? Plenty! We don’t like to go on over-structured vacations and we assume you don’t either. We want to give you ample time to go to the beach, swim, surf, get fresh fruit smoothies at the fruit shack, have a beer or two, watch the waves, read a book in the shade at Vida Asana, explore the rain forest, star gaze, whatever! There are two (included) big group trips – to Manual Antonio Wildlife Refuge, and the Rainmaker Forest with hanging bridges, along with twice daily yoga, breakfast, lunch and dinner. If you like to stay active we will have plenty to occupy your time such as surf school, stand up paddle boarding school (or you can just rent a board for the week and surf at will), white water rafting, zip-lining, visiting our tiny beach village of Playa Hermosa or the bigger surf town Jaco, getting a massage, etc. There are also beach cruiser bikes, and hammocks at Vida Asana, along with their pool, beautiful grounds, and some great hiking not too far away. Also remember that everything is optional!

See a sample schedule here

8) Is Costa Rica dangerous? As with anywhere in the world you should be mindful of locking up your valuables, but Costa Rica is relatively safe. Unlike many other resort vacation countries, you can wander outside Vida Asana and into town without fear. You will likely meet some of the nicest strangers you’ve ever met. Costa Ricans are generally pleasant, carefree, super friendly, and very generous.

9) Is Vida Asana a luxury resort? It is an Eco-lodge, charming and rustic. It’s gorgeous –  there is a swimming pool, a lovely open-air dining room, and an awesome open air yoga pavilion. The rooms are colorful and comfortable. Each room has air conditioning, a mini-fridge, a ceiling fan, and very comfy beds. The windows are generally open to feel the amazing breeze, and you may find an occasional bug in your room. The staff does a great job of cleaning them, but the lodge is at the edge of a rain forest so… Pura Vida! The showers are made of lava rock and usually have hot water, but not always. Trust me though you will want cold showers more often than not to cool off! If you prefer all-inclusive luxury resorts where you can’t leave the property for fear of your life then this is not for you! The lodge is owned and run by Sean McDonald and his small team of awesome staff. They take care of everything – cooking, cleaning, repairs if needed, and they are amazing people. Each year we make easy friends with any new staff, the chefs, and we love the groundskeeper Zocrates!

10) Do I need any special vaccinations? We recommend that you are up to date on all of your standard routine vaccinations. You do not need any kind of special vaccinations to enter into Costa Rica, but there are some suggestions from the US Center for Disease Control  <View those here>

11) How much extra money should I bring? ATMs are easily found here that dispense both dollars and Costa Rican colones, however most places take US dollars. Remember to let your bank/credit cards know that you are traveling! You may spend money on souvenirs in town, lunch one day in Jaco, beer & wine (if you so fancy), extra snacks (if you want to stock your fridge), surf board rental (if you already surf – or you can sign up to take lessons), and massage. You can easily avoid spending beyond what you already paid for this trip – all meals, lodging, most excursions, and yoga are included. The beaches are free! 🙂

12) Why are the prices of excursions subject to change? Costa Ricans, bless their hearts, are on their own time. They are so chill and it’s what we love about them, but scheduling anything far in advance is damn near impossible. So though we know that we can 99% positively offer you these excursions, we can’t schedule them until less than a month in advance. For that reason the prices we are quoting are what they cost currently. Odds are they’ll be the same in 6-9 months too. Once we get closer to the trip date we will be able to let you know exact cost, and even let you pay in advance for these.

13) What is the food like? Very fresh, simple, and delicious. Breakfast is typically “gallo pinto” – their famous black beans & rice served with scrambled eggs, fresh fruit such as papaya, mango, watermelon. Lunch and dinner can be fish tacos, fried plantains, avocado, or whole baked fish freshly caught. The cuisine is not typically spicy like Mexican, but hot sauce is easily found. Vida Asana prepares absolute deliciously yummy meals with fresh ingredients from their garden. The food is mostly Vegetarian, and vegan options are easily available. The chefs are also great at accommodating for food allergies and sensitivities. If you are a meat eater – FEAR NOT! We have had multiple carnivores in the past five years at retreats, and everyone always loves the food, and is never hungry! They serve up fancy, fill you up, fresh veggie cuisine, and there’s always the option of heading to one of the nearby restaurants if you just really need that burger!

13) Do I need to speak Spanish? No. Most Costa Ricans are happy to speak English, but if you know some Spanish they will love you even more.

14) Will my cell phone work? How will I get in touch with people if I need/want to? Vida Asana has a wifi connection that works pretty well. If your phone has a data plan that works off of wifi you can use that to text/email/send pictures to all of your jealous friends and family back home. But only if you want to – remember, you’re on vacation! As far as making calls – please check with your cell phone provider for information about international travel plans. If you need to contact us for any reason on the day of the retreat before we are together (delayed flight, etc) email, fb messaging, or texting Rachel will be the best option.

15) “Yoga twice a day… can I handle that??!” Sound like you? Here’s the deal – this is not yoga boot camp! We are offering plenty of yoga so that you can do all the yoga you want. We will read the group – typically the morning practice will be a meditation/slow flow to set the pace for the day, then a  nice challenging Vinyasa some evenings, with a more Yin/restorative others to soothe your tired muscles. We know you will be pleasantly exhausted by the end of the day after yoga, surfing, swimming etc. If we see that the energy is high and everyone wants a strong evening class then we will give you that! We will be teaching a couple of “break it down” workshops throughout the week to give you more personalized attention on those poses you might have some trouble with, along with giving you extra time for juicy adjustments and assists! And if you’d like even MORE yoga, you can take the daily class at Vida Asana for free!

Any others questions? Let us know! rachel@HeartThreadYoga.com