Scenic, restful spots in CA

Hi guys,

I have long time lurked on this board (and others similar), but haven’t in the past felt the need to post. As a bit of background, I’m 27 and will shortly be setting off for Southern Mexico and CA for 4-8 months (dependant on a number of factors) with my fiancé.

I have just finished three years of very hard work in a large accountancy firm in London, recently qualifying as an ACA (British equivalent of the CPA for the Americans here). To be blunt, I feel extremely washed out and jaded by the white collar world I have recently been inhabiting and am seeing my upcoming travels as a means of regenerating some of my old verve. I also aim to achieve the requisite distance (geographical/emotional/intellectual) from my current life and lifestyle that I feel will enable me to consider my future career/life options from a more objective standpoint.

Because of this, I am very interested in keeping my pace slow and restful. While I will also aim to get around CA and see some of the sights, we hope to spend much of our trip staying for a couple of weeks at a time in calm, quiet, scenic and affordable environments where we can get our heads straight. As such, any recommendations for suitable locations in southern Mexico or the rest of CA would be greatly appreciated. Neither of us have been to this part of the world, and as such don’t have much of an idea as to what to expect. For reference, I am thinking about places such as Kabak in Turkey (for those who know it) as being the sort of vibe we are going for. We don’t have any preference between beaches, mountains, small tows etc – variety would be nice. A bit of early research suggests somewhere like Zipolite in Mexico may be what I’m looking for?

Please note, I have posted a similar message on other boards.

Thanks and best wishes.

Zipolite is nice, if you're into the pothead thing.

Some of my favorite scenic spots in Mexico and Central America are:

Mountain/volcano/highland areas:
-San Cristobal de las Casas
-Lake Atitlan
-Volcan Baru
-Arenal
-Xalapa

Ruins:
-Tikal
-Palenque
-Uxmal
-Bonampak and Yaxchilan
-Copan

Beaches:
-Tulum
-Puerto Escondido
-La Libertad area
-northern Honduras coast
-Pacific Nicaragua
-Puerto Viejo (CR)

Urban:
-Mexico City
-Antigua de Guatemala
-Oaxaca
-Leon (Nicaragua)
-Panama City

A few places to add to Felix's list:

Lago de Apoyo (near Granada, Nicaragua)

Isla de Ometepe (Lake Nicaragua)

Copan Ruinas (the town in Honduars near the Copan ruins)

Semuc Champay (Guatemala)

Alegria (small town in El Salvador)

Parque Nacional Marino Ballena (Costa Rica)

How could I have forgotten Ometepe. I can't think of anywhere in Central America that combines 'scenic' and 'restful' more than that place.

Re Zipolite - I would have been into the pothead thing 6 or 7 years back, much less so these days. Hopefully it will be nice regardless

Sincere thanks for the lists of suggestions guys - exactly what I was looking for. It serves an excellent base from which to start a bit of more detailed research, and has really started to get me excited for the trip. 5 weeks left of work, then freedom!

BTW, make sure to bring earplugs! In my experience, the concept of "calm, quiet, restful" doesn't really resonate with Latinos. Can't begin to tell you how many times I've been awoken at 3am because someone decided it would be a good time to play music as loud as humanly possible. And yes, it's even happened in some of the places that Felix and I mentioned. It's not going to be a nightly experience but I can pretty much guarantee you'll eventually encounter it somewhere along your travels.

EMH wrote:BTW, make sure to bring earplugs! In my experience, the concept of "calm, quiet, restful" doesn't really resonate with Latinos. Can't begin to tell you how many times I've been awoken at 3am because someone decided it would be a good time to play music as loud as humanly possible. And yes, it's even happened in some of the places that Felix and I mentioned. It's not going to be a nightly experience but I can pretty much guarantee you'll eventually encounter it somewhere along your travels.

Oh, how I have learned to despise roosters in Latin America.

Felix the Hat wrote:

EMH wrote:BTW, make sure to bring earplugs! In my experience, the concept of "calm, quiet, restful" doesn't really resonate with Latinos. Can't begin to tell you how many times I've been awoken at 3am because someone decided it would be a good time to play music as loud as humanly possible. And yes, it's even happened in some of the places that Felix and I mentioned. It's not going to be a nightly experience but I can pretty much guarantee you'll eventually encounter it somewhere along your travels.

Oh, how I have learned to despise roosters in Latin America.

Oh yeah, the roosters. Forgot about them. There's also the firecrackers which they love to set off all hours of the morning.

EMH wrote:

Felix the Hat wrote:

EMH wrote:BTW, make sure to bring earplugs! In my experience, the concept of "calm, quiet, restful" doesn't really resonate with Latinos. Can't begin to tell you how many times I've been awoken at 3am because someone decided it would be a good time to play music as loud as humanly possible. And yes, it's even happened in some of the places that Felix and I mentioned. It's not going to be a nightly experience but I can pretty much guarantee you'll eventually encounter it somewhere along your travels.

Oh, how I have learned to despise roosters in Latin America.

Oh yeah, the roosters. Forgot about them. There's also the firecrackers which they love to set off all hours of the morning.

It's the dogs barking in the middle of the night that I hate the most.

This talk of noise at night reminds me of the time we rolled into a town in Idaho late at night and I decided to show my friend my negotiating skills, so I eventually got us a 2 bedroom suite with 3 tv's a couple of baths etc, and we just started to go to bed when we noticed some noise outside our bedroom windows as a bunch of drunks were arguing and then fighting with a lot of physical thuds, growns, and moans, with my friends's dog growling at the whole thing everytime he heard a noise, then the sound of motorcycels as it seemed like a squadron of hells angels were emptying out a bar, then a little later the mincing sound of gays and fruitloops carrying on and on. turns out we got located next to a biker bar, gay bar, and mixed deviantes bar, but what nice rooms otherwise. My friend, who is a little paranoid to begin with, didn't sleep a wink but I nodded off pretty well. A breakfast bar was include in the $40 dollar price. So - location is a little important to keep in mind

When passing through Panama, I would recommend Sierra Llorona Lodge. It's 200 acres of private rainforest just outside Colón. Nature photographers and researchers stay there. It's really quiet and relaxing. The food is excellent and mostly grown on the property. There are plenty of hammocks to relax in and guided hikes are included.

I got lucky when I stayed there--the place was empty (they were right in between hosting groups). But I was told they're usually booked pretty early during the dry season. Probably the best two days I spent in Panama.