Buenos Dias, rise and shine in Costa Rica for day two!! AHH! I was so excited to start exploring that as the sun was starting to rise, I was outside taking in the view while the rest of the crew (Wylie, Chelsea, and Ryan) were still peacefully asleep. I decided to grab the camera to catch the morning glow around the resort.
Our resort was starting to come alive as gardeners were weeding, maids were sweeping, and mimosa glasses were filling up. It was tranquil, peaceful, beautiful, and a perfect paradise at the Springs Resort and Spa at Arenal. Equipped with over 15 hot spring pools, a swim up bar, 5+ restaurants, a full spa, and an adventure club at the bottom of the resort, this truly was the perfect place for a couple’s vacation.
After exploring and taking so many stunning pictures of the resort, I went back to the room (this is still before 7am) to try to get Wylie out of bed to come to the gym with me. I know it’s vacation, but after a long travel day, I felt the need to get our bodies up and moving! He wasn’t feeling the same, as it took a few minutes and convincing to get him out of bed!
Once workout was complete, which had the morning views of the volcano, we headed to breakfast with Chelsea and Ryan. We went with the delicious buffet at Tres Casadres, which had an assortment of make your own smoothies, eggs, fresh fruit, bacon, potatoes, make your own French toast, waffles, honestly the list could go on and on. It was amazing.
Ready to start the day with loads of energy, we went back to the room to get our rafting gear on…which consisted of swimsuits and Chelsea and I’s matching Keen water shoes (highly recommended for adventurous excursions). We had to be to the bus by 10:45 in order to make the rafting tour at 11. Once we arrived at Club Rio, which was at the bottom of the hill of our resort, about a 7-minute drive, we met our guides and got suited up! The rafting started about one mile upstream. Simply plop your ass in a tube, and away you went lol. The rapids were a bit crazy at times, but the views were stunning!! Chelsea and I had our go-pros, which will be shown in the full Costa Rica video I’m working on! We got absolutely soaked and had a smile on our face the entire time. IT WAS SO FUN!! Oh, and then we got to go again as the tour consisted of two go-arounds down the river!
Once we were all hyped from rafting, we grabbed a few drinks from the outdoor restaurant and started exploring the hot springs and waterfalls around the river. Little back-story, I had a feeling Wylie was going to propose sometime during this trip, but at this point absolutely NO part of me thought it was happening today lol. Chelsea led the group to this hot spring really in the middle of no where that had three waterfalls. All the hot springs ranged from 95 degrees to 104 degrees. I would say this one was about 99. Anyways, at one point when we were taking a few photos, Wylie was searching in Chelsea’s bag trying to find the ring. (I obviously didn’t know this at this point), but he couldn’t find it so we left that hot spring and went to one with this huge waterfall and stunning views.
Prior to coming here, Wylie did some research, and thought all the hot springs were about 3.5 feet deep, so his plan was to propose when we were in one with the waterfalls. Well, as Chelsea was just taking pictures of me in the hot spring facing the other way, Wylie was busy hiding the ring in his swim trunks. When he got into the spring, he quickly realized this water was way deeper that 3 feet! Therefore, under the water more than half of his body went (ring in pants included).
We were sitting on the side of a cliff with the beautiful waterfall in the back, refer to video below for visual, and he started talking all lovely-dovy. No part of me was catching onto anything he was putting down. So much so, that I was done taking pictures in this spot so I start walking away lol. He followed me and once we got out and were standing under the waterfall, he said, oh this is a great spot for photos. I agreed, still having no clue, what was going on. Once he finally turned me to face him, it hit me and I started to instantly realize what was happening. He proceeded to ask me how my day was going before he got down on one knee and asked me to marry him!!! I started crying and said YES OF COURSE!!
It was an absolutely perfect moment as we all were in tears and so so so happy!! To this day, I am still gleaming from that special, incredible, surprising moment!! And we are so excited to announce that we are ENGAGED!!
The rest of the day was spent celebrating at the swim up bars, soaking in the hot springs, ordering pizza, and face-timing with our family to celebrate the news. It was the most perfect day in the world with the most perfect man!
Stay tuned for Day 3 of Costa Rica…the Tarzan swing, repelling down a waterfall, and superman zip-lining!!!
What to read next? Take a peek at this incredible, romantic getaway in Wisconsin with a spa-like bathroom and dreamy nature views!
Beautiful job or capturing and editing this special moment in your lives