Costa Rica?

morsi27

We are thinking of going to Costa Rica for our honeymoon in August 2011.  I have done some research online and a lot of the resorts look awesome.  I also came across a travel agency that deals exclusively in Costa Rican vacations, ingeniously called "Costa Rican Vacations".  Has anyone traveled with them?  Have any friends who did?  My fiancee is not sold on using a travel agent but I think in going to a completely unfamiliar place, a travel agent is often a good idea.  Any ideas or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

Ticosparents

Can't help you on the travel agent; never used one.  Costa Rica is pretty tourist-friendly enough to get around in...we used Pure Trek Costa Rica to do rapelling one day, otherwise, we rented a car to get around the country to surf/sightsee.  We stayed at San Ramon, La Fortuna, Tamarindo, Jaco, Manuel Antonio, and back to San Jose; all in 9 days. Most people spoke english, and helpful in giving directions; but it does help to bring a spanish dictionary for basic stuff.  Months before my travel, I joined travel groups at Yahoo groups, and couchsurfing.com that talked about the area.  We stayed at Tabacon Resorts in La Fortuna, Gran Hotel in San Jose, Parador in Manuel Antonio, otherwise, the other nights we stayed at hotels for around $50/night.  We went during the green season, which was late October-early November; so hotels were cheap.  A single female friend of mine hired a driver to drive her (she travelled alone) around the country too; so that's an option for you as well.  Hope that helped!

KatieJL121

I don't have any experience with that particular company or travel agent...we usually just plan trips ourselves and that's what we did for our honeymoon.  But I wanted to tell you that Costa Rica is very easy to plan without a travel agent if you're interested.  There are all kinds of travel books with great information.  We used "Fodor's Costa Rica 2010" and "Open Road's Best of Costa Rica" and both, along with the internet, were very helpful.  Like the PP said, Costa Rica is very tourist friendly, the Ticos are really nice, and almost everyone speaks English. 

We flew into San Jose and spent 5 nights in Manuel Antonio in the Central Pacific at Arenas del Mar and 3 nights in La Fortuna, Arenal at Arenal Nayara.  Both of these hotels are well-known throughout the country and have good reputations.  We organized our own transportation by booking domestic flights through Sansa and Nature Air on their individual websites.  There is also a public bus system called Interbus (I think) that is supposed to be cheaper, but we didn't look too much into it because we wanted to save as much time as possible on traveling from point A to point B.  HTH        

girlinchicago

I plan my "easier" trips, but for multi-city trips with lots of transportation involved, I like to use an agent.  We are planning a trip to CR right now and did all of the research ourselves beforehand, then met with an agent last weekend.  We knew how long we wanted to go for, how much we needed to budget, what areas we wanted to visit and had some ideas for hotels we'd be interested in.  We changed our minds on a few of the options based on the TA's advice, so it was really helpful.  I also ike the idea of having someone to call if something goes wrong, and I've needed their help before!  Just takes some of the pressure off, especially for your HM.

Two of my girlfriends recommended our travel agent - Costa Rica Experts.  They're based in Chicago, but would be easy to communicate with through email I'm sure.

Lastly, I don't know how others feel about this, but once I figure out what I want, I contact a couple of different agents and get quotes.  It's good for the peace of mind, knowing I'm getting a fair price.  When we quoted our honeymoon, we got a HUUUUGE range of prices for the same exact trip.  We went with the person who gave us the best service and the best price. 

shellbelle321

Everyone has told me a honeymoon is one vacation you don't want to mess around with. What if you should up and the hotel isn't what you thought or you don't have a way to get from the airport to the hotel. I would definitely recommend a travel agent. With the amount of money you are spending and the anticipation of this trip, get some professional advice. One look at Trip Advisor will give you nightmares without one.