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Costa Rica vs St Lucia

chrissyb1113chrissyb1113
First Anniversary First Comment
in Honeymoon Discussions
We're stuck on doing a 2 part trip in Costa Rica (half Arenal Volcano, half Manuel Antonio beach) or a full week in one place in St Lucia. I feel like the beaches are better in St Lucia, but Costa Rica seems to have a better rainforest/eco excursions.

For Costa Rica we're looking at Nayara Arenal Hotel and something like Mariposa Hotel, Byblo's or Arenas del Mar in Manuel Antonio. In St Lucia we like Hotel Chocolat or Jalousie.

Our honeymoon will be in June of next year, which seems to be the rainy season in both countries. Can anyone reccomend one over the other?

Thanks!
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Re: Costa Rica vs St Lucia

  • kasarinkasarin member
    First Comment
    We did Arenal/ Manuel Antonio and absolutely loved it. I would highly recommend Arenas del Mar. It was an awesome hotel and was more of a resort community than a hotel. There was wildlife all over the resort, including racoons in our room (don't leave the screen door open btw), spider monkeys in a lot of the trees, crabs running across the paths and iguanas on our balcony. We had a private jacuzzi on the balcony, so we could sit outside, relax and just experience it all. You could see the sloths hanging around and hear the howler monkeys. The hotel also has private access to the beach and then from the beach you can walk from one side of Manuel Antonio to the rainforest park. 

    We took a private tour through the rainforest and I recommend that too. The guide knew where the animals hung out and showed us things that we wouldn't have seen on our own, like the alligator. The whole experience was amazing. 

    Arenal was okay. We did an canyoning excursion and visted the hot springs at Tabacon. I'm not sure how you are getting from Manuel Antonio to Arenal, but we rented a car and it took like 4-5 hours to drive.  We were there during October and while it rained a lot, it rains in spurts. Either find cover during the serious downpour, or since it is so hot and humid, it doesn't really bother you. Plus, we saw some amazing lightening shows. 

    I don't have experience with St. Lucia, but my parents went and it was more of a relaxing vacation. Costa Rica was both- we relaxed on the beach in the hammocks but also did a lot of exploring.

    GL!
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  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] member
    First Anniversary 5 Love Its First Comment
    Have you looked into flying with Nature Air to get between Arenal and Manuel Antonio? We flew with them from San Jose to the Nicoya peninsula and it was a fun flight that sure beat driving. Everyone we met who drove was jealous.
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  • chrissyb1113chrissyb1113
    First Anniversary First Comment
    In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_honeymoon_costa-rica-vs-st-lucia-1?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:11Discussion:0637e498-3681-4c7f-ab8d-d882231e4aa7Post:65c01fd3-e671-41de-a023-19cd983a5121">Re: Costa Rica vs St Lucia</a>:
    [QUOTE]We did Arenal/ Manuel Antonio and absolutely loved it. I would highly recommend Arenas del Mar. It was an awesome hotel and was more of a resort community than a hotel. There was wildlife all over the resort, including racoons in our room (don't leave the screen door open btw), spider monkeys in a lot of the trees, crabs running across the paths and iguanas on our balcony. We had a private jacuzzi on the balcony, so we could sit outside, relax and just experience it all. You could see the sloths hanging around and hear the howler monkeys. The hotel also has private access to the beach and then from the beach you can walk from one side of Manuel Antonio to the rainforest park.  We took a private tour through the rainforest and I recommend that too. The guide knew where the animals hung out and showed us things that we wouldn't have seen on our own, like the alligator. The whole experience was amazing.  Arenal was okay. We did an canyoning excursion and visted the hot springs at Tabacon. I'm not sure how you are getting from Manuel Antonio to Arenal, but we rented a car and it took like 4-5 hours to drive.  We were there during October and while it rained a lot, it rains in spurts. Either find cover during the serious downpour, or since it is so hot and humid, it doesn't really bother you. Plus, we saw some amazing lightening shows.  I don't have experience with St. Lucia, but my parents went and it was more of a relaxing vacation. Costa Rica was both- we relaxed on the beach in the hammocks but also did a lot of exploring. GL!
    Posted by kasarin[/QUOTE]

