It’s just after sunrise, and I’m sitting in a barrel sauna watching howler monkeys devour mangoes in a tree. As one of the primates roars, I plunge into my private ice bath at Silvestre Nosara Hotel & Residences and spring out of the water a couple of minutes later—invigorated equally by the Costa Rican fauna and my suite’s health-focused amenities. In the wellness world, the topic of longevity has never been hotter. And in the surf town of Nosara, nestled on the Central American nation’s Nicoya Peninsula, healthspan-boosting practices like saunas and cold therapy feel especially apt.
The coastline of Nosara.Photo: Callum Morse
This rugged Pacific peninsula dotted with picturesque beaches isn’t just a magnet for surfers and yogis—it’s also one of the world’s original Blue Zones, where people live longer than anywhere else. These geographic areas (the others being Ikaria, Greece; Sardinia, Italy; Okinawa, Japan; and Loma Linda, California) were identified in the aughts. There’s now a revived interest in exploring them, thanks to best-selling author Dan Buettner’s hit Netflix docuseries Live to 100: Secrets of the Blue Zones.
Traveling to a longevity hot spot isn’t always easy. Some Blue Zones have changed drastically due to modernization, and others require a level of discomfort that many travelers would find off-putting, Buettner explains. The Nicoya Peninsula, however, offers a sweet spot in the middle. He points to Nosara as a “gateway destination” to the Blue Zones, where it’s easy to embrace the “Power Nine” principles of centenarians, like moving naturally, eating plant-based foods, and socializing, all while staying at a nice hotel.
“Nosara happens to be in a Blue zone, but it’s an anomaly,” says Buettner. “It offers a remanifestation of a Blue Zone lifestyle in more of a 21st-century American format.”
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