The Best Corporate Retreat in Jaco Beach Costa Rica

I have been the marketing director of a well-known beverage corporation for the past decade, and in these past ten years I found that the company absolutely loves organizing interesting corporate retreats in an annual basis. Every year, so far, we have gone somewhere interesting and have done something entertaining – be it, a meditation weekend at a Thai temple, a yoga weekend in Bali, scuba diving at the Bahamas – it’s always been a blast. Now that you have the measurement of the “cool-factor” here, an idea of how great these corporate retreats have been, I assume you will take my word for it when I say that none of these trips from the past even come close to the corporate retreat in which we were to travel to Jaco,Costa Rica.


A total of seventeen people, we slowly made our way through the gate and into the airplane on a cold January morning; destination, Costa Rica. No delays of any sort in any part of the trip, we landed in warm, sunny San Jose and were received at the airport by a personal Concierge we had had assigned to us by an agency with whom we had arranged the whole weekend, along with an Air-Conditioned Mercedes Benz Sprinter van that drove us over to Jaco Beach in about an hour. During the drive, we chatted with the Concierge and touched base regarding the services included in the Vacation package we had bought, and all the activities – everything from a luxurious Vacation Resortand VIP Services, to Adventure Tours and a boat rental in Costa Rica – Jaco Beach was clearly the place to be, and this would be one legendary weekend!


At around noon, the van pulled up in front of a Vacation Resort named Rancho de Suenos, Los Suenos Marina located directly in front of it, only 10 minutes away from Jaco Beach itself. We were all in awe as we entered the Tropical resort consisting of 20 bedrooms and bathrooms, a large living room, bar area, dance floor, game room, hot tub, large outdoor swimming pool, and a rancho to chill at – it was magical! First thing, we all went to our rooms to unpack and change, and then blew off steam in the pool and the sunshine.


Out of thin air appeared Bartenders and Waiters with delicious, exotic cocktails – ah, that was the life! The CEO made a short speech, welcomed us all, and announced that we would all be partaking in some team-building exercises, which soon began in the pool. We passed around a ball, before each pass having to give a little information about ourselves. Next, we stood huddled together in the pool, each one of us, one by one, having to stand on the platform above it, name one complaint we had about working at the company, let go, and let ourselves fall only to be caught and eased back into the water. Lastly, a Yogi arrived and we all did some yoga poses and some meditating, and then shared our individual experiences. Fully relaxed and refreshed, we had a BBQ that afternoon, and our Chefs grilled us up some spectacular T-Bone steaks for lunch. Our bellies full and our spirits high, we socialized by the rancho until sunset. For dinner, we were taken to a restaurant in town called Lemon Zest where we had a table reserved – I had a delicious lobster tail for dinner, and then a good night’s rest.


The next morning, bright and early, our Concierge picked us up and took us over into the depths of the jungle for the day’s first adventure and nature tour. We started off at an adventure park where we zip lined over the lush green jungle – an absolute must! From there, we hiked for an hour or so until we reached a river, put on our gear, got into our rafts and wrestled our way through the wild waters of the rocky river – talk about a rush of adrenaline! Last but not least, we rode and raced ATVs through the countryside and arrived at a waterfall, from which we rappelled down – a cool swim in its cool waters afterward was exactly what we needed! After an exhausting morning full of action, we went back to the resort for brunch – and what a brunch it was! The chefs had prepared us a fusion of American breakfast dishes with typical Costa Rican ones – the Gallo Pinto (black beans and rice), I found to be perfectly in complement with my pancakes, fried eggs and bacon! What a treat!


In the afternoon, we went across to the Los Suenos Marina where the party boat was waiting for us. We got on a board, and the music was already booming. The CEO had gone on ahead of us, and received us on board alongside the captain, with a cocktail in hand. Before long, we were sailing off into the beautiful blue waters of the Pacific, and had the sun hovering above us, and the wind in our hair. Once we reached a clear, beautiful bay with a hidden beach, the boat stopped and we all let loose. We jumped in and out of the ocean, danced, sipped on exotic cocktails, snacked on fresh Tropical fruits and nuts – it was like a summer dream. Later on, we swam onto the beach and did a little discovering. We watched the sunset from the boat, and I thought to myself how I could stay there, right there, forever more.


The following day, we were driven back to the airport in the morning, and our flight was on time. On board the plane, I took a deep breath and smiled at the thought of that past weekend. What a corporate retreat it had been! How great Jaco Beach was! Pura Vida, Costa Rica!