    How was the beach in Costa Rica? Lots of clean sand space? Clear water, waves? The beaches in Costa Rica are my main concern. I'm a sucker for long white sand beaches and the hubby-to-be will only swim in crystal clear water... :-/
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  • jschmidt622jschmidt622 member
    First Anniversary First Comment
    We honeymooned at Jalousie in October 2010.  We absolutely loved it!  Everything was 5 Star. Location is absolutely amazing, villas are the nicest accomodations we've ever stayed in, service was impeccable, food was awesome.  I highly reccommend doing the all-inclusive - it's totally worth it!  We stayed for 10 nights and never ran out of things to do - there are watersports available through the resort and lots of great excursions nearby (hiking the Piton, zip-lining, waterfalls, etc...)   I definitely recommend Jalousie Plantation - this place is magical and we cant wait to go back!
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  • golden paisleysgolden paisleys
    First Comment
    Having never been to Costa Rica, I can't help you with the comparison.  St. Lucia is beautiful; there are lots of pitons and they do have a rainforest.  My TA has been to both, and prefers Costa Rica over St. Lucia.  She showed me her pics from CR, and they were breath-taking.  Feel free to PM me if you'd like her contact info. 
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  • kasarinkasarin member
    First Comment
    In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_honeymoon_costa-rica-vs-st-lucia-1?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding BoardsForum:11Discussion:0637e498-3681-4c7f-ab8d-d882231e4aa7Post:5b50f826-27cd-437f-a004-f11bf9b02c51">Re: Costa Rica vs St Lucia</a>:
    [QUOTE]In Response to Re: Costa Rica vs St Lucia : How was the beach in Costa Rica? Lots of clean sand space? Clear water, waves? The beaches in Costa Rica are my main concern. I'm a sucker for long white sand beaches and the hubby-to-be will only swim in crystal clear water... :-/
    Posted by chrissyb1113[/QUOTE]

    <span style="text-align:left;widows:2;text-transform:none;text-indent:0px;display:inline !important;font:11px/14px Arial, sans-serif;white-space:normal;orphans:2;letter-spacing:normal;color:#1f1f1f;word-spacing:0px;-webkit-text-size-adjust:auto;-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;">The beaches were clean, but they weren't the white sand with crystal clear water. They had a lot of thunderstorms when we were there, so the water was all mixed up with sand and cloudy. Here are some pictures of the beach. All of them (with the exception of the last one) were taken at Manuel Antonio either from the hotel or really close to the hotel. I apologize in advance that the pictures aren't great quality.


    <a href="http://cdn.cl9.vanillaforums.com/downloaded/ver1.0/content/images/store/6/13/e66e9060-7d4d-41ff-bdfe-14f3ada32fab.large.jpg" title="Click to view a larger photo" class="PhotoLink"><img src="http://cdn.cl9.vanillaforums.com/downloaded/ver1.0/content/images/store/6/13/e66e9060-7d4d-41ff-bdfe-14f3ada32fab.medium.jpg" alt="" /></a>


    <a href="http://cdn.cl9.vanillaforums.com/downloaded/ver1.0/content/images/store/11/7/abf30731-b635-4cff-a7c3-f2e35c8b955f.large.jpg" title="Click to view a larger photo" class="PhotoLink"><img src="http://cdn.cl9.vanillaforums.com/downloaded/ver1.0/content/images/store/11/7/abf30731-b635-4cff-a7c3-f2e35c8b955f.medium.jpg" alt="" /></a>


    <a href="http://cdn.cl9.vanillaforums.com/downloaded/ver1.0/content/images/store/12/0/1c080f0e-166f-44bf-b047-e908477151b2.large.jpg" title="Click to view a larger photo" class="PhotoLink"><img src="http://cdn.cl9.vanillaforums.com/downloaded/ver1.0/content/images/store/12/0/1c080f0e-166f-44bf-b047-e908477151b2.medium.jpg" alt="" /></a>


    <a href="http://cdn.cl9.vanillaforums.com/downloaded/ver1.0/content/images/store/8/6/78423f5d-93f5-49d3-b6c1-5b34abfd807c.large.jpg" title="Click to view a larger photo" class="PhotoLink"><img src="http://cdn.cl9.vanillaforums.com/downloaded/ver1.0/content/images/store/8/6/78423f5d-93f5-49d3-b6c1-5b34abfd807c.medium.jpg" alt="" /></a>



    </span>
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  • AustinFrAustinFr
    First Comment
    I don't know if this has already been mentioned, BUT remember that Hotel Chocolat is not on the beach. You can take boat or taxi rides to the near by beaches from this resort I think. Jalousie seems to have a beach, but it looks small.
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